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No More Whole Paycheck: Whole Foods’ Prices Are About To Get Cheaper—Really Soon

Tara Bellucci
Tara BellucciNews and Culture Director
Tara is Apartment Therapy's News & Culture Director. When not scrolling through Instagram double-tapping pet pics and astrology memes, you'll find her thrift shopping around Boston, kayaking on the Charles, and trying not to buy more plants.
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published Aug 24, 2017
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Today Amazon and Whole Foods announced that the acquisition of the grocer by the online retailer will close on Monday, August 28, and that shoppers will start to see changes—in the form of lower prices—immediately.

Yes, you read that right: Starting this Monday, Whole Foods will be offering lower prices “on a selection of best-selling grocery staples across its stores, with more to come,” a joint press release stated. It’s a “down payment” on the two companies’ plans to make the grocer’s high quality products more accessible to everyone.

“We’re determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone. Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality — we will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Market’s long-held commitment to the highest standards,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer. “To get started, we’re going to lower prices beginning Monday on a selection of best-selling grocery staples.”

Items flagged for lower prices include Whole Trade bananas, organic avocados, organic large brown eggs, organic responsibly-farmed salmon and tilapia, organic baby kale and baby lettuce, animal-welfare-rated 85% lean ground beef, creamy and crunchy almond butter, organic Gala and Fuji apples, organic rotisserie chicken, 365 Everyday Value organic butter, and more.

“And this is just the beginning,” Wilke continues. “We will make Amazon Prime the customer rewards program at Whole Foods Market and continuously lower prices as we invent together. There is significant work and opportunity ahead, and we’re thrilled to get started.” The Prime integration is set to happen after some technical work is complete, and will offer Prime members special savings and other in-store benefits.

Amazon will also begin offering Whole Foods’ private label brands—like 365 Everyday Value—on Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry and Prime Now, and will place Amazon Lockers in select Whole Foods stores for package pickup or sending back returns.

Amazon announced that it would purchase Whole Foods in a $13.7 billion deal back in June.

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