It took several weeks to compile, but I have finally finished comparing organic food grocery prices with non-organic competitors. I went to Costco, Wegman’s and Harris Teeter to compare organic prices. For non-organic competitor products, I compared Walmart and Harris Teeter’s prices. The results might surprise you – 1/3 of the organic groceries from Costco were within $0.25 of non-organic, bare bone staples from Walmart.
If you’re wondering how the products on this list cut the mustard, it’s because these products are the basic food staples in my refrigerator and pantry.
Below are my key findings:
1) Two organic products bought from Costco were within a few pennies’ price of non-organic, Walmart branded products (wheat bread, apples). One organic product from Costco was substantially cheaper than Walmart (extra virgin olive oil).
2) Organic chicken is much more expensive than generic chicken from Walmart (in fact, the chicken at Walmart was the cheapest chicken I could find and didn’t have any brand name on the package), but only $1 more per pound when compared to my neighborhood grocer’s (Harris Teeter) non-organic chicken.
3) Organic frozen vegetables are slightly higher priced than their non-organic competitors. At Harris Teeter, they charge $0.50/pound more for frozen organic vegetables. If you buy those organic veggies from Costco, you only pay $0.20-0.30 more per pound than non-organic vegetables from Walmart.
4) When buying organic products, beware of buying them from Walmart.
Although I did not list the price on my chart, Walmart carried one of my family’s core grocery staples, Pacific Natural Foods Organic Pepper and Tomato soup. You can buy this soup for $1.97/quart at Costco. At Walmart, a quart of the same soup costs $11.47!
5) Green denotes the least expensive organic price for that item.
A few notes:
- Whenever possible, I used the same brands to compare organic food prices. With non-organic, I used as many Walmart and Harris Teeter private label products, because they were often the cheapest products to compare with organic food prices.
- Package sizes varied. For comparison purposes, I converted everything to the same units of measure. Costco’s package sizes are typically larger than grocery store competitors.
- It is important to note that Costco charges an annual membership fee. However, if you have an ‘Executive’ membership, Costco gives members ‘cash back’ in the form of a Costco check at the end of every year (that you can use in the store). We haven’t had to pay a dime for our annual membership for 3+ years now.
- This study was conducted without any sponsorship from any of the grocers mentioned above.
-What are your thoughts on our findings?
-Heather
Here are some additional photos:
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I had always thought that organics were a lot more money than their non-organic counterparts. I have a Costco membership but haven’t been shopping there lately. Infant car seat + Costco = no room for groceries! But, now that she’s able to sit in the cart I think I’m going to be headed back to Costco more often. Thank you SO much for putting this list together!!
You are very welcome, Talia!
I have been really pleased with the organic selection at Costco. Every time I go, they seem to bring in a new organic food product. The downside of Costco is the space requirements, as you mentioned. Their products are big and require quite a bit of space to transport and store. We keep our ‘overflow’ of shelf products in a closet in our basement and extra frozen goods in a chest freezer in the basement. Not ideal, but I’d much rather hike a flight of stairs every now and then than pay more $ at the grocery store. 
Too often I have to explain to people who gasp when I tell them that we try to eat as much as we can organic that it really isn’t that much more expensive. Frozen and canned organic veggies are actually a steal sometimes because they go on sale often. And the organic formula we use is cheaper than the same size can of Similac.
Speaking of Wegmans, I’ve been very disappointed in their selection of organic fresh fruit and vegetables lately. We end up having to go to Whole Foods for a lot of seasonal produce for the baby.
Lilzbear, I hear you – on both fronts. I love Wegman’s organic aisle, but I just cleaned out a rotten sweet potato that was caked to my pantry and oozing juices everywhere. The rest of the sweet potatoes were fine and I bought them about a week ago.
The fruit that I have bought has been fine, but the vegetables are another story.
I have found that I can’t talk food with quite a few people. If friends and/or family don’t already know the benefits of eating organically grown foods, I have found that it’s really hard to change perceptions. I’ve heard everything from “but how do you really know they’re organic” to “but my grandmother has been eating the same foods for 80+ years and she’s fine.” That’s why I blog. By providing scientific findings and facts, I’m hoping to spread the word on healthy eating for babies and families. As stated on Dr. Oz last week (I DVR’d their episode on the rising rate of Autism in the US) babies and children truly are on the first line of defense. When they start getting sick, it means that the rest of us are, too…we just haven’t felt the effects of it yet (b/c adults are bigger and can tolerate more pesticides and other environmental factors). Hopefully together we can work to change those perceptions that many companies have worked so hard (through marketing) to create!
On the feeling bad later idea: I blogged last fall about my own boycott of drive-thru restaurants. October thru December I was fast-food-free and felt great. Then we stopped for a burger on the way to see the grandparents 5 hrs away – I felt so gross afterwards! Since then, I’ve kept avoiding fast food, it’s better for me and the family
There was something on Dr. Oz or when he appeared on Oprah that a high percentage of American kids first vegetable (beyond baby food) was the french fry. No wonder kids are obese! NPR just had a story about the trends of overweight kids this week – the younger kids (K-6) are less obese than before, however the older kids remained obese, this will eventually impact the healthcare system when the big-kid boom reaches adulthood.
Are there any links between cancer and eating non-organic food?
If you’d like some reading material, let me know and I’ll email you everything that I found when I researched soy. The most frustrating thing about non-organic food, especially GMOs, is that there has been very little research done to date on the effects of GMOs on humans (and the environment). GMOs are made to withstand tons of pesticides, which we then consume when we eat those foods. There have been quite a few studies done with various animals and GMO foods, which haven’t turned out so well. We also know that the rBGH hormone given to cows (which is then transferred to humans via cow milk) causes the cows to suffer from all types of medical issues and even shortens their lifespan (once cows are given rBGH, they live approximately 2-3 yrs more). Let me know what you’d like to read more about, and I’ll email you some reading materials.
A little off topic but I bought some organic peanut butter and it was very oily which really grossed me out:). Does anyone know, is all organic peanut butter like this?
I’m not sure whether all organic peanut butter is like that, but even the ‘Natural’ pb on the market (non-organic) tends to separate while on the shelf. I have been buying this kind of pb for a long time now. I have discovered that once you give it a good stir after opening the jar for the first time, if you store the peanut butter in the refrigerator, it keeps the oil from separating ever again.
Thank you so much for doing this! It has helped save my bank account and eat healthy!