Price Comparison - Planet Organic and Earth's General Store - December 1st, 2011

Though it was not the best time for me to spend an hour walking around Planet Organic writing down prices I just had to do it since I was in the neighbourhood and I have been promising myself for quite awhile that I would do it… soon.

I appreciate the staff at Planet Organic not kicking me out while I was recording these prices. They have always been quite helpful – always checking in to see if I needed help with anything.

Please note that the bulk pricing at Planet Organic is priced per 100 grams while at Earth’s General Store it is normally priced per kilogram. I have adjusted the Earth’s General Store to reflect the pricing per 100 grams. My personal feeling about pricing things this way is that it deceives the customer since get the perception that it is not much money – i.e. $2.50/100 grams seems a little more acceptable than $25.00 per kilogram. I suspect that gas service stations will consider selling gasoline in decilitres so that the price doesn’t seem so much.

I have had several people comment on our prices at the store – that they are very pleased with the lower prices than those they experience at Planet Organic.

I did not go out of my way to find items that I knew were less at our store. I just started writing down items that I knew we stocked. Planet Organic is a MUCH larger store than we are ad carries many more products than our store. I chose a wide assortment of items from as many categories as possible. I did not write down each item in a brand because just a couple samples will give a person an idea what the pricing differential is. I ran out of time before I was finished collecting

I have totalled the columns up and you can see the price difference if a person bought one of each item on the list (each, pack, kilogram, pound, bag, etc.). The difference between the two columns is noted PLUS another value that is entered below the totals. This number is the percentage difference. Yes you can save over 10% off your Organic grocery bill!

Of course the totals will not reflect a real total since most people don’t buy 100 grams of many of the products (rice, raisin, oats, etc.) and they quite often don’t buy a kilogram of other products (ginger, brown mushrooms, etc). My experience (including in our own store) is that purchasing spices and herbs from the bulk bins will save a person quite a lot of money (quite often up to a 50% savings) and the resulting price is very comparable with conventional herbs/spices in packages found in national/international chain stores.

If anyone has any prices that they would like me to add to this list by all means please send them to me and I will add them. The few prices that we were higher on I will look to see whether I have not kept up on any price changes (sometimes the supplier lowers their price to us and I overlook the change – ergo our selling price does not reflect our reduced cost). I will review these items and see whether they should be changed. There will be many items that we will not be able to be competitive with Planet Organic since they can purchase larger amounts (pallets of soy, rice, and other beverages) where they get a discount but from looking over the fairly randomly selected 100 items (strange it just worked out to be this total) I think we are more that competitive on the items we do offer to the citizens of Edmonton.

Item Description PO EGS Units
Agave Raw Blue Organic - Wholesome $13.99 $13.29 Each
Almond Milk - Pacific Original $3.29 $3.49 Each
Apple - Gala $5.05 $4.38 KG
Apple - McIntosh $5.05 $5.04 KG
Bagel - Café Latte $9.95 $5.75 pack
Banana $2.18 $2.18 KG
Black Beans Canned - Eden $2.69 $2.85 Each
Blueberries - fresh 4/\.4oz $6.99 $4.00 pack
Bread - Prairie Mill $6.29 $5.75 Each
Bread - Squirrley $4.69 $4.25 Each
Bronners - Liquid Castile Soap 472mL $10.99 $9.95 Each
BULK Black Beans $0.40 $0.56 /100 gm
BULK Garbanzo/Chickpeas $0.60 $0.42 /100 gm
BULK Lentils French $0.85 $0.60 /100 gm
BULK Mango - Dried $3.00 $2.50 /100 gm
BULK Oats Rolled Regular $0.40 $0.30 /100 gm
BULK Pasta - Rotini AA $0.90 $0.73 /100 gm
BULK Pasta - Rotini Veg AA $1.10 $0.90 /100 gm
BULK Pineapple - Dried $3.55 $2.70 /100 gm
BULK Pistashio - Salted in Shells $2.50 $2.39 /100 gm
BULK Popcorn $0.45 $0.35 /100 gm
BULK Quinoa RED $1.75 $1.48 /100 gm
BULK Quinoa White $1.00 $0.77 /100 gm
BULK Raisin Thompson $0.75 $0.58 /100 gm
BULK Rice Long Grain Brown $0.65 $0.44 /100 gm
BULK Salt - Himalayan Pink $0.55 $0.38 /100 gm
BULK Sunflower Hulled $0.95 $0.69 /100 gm
BULK Wheat Bran $0.50 $0.16 /100 gm
BULK wheat Hard $0.40 $0.20 /100 gm
BULK Yeast Nutritional $2.40 $1.90 /100 gm
Cereal - Mesa Sunrise $9.49 $9.10 Bag
Chard - Rainbow $2.99 $2.49 Bundle
Cheese Marble - L'Ancetre $6.69 $6.49 Each
Chia Goodness - Ruth's $7.49 $7.99 Bag
Chips - Kettle Organic $3.29 $3.29 Bag
Chips Tortilla - Que Pasa $3.99 $3.69 Each
Coconut Oil 475 DME - Alpha $27.29 $26.95 Each
Coconut Oil 822gm - Gold Top $36.99 $22.95 Each
Coconut Oil Premium 475 - Alpha $24.29 $23.89 Each
Coconut Water - VitaCoco $7.29 $7.49 Each
Coffee - Kicking Horse $17.49 $12.50 Pound
Coffee - Planet Organic Brand $15.49 $12.50 Pound
Crackers - Mary's $5.99 $6.50 Box
Daiya - 227gm $5.29 $4.95 Bag
Deodorant - Green Beaver $6.99 $5.95 Each
Eggs Dozen Large Local $6.29 $5.50 Dozen
Eggs Dozen Large Local $6.29 $5.99 Dozen
Ginger - Fresh $17.58 $10.98 KG
Green Onions $1.79 $1.39 Bundle
Haas Avocado $1.99 $1.69 Each
Hot Chocolate Chili & Spice - Cocoa Camino $8.49 $8.25 Each
Ice Coconut - Bliss $7.29 $7.65 Each
Irish Breakfast Tea - Choice $5.49 $4.75 Box
Juice - Kiju $3.49 $3.40 Each
Kale - Black $2.99 $2.99 Bundle
Lemon Concentrate - Lakewood $4.49 $4.25 Each
Lettuce - Red Leaf $2.29 $2.29 Each
Mayonaise - Spectrum 946mL $11.99 $11.75 Each
Milk 2% - Vital Green $5.69 $5.85 Each
Miso - Aka Amano $6.99 $6.75 Each
Molasses 946mL - Wholesome $10.69 $10.39 Each
Mushroom - Brown/Crimini $14.00 $8.56 KG
Mushroom - Portabello $18.68 $15.38 KG
Mushroom Boullion Cubes - Harvest $3.29 $3.15 pack
Mustard - Stone Ground Simply Natural $3.69 $3.59 Each
Oats - Bob's Wheat Free $8.49 $7.45 Bag
Olive Oil Mediterrean - Spectrum $21.99 $22.00 Each
Olives - Black Pitted $4.69 $4.60 Each
Onion - Yellow $3.28 $2.84 KG
Only Oats Gluten Free Oats $5.69 $5.95 Bag
Pasta - Elbow Macaroni - Prairie Harvest $3.49 $3.30 Bag
Peanut Butter Organic - Nuts to You 500gm $5.99 $5.75 Each
Peas Frozem - Organic Meadows $5.69 $5.00 Bag
Peppercorn - Simply Organic 75gm $5.99 $6.00 Each
Pizza - Amy's Roasted vegetables $11.99 $10.75 Each
Pizza - Tofurky $10.29 $9.49 Each
Pizza Crust - Whole Wheat $4.29 $3.69 Each
Potatoes - Russet 5 pounds $5.99 $5.19 Bag
Rice - Long Grain Organic Lundberg 11.3KG $63.29 $47.12 Bag
Rice Cakes - Lundberg $4.69 $4.85 Each
Rice Dream Enriched Original $3.99 $3.85 Each
Salsa - Que Pasa $4.99 $4.95 Each
Shampoo/Conditioner - Green Beaver $10.99 $9.79 Each
Slices Luncheon - Tofurky $3.49 $3.20 pack
Soup - Amy $3.49 $3.59 Each
Soup - Bombay $4.29 $3.95 Each
Soup - Imagine $5.99 $5.75 Each
Sunflower Oil - Orphee $12.99 $12.95 Each
Superfruit Spread - Crofter $6.29 $6.25 Each
Tahini Raw - Artisana $12.69 $11.95 Each
Tampon Regular - Natracare $8.99 $7.50 box
Tea Rooibos Chai - 4 O'Clock $4.29 $3.95 Box
Tempeh Strips - Tofurky $4.49 $4.15 pack
Thai Coconut Milk $2.69 $2.69 Each
Thai Green Curry Paste $3.49 $3.39 Each
Tofu Pressed - Soyganic $3.29 $3.09 Each
Tomato Crushed - Utopia 796mL $3.99 $3.75 Each
Toothpaste - Green Beaver $5.99 $5.49 Each
Toothpowder - Ecodent $10.99 $7.95 Each
Yams - Garnet $4.39 $3.72 KG
       
Totals $706.04 $616.15 $89.89
    Percentage Difference 13%

The above prices will give people an idea of where there are potential savings to be had.

Earth’s General Store is the only locally owned and operated store that offers organic food as the main focus of their business in Edmonton. For every dollar you spend at a local independent business instead of a corporate chain store stays in our local economy. Money is sent off to the head office, to head office designed newsletters, graphic designers and websites, and to stockholders.

I hope that you enjoy the information I have gathered from my time at Planet Organic.  If you find other prices that you would like to share with me please sent them my way. I would like to know the price, the brand, and the size of the product so that we can accurately compare the same items. I do not wish to skew any information – only apples to apples, oranges to oranges.

Oh – and many people still ask – are our products certified organic. The answer is yes! All of our fresh produce is certified organic, 100% of our bulk grains and beans, about 90% of our herbs and spices, about 90% of our packaged products, and about 80% of our frozen convenience foods. n fact, I would say that we have more certified organic products on a percentage basis than any other store.

- Posted December 2nd, 2011