The common gripe about buying organics is the cost; it's too expensive or pricey. Some of you may want to buy organics but would like to save money. If you are living on a tight budget, there are ways to find better pricing on organic foods. Here are some tips:
- Look for organic produce at your local farmer's markets as the pricing is typically lower than at a supermarket because you are buying direct from the farmer. Supermarkets add markup to the pricing.
- Because organics is growing in popularity, chain stores like Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Trader Joes now have their own private label organic brands. Because they can manufacture in bulk to stock all their stores, the pricing for their own organic products is cheaper than brand names. For example, Whole Foods has their 365 brand and many of those products are either the same price or only pennies more expensive than a name brand. Check out every day foods like ketchup, pasta sauce, soup, and even pet food. You may be surprised that some of these store brand organic products are much cheaper than you imagined.
- At independent stores or grocers, try shopping near closing time. Because organic products do not have preservatives, they will spoil much faster. Some of the smaller independent shops might have 1/2 prices or price reductions towards the end of the day as they would rather sell products for cheaper than throw them away for a loss.
- Ask family, friends, or neighbors where they buy organic foods, and ask about pricing. Especially ask those people who are really into organic eating because they will know every store in town and their pricing as they have done a great deal of research already. Leverage their knowledge.
- Look at your shopping list, and break out what organic versions you can afford. For example, you could decide that all your produce will be organic because you can get it at your farmer's market for cheap, or you discover a local independent store that sells organic breads really cheap a half hour before closing, so you can save money buying organic loaves of bread from them. It's better to start integrating some organics into your diet than to eat none at all.
- Look for sales on organic products or coupons. Again, because organics are becoming much more popular and widely used, more and more grocery stores are having sales or offering coupons for organic products. Whole Foods on the weekends always has food vendors doing taste demos, and most often those vendors will offer up coupons for discounts on their products.
- One of the worse things is buying some new organic product only to discover when you get home that you don't like it. Check at your local Whole Foods store, but if there is a packaged food like cookies, chips, or salsa that looks interesting to you but you'd like to try it before buying it, ask one of the sales people or clerks on the floor, and they will open up the box for you and let you have a sample taste. In the Whole Foods stores in my area, they all do this. Now that the box is open, they will either offer samples to other customers, or put it in the lunch room for the employees.
