The Money Mustache Community
Around the Internet => Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy => Topic started by: russianswinga on March 30, 2017, 12:50:07 PM
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I can't believe I missed this article - it's almost a month old now!
http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2017/02/06/whole-foods-introduces-produce-butcher-at-latest-new-york-city-store.html
"At its newest Midtown Manhattan location, strategically placed across tourist hotspot Bryant Park, the Whole Foods offers a “produce butcher.” That’s right. A person to chop, slice and dice your veggies and fruit for you-- no meats or fish will be found on this chopping block."
(http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/grub/2017/02/03/03-whole-foods-produce-butcher.w600.h315.2x.jpg)
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I see durians in the background. Durians could make a little bit of sense. Those things seem like they'd be hard to cut because they're spiky and have thick skin, but I wouldn't know for sure. I've never had durian!
But the greens on that cutting board and pretty much all of the other produce in the display case? Ridiculously easy to chop up. And I know some produce is large and you might not need all of it for a recipe (cabbage comes to mind!), but it's not that hard to look up other recipes to use it for. Some produce freezes well too.
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http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2017/03/29/whole-foods-losing-staggering-number-shoppers-say-analysts.html (http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2017/03/29/whole-foods-losing-staggering-number-shoppers-say-analysts.html)
"The more conventional mainstream supermarkets have upped their game," explained Whole Foods CEO John Mackey on a call with analysts. “They began to study (Whole Foods) in a more systematic fashion, particularly as they began to see their customers migrate over to doing more and more shopping with Whole Foods Market.”
Kroger is taking your customers because your business model was so awesome that they're copying it (at a 15% discount)? Whatever you say dude.
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That just seems flat-out ridiculous. I've never thought anyone actually bought the $6/lb pre-sliced watermelon, never mind this madness.
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The only people I can think who could justify spending this money are people with
A) no kitchen and a total inability to cook (which can be fixed)
B) physical impairments, disability, or disorder of some kind (can or can't be fixed depending on what's going on)
C) NO ARMS
I can't imagine that the no kitchen/not mobile/NO ARMS community is really large enough to make this sustainable, but what do I know?
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That just seems flat-out ridiculous. I've never thought anyone actually bought the $6/lb pre-sliced watermelon, never mind this madness.
Guilty though not at whole foods, and my store offers a three good-sized containers of cut fruit for $12 deal.
I've thrown away enough rotting untouched watermelons to know that no one in my house will cut one up. It just doesn't happen. It makes a big mess and is a PITA and just doesn't occur. But I love watermelon. So buying some and taking it for lunch along with a sandwich and maybe some chips or something keeps me from buying a $10 lunch at our overpriced cafeteria.
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The only people I can think who could justify spending this money are people with
A) no kitchen and a total inability to cook (which can be fixed)
B) physical impairments, disability, or disorder of some kind (can or can't be fixed depending on what's going on)
C) NO ARMS
I can't imagine that the no kitchen/not mobile/NO ARMS community is really large enough to make this sustainable, but what do I know?
This is where they'd get me. Work travel!
My trips are short, but I do like to avoid restaurants. It would be awesome to get airplane snacks!
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The only people I can think who could justify spending this money are people with
A) no kitchen and a total inability to cook (which can be fixed)
B) physical impairments, disability, or disorder of some kind (can or can't be fixed depending on what's going on)
C) NO ARMS
D) Lazy bastards with more money than sense :D
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The only people I can think who could justify spending this money are people with
A) no kitchen and a total inability to cook (which can be fixed)
B) physical impairments, disability, or disorder of some kind (can or can't be fixed depending on what's going on)
C) NO ARMS
D) Lazy bastards with more money than sense :D
That's why I said "justify." C;
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Remember that this is in their Manhattan location. Which is not only an area full of people with more dollars than sense, but also an area with lots of teeny, tiny, apartments, often shared with roommates. The place my brother lived in had essentially zero free counter space for things like chopping vegetables. In such conditions, being able to move things directly from the shopping container into the cookpot could very well make the difference between someone trying to cook vs. ordering yet another take-out meal.
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They have lots of Manhattan locations. This one is in the heart of midtown Manhattan, in the business/shopping district. The people who live there are mostly paying an absolute fortune in rent or mortgage for the convenience of living extremely close to work, and are probably working very high-powered jobs and value their time highly. There's also very little in the way of grocery stores there. I know one person who lives about a 3-min walk from this Whole Foods (in a small $4000/mo apartment) and his food habits are that if he has someone to eat with he'll go to a restaurant, if he doesn't he'll get take-out, and he pays to have all his groceries delivered. (What little groceries there are.) He used to complain that there were no grocery stores in that neighborhood at all, now I guess he has no excuses... :-)
I'm sure there are a lot of people in that neighborhood who will use any time-saver like this, especially if it lets them eat healthier.
Not saying it isn't silly for most folks, but it makes sense for WF to offer it.
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I see durians in the background. Durians could make a little bit of sense. Those things seem like they'd be hard to cut because they're spiky and have thick skin, but I wouldn't know for sure. I've never had durian!
But the greens on that cutting board and pretty much all of the other produce in the display case? Ridiculously easy to chop up. And I know some produce is large and you might not need all of it for a recipe (cabbage comes to mind!), but it's not that hard to look up other recipes to use it for. Some produce freezes well too.
They can definitely be difficult to cut into, to say the least! But also very stinky, which I would imagine would put off a fair number of shoppers. I think that's jackfruit in the picture - similar size and color. :)
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When I hear Produce Butcher, it immediately takes me back to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyTf7h1XDOs
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It seems to be a new fad. The Busch's near us just added one and we don't even have the excuse of being a dense, HCOL area. (Suburbia Michigan)
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Those of us in the mid-atlantic/lower new england states are lucky enough to have Wegman's stores. The fine folks at Wegmans have been doing what WF just "invented" for years. Not saying that I'm guilty of spending on this luxury, but "out in the open" stations where folks are processing all kinds of fruits and veggies for sale is hardly new for that chain.
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Eh, they saw a market opportunity and took it. If you don't like WF just do what I do and don't shop there. They are a company that sells insanely overpriced produce to people that seem to really appreciate the ability to buy insanely overpriced produce, not my cup of tea but there apparently is a large market for this.
What I appreciate is that due to the success of WF has made more affordable grocery chains change their offering in order to compete. I do most of my shopping at Aldi's and have noticed a marked improvement in their produce.
On a side note, I don't dislike the the idea of preparing the produce for someone. I saw a meal prep video where the guy just went to WF to pick up his meat and discovered that a WF employee will cook the meat and stir fry the vegetables for him, which is a cool idea especially for travelers that only have a fridge and microwave.
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ULg9F8Q3a0M
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In Ecuador I got one of the ladies selling fruit in the market to cut some up for me on the spot. I guess she is now a "produce butcher."
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I have noticed that mainstream no-cavemen-served-here grocery stores have been, for as long as I can remember, preparing grains for immediate use by grinding them into powder and bagging them in standard 5-10-20 lb. bags with pre-printed branding and other information
At WF they prominently display wheat, millet, soybeans, etc. for customer dispensing in bulk into generic bags for sale They sell wheat for around six dollars a pound rather than six dollars a bushel which is what it goes for at the grain merchants' elevator.
But for the financially squeamish you can go to the grain butcher's aisle at WF and get the same kind of bagged & tagged grain prepared for immediate use at way less shocking prices. If convenience matters that much to you.
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Eh, they saw a market opportunity and took it. If you don't like WF just do what I do and don't shop there. They are a company that sells insanely overpriced produce to people that seem to really appreciate the ability to buy insanely overpriced produce, not my cup of tea but there apparently is a large market for this.
What I appreciate is that due to the success of WF has made more affordable grocery chains change their offering in order to compete. I do most of my shopping at Aldi's and have noticed a marked improvement in their produce.
On a side note, I don't dislike the the idea of preparing the produce for someone. I saw a meal prep video where the guy just went to WF to pick up his meat and discovered that a WF employee will cook the meat and stir fry the vegetables for him, which is a cool idea especially for travelers that only have a fridge and microwave.
Yep, WF definitely ups the produce game for some of the bigger names.
Also the same reason I like Olive Garden, even though I don't like Olive Garden. Any restaurant that isn't at least Olive Garden quality goes out of business (or has to offer a steep discount!)
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That just seems flat-out ridiculous. I've never thought anyone actually bought the $6/lb pre-sliced watermelon, never mind this madness.
Guilty though not at whole foods, and my store offers a three good-sized containers of cut fruit for $12 deal.
I've thrown away enough rotting untouched watermelons to know that no one in my house will cut one up. It just doesn't happen. It makes a big mess and is a PITA and just doesn't occur. But I love watermelon. So buying some and taking it for lunch along with a sandwich and maybe some chips or something keeps me from buying a $10 lunch at our overpriced cafeteria.
Sweet! $5 worth of fruit for $12! You're definitely posting in the right section of this forum.
Just cut the fucking thing already. It takes like 10 minutes including clean up.
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That just seems flat-out ridiculous. I've never thought anyone actually bought the $6/lb pre-sliced watermelon, never mind this madness.
Guilty though not at whole foods, and my store offers a three good-sized containers of cut fruit for $12 deal.
I've thrown away enough rotting untouched watermelons to know that no one in my house will cut one up. It just doesn't happen. It makes a big mess and is a PITA and just doesn't occur. But I love watermelon. So buying some and taking it for lunch along with a sandwich and maybe some chips or something keeps me from buying a $10 lunch at our overpriced cafeteria.
ha ha ha ha
I do the grocery shopping. On rare occasions, husband will do it.
One day, he came home with a watermelon. I gave him "the look".
It was still on the counter 5 days later.
I have no problems cutting pineapple or cantaloupe. I'll cut a watermelon if I have to, but I DON'T buy them.
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Several thoughts:
- I love cutting up fruits and vegetables. I love the smells and the satisfying crunch that you feel under the knife.
- When I buy fruit and leave it whole in a bowl, my kids bypass it. When I chop up fruit and make a big bowl of fruit salad, it's gone in two days -- they bring it out for meals and they snack on it all day. Similarly, when I make up small mason jars of chopped fruit, my kids grab them out of the 'fridge and take them to school. Love it.
- I can see one more group of people who might buy this pre-chopped stuff: Single people who buy a whole pepper and only use half ... this system allows them to buy only what they actually need for their stir-fry. Not the best choice in the world ('cause, yeah, they could freeze it), but somewhat mitigated by the waste that would occur otherwise.
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Some years ago DH was going through a mystery condition that left him with severe vertigo and exhaustion. All of the housework fell to me, and I work as many hours as he does outside the home. During that time, hell yeah I had my groceries delivered and would buy expensive pre-cut produce. It saved my sanity (barely).
In a densely-populated-enough place you can have a critical mass of people dealing with a household full of sick people, elder parents that need care, etc., that using something like this to bridge the gap is a lifesaver and keeps you cooking and eating healthy. It's when it gets to be a habit that it's facepunch-worthy.
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Several thoughts:
- I love cutting up fruits and vegetables. I love the smells and the satisfying crunch that you feel under the knife.
- When I buy fruit and leave it whole in a bowl, my kids bypass it. When I chop up fruit and make a big bowl of fruit salad, it's gone in two days -- they bring it out for meals and they snack on it all day. Similarly, when I make up small mason jars of chopped fruit, my kids grab them out of the 'fridge and take them to school. Love it.
Cut-up fruit in mason jars? Why didn't I think of that? Awesome idea!
Note: Being a young man, I only use mason jars for drinking....
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Cut-up fruit in mason jars? Why didn't I think of that? Awesome idea!
Note: Being a young man, I only use mason jars for drinking....
My girls LOVE fruit cut up in mason jars. it stays good a long time, the jars can go right into a purse or a bookbag, and the jars are totally reusable. It's a win-win-win situation. Look up Mason Jar Meals on Pinterest (or just online). I also package salads up for the week, and the whole family takes them to work/school; if you put half a paper napkin in the top, the lettuce'll stay good more than a week.
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Every two days I make up four small tupperwares of fruit salad for lunches. It's a real highlight of lunch time for both of us.