Sprouts Supermarket

[tacokick]

We are finally getting the first Sprouts in my general area and I felt like people have mentioned them on here before.

Is there anything in particular to be on the look out for? Or is it basically like Whole Foods?

[barney96]

I don't think it's too far from Whole Foods. Ours lately hasn't has good fruit or spinach, which is crazy to me. My husband is a fan of the waffles in the bakery area (usually in a barrel). He also likes the raw milk and raw kiefer but availability for it is dependent on your states rules,

[gastro]

Our sprouts is like the ugly step sister to Whole Foods. The produce is not as good and the bulk bin management isn’t as clean.

[steph96]

I love Sprouts! Mine has fabulous produce and I love the granola bars from the bakery section. They also have some great pre made dinner/lunch options!

[winecat]

I hate Sprouts. The produce is usually not good and has a short shelf life, and very little is grown in the US. You have to watch expiration dates on dairy. They pretend to be a local and natural but they're neither. They sell the same brands as a regular grocery store (artificial colors, flavors, preservatives) but charge more. It's a total poser.

[puppyluv]

I love our Sprouts. The veggies I get are great and their chicken is good too. The bakery has awesome salted caramel cookies and their bread to pretty good. They tend to have more natural/organic items on their shelves so less selection but since the husband is vegetarian i find more options for him there than other grocry stores.

[scribellesam]

I love the produce at our Sprouts (SoCal) but maybe it’s regional? I try not to get anything else there, too expensive. I shop the weekly produce sales and buy everything else at a different store.

[tacokick]

So mixed reviews! I’ll check it out but it doesn’t seem like I have to rush.

[eb777888]

I LOVE Sprouts. I especially love their meat. I don't buy organic from Sprouts because I feel I don't need to. It's pretty cheap, or at least the equivalent to Kroger prices, but it's such better quality. I also like their produce and have zero issue with the quality of it. I walk out of there spending so much less than I do at my other grocery stores. The only dairy I buy is goat cheese and the occasional almond milk. I buy very little shelf items because they are $$$, so I just browse what's on sale. I do find canned coconut milk to be half the cost compared to other grocery stores (the Sprouts brand).

I recall having this talk on here many times. Sprouts seems to be very hit or miss regionally.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I like Sprouts; I typically buy meat (especially sausage - they make their own in store daily), dairy, and bulk foods like nuts. It's MUCH cheaper than whole foods and not as claustrophobic and anxiety inducing as trader joes. It's a nice middle-ground. I don't bother with organic produce there; I prefer their non-organic because it seems like the non-organic is more local than the organic farms (which is strange because we do have a lot of organic producers like Capay) nearby. I don't notice a lot of imported produce except the traditional stuff like bananas, but again, I pretty much live in America's CSA, so ...

I still buy canned goods at Trader Joes because it's a lot cheaper for the same products.

[yentl]

I haven't been but we are getting one nearby as well this fall. I'm a little bitter... I was hoping it was going to be a Trader Joe's.

[isabel]

I feel like it really depends on the store. The one by our old house was fantastic. Clean, well stocked, and had great prices on veggies and meat. The one by our new house is terrible.

If you end up with a good one, I have generally found their prices on produce to be significantly better than any other store. So much so that it was worth it to me to go to two stores.

[tcu2003]

I love the one near me. I’ve never had issues with their dairy, produce, or meats. I’m a huge fan of their smoked Gouda in the bulk cheese section - it’s delicious!

[goldengirlz]

Jul 19, 2018 20:30:38 GMT -5 gastro said:

Our sprouts is like the ugly step sister to Whole Foods. The produce is not as good and the bulk bin management isn’t as clean.

But it’s cheaper.

[starlily]

Jul 19, 2018 21:07:35 GMT -5 scribellesam said:

I love the produce at our Sprouts (SoCal) but maybe it’s regional? I try not to get anything else there, too expensive. I shop the weekly produce sales and buy everything else at a different store.

Ditto.

Wednesdays are double ad days, so you can take advantage of what was on sale the previous week and what will be on sale for the upcoming week. I usually stock up on produce then. I also scout their ads for some other items like their pollo asado, fresh sausages, certain frozen items, vitamins, and beauty products.

[tacom]

Jul 19, 2018 21:07:35 GMT -5 scribellesam said:

I love the produce at our Sprouts (SoCal) but maybe it’s regional? I try not to get anything else there, too expensive. I shop the weekly produce sales and buy everything else at a different store.

I’ve only been here a week and half but this is my plan so far, after scoping out several local stores. The produce I bought last week was amazingly fresh and on killer sale. The shelf stable items were overly marked up and I couldn’t find a non hippy-dippy ketchup (no sugar added???)

[vanlatte]

There are three Sprouts within a 5 mile radius of my house, and I don't think any of them are that great. There is a wide variety produce, but it never seems to be very fresh. We had a really nice Whole Foods, but it closed down a year or two ago, when a Lazy Acres opened up in the same city. I was so pissed off, until I went there. OMG, I love that store so much. No way WF or Sprouts can compete with their quality and diversity of items.

[JayhawkGirl]

I like ours, and definitely save money on produce we like. Ours often has low/no inventory on basics like 93 lean beef and chicken breasts, which has been disappointing. I like their bulk bins for rice, oatmeal, nuts, etc.

[winecat]

Jul 19, 2018 21:42:18 GMT -5 isabel said:

I feel like it really depends on the store. The one by our old house was fantastic. Clean, well stocked, and had great prices on veggies and meat. The one by our new house is terrible.

If you end up with a good one, I have generally found their prices on produce to be significantly better than any other store. So much so that it was worth it to me to go to two stores.

I've been to a couple in town but maybe I'm going to the wrong ones.  

[tacokick]

Jul 19, 2018 22:00:51 GMT -5 starlily said:

Jul 19, 2018 21:07:35 GMT -5 scribellesam said:

I love the produce at our Sprouts (SoCal) but maybe it’s regional? I try not to get anything else there, too expensive. I shop the weekly produce sales and buy everything else at a different store.

Ditto.

Wednesdays are double ad days, so you can take advantage of what was on sale the previous week and what will be on sale for the upcoming week. I usually stock up on produce then. I also scout their ads for some other items like their pollo asado, fresh sausages, certain frozen items, vitamins, and beauty products.

Double ad days sound amazing.

[isabel]

Jul 19, 2018 22:38:51 GMT -5 winecat said:

Jul 19, 2018 21:42:18 GMT -5 isabel said:

I feel like it really depends on the store. The one by our old house was fantastic. Clean, well stocked, and had great prices on veggies and meat. The one by our new house is terrible.

If you end up with a good one, I have generally found their prices on produce to be significantly better than any other store. So much so that it was worth it to me to go to two stores.

I've been to a couple in town but maybe I'm going to the wrong ones.  

The one on Colorado Blvd at Yale is great. The other two near me now (off Arapahoe and 25 and in Parker) both suck. The one near work in Westminster is pretty decent. Like I said, very hit or miss.

[gastro]

Jul 19, 2018 22:00:42 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Jul 19, 2018 20:30:38 GMT -5 gastro said:

Our sprouts is like the ugly step sister to Whole Foods. The produce is not as good and the bulk bin management isn’t as clean.

But it’s cheaper.

Sure, but bad produce ends up costing me more in the long run because I’m throwing it out. And Whole Foods will happily take anything back that isn’t good quality. Also, my local Whole Foods actually supports small farmers/food makers in my area.

[winecat]

Jul 19, 2018 22:41:44 GMT -5 isabel said:

Jul 19, 2018 22:38:51 GMT -5 winecat said:

I've been to a couple in town but maybe I'm going to the wrong ones.  

The one on Colorado Blvd at Yale is great. The other two near me now (off Arapahoe and 25 and in Parker) both suck. The one near work in Westminster is pretty decent. Like I said, very hit or miss.

I'm rarely in those areas.  I've gone to the one on 38th Ave and the one east Colfax.  My first love is Vitamin Cottage.  lol

[alleinesein]

We have 2 Sprouts that are local to us. The newer one is okay; it is bigger but doesn't seem to have as many items and their bakery section is lackluster.

Double ad Wednesdays are nice. Ours carries dairy items from smaller dairies in SoCal. Produce is hit or miss; sometimes it is really good and other times it is pretty picked over.

[frlcb]

Sprouts is so gross, the produce and meat are awful.

[steamboat185]

I love Sprouts, but it definitely depends on the store and when you go. I can easily by a ton of produce grown in the US for under 40 dollars. We also get our deli meat there.

I’m in CO too and agree the store on Arapahoe sucks. Colorado and Yale is my home store and I’ve had great luck with their produce and in season they definitely have a lot of Colorado grown options.