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April 18, 2012
Trader Joe's to open near former Seaholm Power Plant in 2013
After months of rumors, Trader Joe’s has finally confirmed that the wildly popular California-based grocery chain will be opening a location in Austin in 2013.
Where? The Seaholm Power Plant, the already iconic space in downtown Austin just a few blocks from Whole Foods Market that is about to be redeveloped. (The 11,500-square-foot store won’t actually be inside the former plant but in one of the nearby mixed-use buildings.)
Boy, oh, boy, oh, boy. I’ve lived near Trader Joe’s before and have been watching the excitement build for the chain’s entry into the Texas market. That they are opening a store in such a recognizable location so close to the Whole Foods’ flagship store makes the news even bigger than expected. Statesman business reporter Brian Gaar has the full scoop in today’s paper.
Rendering from Trader Joe’s.
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March 30, 2012
Whole Foods Market to stop selling red-rated seafood a year ahead of self-imposed deadline
Whole Foods Market has become the first grocery chain in the nation to stop selling fish and other seafood that are considered unsustainable.
In 2010, the Austin-based chain had pledged to stop selling so-called red-rated seafood by Earth Day 2013, but the store announced on Friday that it would do so a year ahead of the self-imposed deadline.
All red-rated fish, species that are being overfished or whose current fishing methods harm other marine life or habitats, should be out of stores by Earth Day 2012, which is April 22. This includes Atlantic halibut, grey sole and skate. Red-rated fish orange roughy and bluefin tuna haven’t been sold in stores for a number of years.
The sustainability rating program is a partnership between the Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium, which runs the Seafood Watch program.
This news primarily affects the availability of Atlantic cod and sole, two red-rated fish that were to be the only hold outs between April 22, 2012 and April 22, 2013, but the store decided to eliminate those fish a year early.
“We are now able to offer more sustainable seafood choices than ever before, and we are thrilled that our suppliers have worked with us so swiftly to find high-quality green- and yellow-rated seafood so we could not only meet, but beat our deadline. This shift allows us to promote and highlight fisheries that use responsible fishing methods and source from areas where fish are most abundant and fisheries are well-managed,” said David Pilat, Whole Foods Market’s global seafood buyer, in a press release Friday.
Photo from Whole Foods Market.
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March 12, 2012
Sprouts, Sunflower merge grocery store chains
When you’re competing against large-scale natural food grocers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, sometimes it’s good strategy to team up with your fellow competitors.
On Friday, Sprouts Farmers Market and Sunflower Farmers Market — which, despite their names, are grocery store chains, not farmers markets — announced that they were merging, the second such merger for Sprouts in less than a year.
The combined new company will operate 139 stores under the Sprouts Farmers Market name and will have about 10,000 employees.
Right now, there are 35 Sunflower stores, including one in Austin at 6920 Manchaca Road, and just more than 100 Sprouts locations. Last year, the chain ended up closing several of the Austin-area stores after a merger with Sun Harvest left the company with too many stores too close together.
There are now three Sprouts locations in Austin, 110 N. Interstate 35, 10225 Research Blvd., 4006 S. Lamar Blvd., and the South Austin Sunflower will transition to Sprouts by the end of the year.
Photo by Amy Gutierrez for the Associated Press.
Permalink | | Categories: Food in the news, Grocery goods
November 30, 2011
Months after Sun Harvest merger, Sprouts closing half its Austin-area stores
Sprouts, the Arizona-based grocery chain, announced this week that it is closing three of its six Austin-area stores.
Brian Gaar has the full story in today’s business section, but the headline says it all. The company says that after it merged with the California-based Henry’s Farmers Market, which operated the Sun Harvest stores, it had too many stores too close together in Austin, a city with plenty of natural grocer options in the first place.
The stores at 2917 W. Anderson Lane, 2805 Bee Cave Road and 5601 Brodie Lane (above) will all close by Dec. 18, and most of the 120 employees at those stores will be relocated to the remaining stores, but 30 to 40 of them will likely be laid off, president Doug Sanders said.
I shop occasionally at the former Sun Harvest/now Sprouts on South Lamar, and I was surprised that of the three stores in the area (the other two are on Brodie Lane and Bee Cave), this is the one they chose to keep. It’s a smaller store than the other two locations, and it’s right across the highway from Central Market Westgate and Randall’s. (The Target across South Lamar also recently added more grocery options, too.)
The Brodie store, which was one of the first that the company opened in the Austin area in 2009, is much larger and is more than a mile from the HEB at Brodie and William Cannon. I haven’t been inside the Rollingwood store, but I presumed they’d keep the Brodie location as the primary South Austin store.
Gaar notes in the story that two new Whole Foods stores are opening next year: One in the Shops at Arbor Trails at South MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and the other in the Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave.
I haven’t been other the Sprouts stores in Austin. Do you shop at them? Will you miss the ones that are closing in a few weeks?
Photo by Alberto Martínez for the Austin American-Statesman.
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October 21, 2011
Help me help others find Schweddy Balls in Austin
It’s been a few weeks since word spread that Ben and Jerry’s was actually going to release an ice cream called Schweddy Balls, inspired by the 1998 “Saturday Night Live” skit.
In case you need a refresher:
Not everyone was happy with this tongue-in-cheek treat, but that hasn’t stopped Schweddy Balls ice cream from popping up in grocery stores across the country.
The problem is, it’s not everywhere. A reader emailed me this morning to ask where she could find some in Austin, and the @cherrygarcia Twitter account pointed me to this awesome crowdsourced campaign and map to help people find Schweddy Balls ice cream. (They even have established a #helpmefindschweddyballs hashtag.)
From the map, it looks like there have been confirmed sightings at the HEB at Oltorf and Congress, and word on the ‘net is that it’s been found at the HEB on Louis Henna Boulevard in Round Rock and at the HEB at Parmer Lane and Interstate 35.
If you find the ice cream on your grocery adventures, plot it on the map and help other people find their own Schweddy Balls.
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June 15, 2011
In effort to cut waste, Austinites plan to open package-free grocery store this fall
A group of Austinites is hoping to open a zero-waste grocery store in East Austin this fall that, unlike traditional stores, doesn’t sell food in disposable packaging.
Customers at In.gredients will be asked to bring in their own containers or use the store’s reusable ones to buy items shipped in bulk instead of pre-packaged in boxes, bags or plastic.
In.gredients has started getting the word out about the project through its website, Twitter account and Facebook page.
Marketing director Brian Nunnery says that in order to open store as planned in October, they need to meet several fundraising goals before then. They have started taking contributions through Indie GoGo, but will be hosting other fundraising events later in the year.
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Gettin' real in the Whole Foods parking lot
Hat tip to copy desk foodie Ponch Garcia for sending me this hilarious video by Fog and Smog, “a creative collective of culture vultures from the SF Bay Area and Los Angeles.”
Props to the Fog and Smog team for finding ways to include Master Cleanse, quinoa, Humbolt Fog and pinot noir under $20 in a rap song about a grocery store.
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June 10, 2011
Sprouts taking over Sun Harvest stores
With Whole Foods Markets and Central Market getting all the attention in the natural/gourmet grocery scene, it’s easy for forget the dozen or so mid-range stores that sells plenty of gluten-free, specialty and organic products.
Sprouts, Sunflower Market and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage are now spread throughout Central Texas, but Sun Harvest was here before they came on the scene. (Wheatsville Co-op, which opened in 1976, is in its own category.)
But not anymore.
As business reporter Brian Gaar reported earlier this week, Sprouts is taking over the two Sun Harvest stores in the Austin area as part of its merger with Henry’s Farmers Market, which operates Sun Harvest, that happened earlier this year.
Now there will be six Sprouts stores in the Austin area, but the transition in the former Sun harvest stores will be slow. “We’re always very careful not to change too much, too fast,” president Doug Sanders told Gaar.
Whole Foods Market has plans for two more stores in Austin in the next few years, including one in Southwest Austin as early as this fall. Trader Joe’s hopes to open its first Texas store in Dallas later this year, but it won’t be opening any in Austin anytime soon.
Photo by Ricardo Brazziell for the Austin American-Statesman.
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May 2, 2011
The fascinating world of grocery lists
“If you buy more rice — I’ll punch you.”
Since 1997, Bill Keaggy has been collecting grocery lists, one of which included that not-so-subtle hint to not buy any more rice.
Grocery lists are just one of the many collections, lists and virtual projects that Keaggy keeps on his immaculately curated site. (Don’t you wish you had a running list of every band you’ve seen? What about every day of the year you turned 30? Shoe-shaped rocks, anyone?)
The St. Louis-based designer/brand marketer/graphic artist has personally found many of the lists, and like Found magazine, people often send him lists they find in the bottom of grocery carts, near the check-out line or in the parking lot outside. Yes, some of them are mundane, but usually, there is some element that is funny, sad or in some other way worth noting. (Here are his top 10 lists from the past 10 years.)
Keaggy turned his collection of lists into “Milk Eggs Vodka,” a book that came out in 2007 that was released in paperback last month.
Last year, he went on Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk about the book and why it’s so fascinating to read other people’s lists.
Don’t believe him?
I found the grocery list at the top of this post at HEB last week. “Chow mein crunchies” are definitely worth a chuckle, but “something for calming” made me pause.
Have you ever found and kept a grocery list from the store? Do you even write grocery lists anymore or has your mobile device replaced the need for a paper list?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Chewing the fat, Grocery goods
April 18, 2011
Target, Randalls rank higher than Whole Foods, HEB in Greenpeace report
Every year for the past five years, Greenpeace International has published a report on the state of the world’s seafood that includes a ranking of grocers according to what they are doing to promote the sale of sustainable fish and help prevent the collapse of certain species, and in this year’s report, released last week, both Target and Safeway ranked higher than the Austin-based Whole Foods Market. (Safeway operates under the Randalls and Tom Thumb store names in Texas.)
Both HEB, which came in 14th in the list, and Whole Foods sell more than half of the fish, scallops, shrimp and clams seafoods that are on Greenpeace’s red list, including Alaskan pollock, Atlantic salmon, Chilean sea bass, red snapper and yellowfin tuna. Whole Foods has said that stores are in the process of phasing out the most vulnerable wild-caught seafood in the next few years, and tuna and swordfish are supposed to be out of stores by Earth Day, which is Friday.
Greenpeace spokesman Casson Trenor says that because of consumer pressure, 15 retailers have received a passing score this year, which is a big difference from the first year they ranked grocers and none of them passed Greenpeace’s benchmarks.
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March 29, 2011
Mrs. Butterworth takes cue from Barbie to get kids to eat more syrup
There are a thousand egregious examples of irresponsible food marketing toward kids, and because I don’t have all day to blog about each of them, I usually just cringe and go about my business, but not today.
Obamafoodorama tweeted about this Mrs. Butterworth campaign that allows kids to download “accessories” that they can use to dress up special edition bottles of syrup. Think Mr. Potato Head or Barbie, but on a bottle that contains nothing but sugar and artificial flavorings.
Maybe I’m particularly sensitive to this campaign because my son is obsessed with both Mr. Potato Head and pancakes right now, so I can tell you first hand that kids really don’t need any encouragement to eat more syrup.
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March 22, 2011
Amid soaring food prices, how are you coping?
You can cut back on how much you drive, and you can cut back on what kind of food you buy, but there’s only so much penny pinching you can do in terms of feeding your family and your car.
Analysts have said that food prices rose faster in February than they have since 1974. Disastrous freezes earlier this year in Texas and Florida are to blame, experts say, as are rising commodity prices for things like corn, wheat and soybeans in every corner of the globe. And because cows, pigs and chickens eat feed made primarily from those ingredients, meat, milk and egg prices have shot up, too.
What’s a grocery shopper to do?
It’s worth pointing out that even with rising food costs, Americans still pay less of their overall income on food than just about anyone else in the world. (Less than 10 percent of our paychecks goes toward food, far less than the 20 or even 50 percent in other countries.)
We’ve grown to expect a dozen eggs to cost less than $1.50, a pound of butter to run about $2 and a loaf of decent whole wheat bread to hover around $2.50, but those prices can’t last forever. When lean ground beef tops $4 per pound, do you buy the cheaper, fattier ground chuck?
When I notice that my grocery bill is running high, I consciously try to make the food that I do buy last longer. I cringe a little more when I dig spoiled leftovers out of the back corner of the fridge and have to toss them into the compost pile.
In terms of both price and quality, produce is one of the most volatile areas of the grocery store. Just last week, I noticed that the price on squash had doubled, but broccoli was about the same, which is why we’re eating a lot of broccoli this week.
When the basics cost more, I’m less likely to splurge on anything special or out-of-the-ordinary. It makes cooking a little less interesting, but it makes me grateful that I have access to fresh food and money to pay for it in the first place.
What price increases have you noticed lately? How do you change your shopping habits when the cost of food goes up?
Photos from the Associated Press.
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August 17, 2010
Hatch Madness: Central Market recipe contest, classes and Chuy's special menu
The only thing hotter than the temperatures outside this time of year are the green chiles being trucked in from the small town of Hatch, N.M., by local grocery stores and restaurants.
The beloved Hatch chiles are hotter this year than most, says Lee Crenshaw, a longtime produce buyer with Central Market who helped create the Hatch mania that now descends on Central Texas every August.
“Hatch peppers are a variety of Anaheim peppers,” but in order to be called Hatch peppers, they have to grow in or near Hatch, N.M., Crenshaw says. “The soil and climate is what gives those peppers distinct characteristics.”
This year marks the 15th year of Central Market’s Hatch festivities, but now you can find both roasted and unroasted Hatch peppers at dozens of stores around Central Texas, including H-E-B and Whole Foods (the peppers cost $1.29 per pound raw and $2.79 per pound roasted at Central Market and H-E-B, $1.99 per pound raw and $6 per pound roasted at Whole Foods.) Both Whole Foods Market stores in Austin will be hosting free Hatch events from noon to 3 p.m. Aug. 28.
Home cooks have until Aug. 19 to submit their recipe online into Central Market’s annual No-Holds-Barred recipe contest. Two winners, one for both the Westgate and North Lamar stores, will go home with 75 pounds of roasted Hatch chile peppers and a $100 gift card. Marianne Roeder was one of the winners last year with her roasted chile and corn pizza (see recipe below).
Chuy’s annual green chile festival, now in its 22nd year, kicks off Aug. 30, runs through Sept. 19 and will feature six new dishes laced with — or in some cases drowning in — Hatch chiles, including chile-spiced grilled tilapia roja, spinach queso blanco with pepper jack cheese and chiles, roasted pork enchiladas with a green chile salsa costeña and Hatch green chile fajita beef tacos. You can also buy the spicy Hatch green chile sauce in the stores ($6.39 for 16 ounces, $11.59 for 32 ounces).
Don’t know a thing about Hatch? Check out some of the Hatch-themed cooking classes at the North Lamar Central Market and the Whole Foods Market downtown.
Central Market classes include: Hatch quick-fire challenge ($50) at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 30 featuring Parkside chef Shawn Cirkiel and Central Market executive chef Larry Guilbeau, Hatch chile fiesta ($50) at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 2 with Aunt Pearl Burras of Greater Tuna fame and Hotter Than Hatch with cooking instructor Scot Loranc at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 4 ($40).
At Whole Foods Market, Indian culinary expert Chaya Rao will teach a Hatch chiles and vegetarian global cuisine class ($45) at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 26.
Roasted Chile and Corn Pizza
For crust:
2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. turbinado sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. instant yeast
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
2 roasted Hatch chiles, finely diced
1 cup water
For sauce:
1 7 ounce jar tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 Tbsp. chile oil
1 tsp. cumin
salt, to taste
Toppings:
About 14 oz. grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
Chopped onion
Chopped green bell pepper
Chopped tomato
2 roasted Hatch chiles, chopped
Roasted corn, cut off of the cob
About 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
For crust, mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add softened butter and mix thoroughly. Add cilantro and chiles; mix well. Slowly add water until dough forms a smooth, non-sticky ball. Cover and let rise in a warm place 1-2 hours until doubled. Gently deflate and split into two equal pieces, let rest 10 minutes then roll into circles and place on greased pizza pans.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together tomato paste, wine, chile oil, cumin and salt. Spread a thin layer of sauce on pizza dough, top with mozzarella and desired amounts of toppings. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and bake 30 minutes or until done. Makes two pizzas.
— Marianne Roeder
Photos by Larry Kolvoord for the Austin American-Statesman.
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August 4, 2010
Probiotics are all the rage, even for yogurt haters
Don’t like yogurt? You’re not alone.
To some taste buds, no amount of sugar in the world can overcome the tartness inherent to yogurt. And believe me, judging by the amount of sugar in most commercial yogurts, the yogurt-makers are certainly trying to make it palatable to everyone.
Thankfully, I’m in the yogurt-lovers camp. I eat them all: Greek yogurt, plain yogurt with a little bit of honey stirred in, drinkable yogurt, frozen yogurt and, as of the past few years, Jamie Lee Curtis-endorsed yogurt (mainly because there’s usually a killer coupon for Activia in the Sunday paper that brings the cost down to about 25 cents a cup).
Probiotics — and the booming probiotic-enriched product industry — are the subject of a story I wrote for today’s paper. Food manufacturers are finding ways to incorporate the good-for-you microbes found naturally in fermented foods including yogurt, miso, tempeh, buttermilk, kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi into everyday products such as cereal, bread, tortillas, chocolate, hummus and, according to a press release I just got today, ready-to-eat desserts like cheesecake.
Because women make up more than 80 percent of the yogurt market (please tell me you’ve seen this Sarah Haskins video mocking yogurt commercials), many of the probiotic-fortified products are targeted toward men.
Keeping your digestive system on track in this junk food- and antibiotic-packed world isn’t easy (this certainly isn’t a gender-specific problem), but it isn’t all about keeping you regular. Scientists are finding that certain strains of bacteria and yeast might help lower cholesterol and blood pressure and ease ulcers, tooth decay, vaginal infections and possibly even prevent colon cancer.
It will be interesting to see how far food manufacturers take this probiotic craze before the pendulum swings back and people start looking to naturally fermented foods to maintain a healthy gut.
In the meantime, I’m content getting beneficial microorganisms into my system by eating things like mangoes swimming in White Mountain’s gloriously rich and tart (not to mention Austin-made) Bulgarian yogurt and its 90 billion cultures-per-serving glory.
How do you like your yogurt? If not yogurt, do you eat other fermented or probiotic-enriched foods? Has Ms. Regularity, Jamie Lee Curtis, had anything to do with your decision?
Top photos by Thao Nguyen for the Austin American-Statesman.
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July 13, 2010
Royal Blue Grocery to open third location downtown
Royal Blue Grocery, the downtown merchant that’s more like an upscale convenience store for people who work and live in Austin’s urban center, is adding a third location in mid-October at 609 Congress Ave., in between Sixth and Seventh streets.
The store will be located in the space that Wiki Wiki Teriyaki once occupied and will feature a full kitchen, delivery and catering in addition to hundreds of food and non-food products, many of which are made by local companies.
Photo from Royal Blue.
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February 11, 2010
Antonelli's Cheese Shop brings artisan cheese to Hyde Park
John and Kendall Antonelli know that Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, their artisan cheese store at 4220 Duval Street that opened today, won’t have the biggest cheese selection in town — after all, the overflowing cheese counters at Central Market and Whole Foods are within five miles of their Hyde Park location — but they are hoping to offer cheese lovers a more intimate cheese-buying experience.
They know exactly how it feels to stand in front of hundreds of exotic-sounding cheeses and not know where to start. Three years ago, John was a certified public accountant and Kendall was working for a nonprofit. They were enamored with cheese, but mainly, they wanted to start a business where they could work together. On their honeymoon, John pitched an idea: What about starting a cheese business? Without hesitation, Kendall agreed.
They’ve spent the last two years learning everything they could about cheese, including what it takes to start a small-scale store. They visited Europe and followed the “fromage” signs on the side of the road to find cheesemakers who would become their teachers. John even interned in the caves of rural France to discover how terroir affects aging cheese.
“We cold-called cheesemongers across the country and not one person hung up the phone on us,” she said on opening day. “The cheese community has been wonderful to us.”
In addition to between 75 and 100 different kinds of cheeses, the Antonellis are also selling wine, charcuterie, crackers, chocolate, olives and other foods that you’d need for a cheese tasting party at your house. You’ll also find several Texas cheeses, including those from CKC Farms, Veldhuizen, Brazos Valley and Pola, in the refrigerated case.
After they get their legs under them, the Antonellis hope to start guided tastings and classes on Thursday nights to help customers learn even more about the complex world of cheese. “The thing with cheese is education. Teaching people about cheese and letting them try it before they buy it is so important,” John Antonelli said. “Telling people about the story behind the cheese and what makes it so special. That’s what we wanted to do.”
(4220 Duval Street, 531-9610. Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.)
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Eating locally, Grocery goods
January 12, 2010
Grocery store check-out lane is more than a point of purchase
Just before Christmas, I donned a red polo shirt and a nametag and showed up for duty at one of Austin’s busiest H-E-B stores.
I’d approached Leslie Lockett, director of public affairs for H-E-B, a few weeks earlier with a crazy proposal: Could I work the check-out line at one of H-E-B’s Austin stores?
To my surprise, she said yes.
In tomorrow’s food section, you’ll find the resulting story, which — to my surprise — ended up being less about the logistics of being a checker and more about the brief, but meaningful interaction with customers. (Click here for a photo gallery.)
Food is such an intimate part of our lives, and it’s the checkers’ job to handle everything from your kids’ favorite breakfast cereal, the frozen dinners you’ll be eating for lunch all week to the ingredients you’ll lovingly turn into lavish meals for guests. Both cashiers and customers probably don’t think twice about this interaction, but if you step back and look at it, it’s a pretty unique relationship.
Have you spent time on the other side of the register? What lessons (good or bad) did you learn?
Video by Kelly West.
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September 18, 2009
Free food (and delivery) offer from Schwan's
Through the end of September, Schwan’s is inviting new customers to try any item up to $10 for free, including free delivery. The company, which started in the early 1950s in Minnesota and now delivers throughout the lower 48 states, offers a large selection of meats, vegetables, desserts and frozen meals.
To try a product for free, go to schwans.com/free to sign up for a free account, place the order and pick a delivery date (no credit card number required), usually within a week of ordering.
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September 14, 2009
Hunters, sausage-makers flock to Hudson's
Variety is the name of Hudson’s game.
Hudson’s Sausage Co., 1800 S. Congress Ave., has been processing hunters’ deer and other wild game since it opened in 1969, but the store has expanded to sell sausages and other meats in a small retail section at the front of the facility. You can buy hardwood-smoked beef, pork and venison sausages, jerky, chorizo, chop steaks, snack sticks and fajita meat.
Central Market also recently signed on to carry Hudson’s venison and wild boar sausage links ($6.50 for 12 ounces) at most of its stores in the state, and Hudson’s meat is carried at several restaurants in the area, including Frank , the Frisco Shop , Railroad Bar-B-Que and Ken’s Subs, Tacos & More.
Supervisor Scott L. Grumbles (left, with Hudson’s Sausage owner Barret Klein) says Hudson’s will process everything from buffalo to wild hogs and elk, and during the deer hunting season this fall, he expects to process more than 6,000 deer for hunters. But you don’t have to be a hunter to make sausage at home, and the company sells casings and pork trim for do-it-yourselfers.
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September 4, 2009
First impressions of Sprouts, the new kid on the grocery store block
Early this morning, grocery store geeks lined up for grand opening celebrations at the first two Sprouts Farmers Market grocery stores in Austin. I wasn’t there early enough for a breakfast buffet or bag filled with goodies, but I did stop by the Sunset Valley store around 9 a.m. to shoot a video and stock up on food for the Labor Day weekend.
The Arizona-based grocery chain is expanding rapidly, with at least two more stores planned for Austin. The blog post I wrote last week about the openings sparked quite a few comments about the location of the stores and the state of Austin’s grocery store scene.
So how does Sprouts size up to the half dozen other “natural grocers” in town? Sprouts offer organic, natural and mainstream products, but don’t expect to find a box of Cocoa Puffs or bag of Lays potato chips. And on the other hand, you won’t find a chocolate fountain, obscure sea creatures or cheese section the size of your living room.
The store, located at 5601 Brodie Lane in an old Linen ‘N’ Things, seems slightly larger than the Newflower Farmers’ Market at Manchaca Road and William Cannon Boulevard just a few miles away, and it has a bakery and butchery, which leads me to my favorite find: freshly made sausage. Few stores make their own sausage, but Sprouts is preparing more than a dozen kinds of MSG- and nitrate-free sausages, all priced at about $4 a pound. (I bought about three pounds of bratwurst and sausage on sale for $2.99/pound.)
Organic produce, like most grocery stores, takes up only part of the sizable produce section, and they had plenty of decently priced conventionally grown produce. Don’t forget wine (they’ve got 3 bottles for $10 on certain wines right now), beer and a good number of bulk items, including nuts, granola, flour, sugar, etc.
Joe Dobrow, vice president and chief marketer, was there for the opening, and he says the Rollingwood store (2805 Bee Cave Road) will open on Oct. 16. The Great Hills location (10225 Research Blvd.) is scheduled to open the first part of January, and Dobrow says they are looking for other locations in Central Texas.
Did anyone go to the Round Rock store at 110 N. Interstate 35 this morning? If you went to one of the openings, I’m interested to hear you first impressions.
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August 28, 2009
First of five Austin Sprouts grocery stores to open Sept. 4
Austin is about to be inundated with natural foods.
I’m not talking about the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival this weekend (although I’m sure there will be plenty of organic and preservative-free options at the annual fiery fete at Waterloo Park), but a week from today, the first two Sprouts Farmers Market grocery stores in Austin will open, followed by two more in October. A fifth location should open in 2010.
Without mentioning Whole Foods Market, Central Market, Wheatsville Co-op, Sun Harvest or newcomers Newflower Farmers Market and Natural Grocers, the company called Austin “the pulse of the natural foods movement for nearly three decades.”
Around 7 a.m. on Sept. 4, first two stores will open at 5601 Brodie Lane and 110 N. Interstate 35 in Round Rock, followed by a grand opening breakfast buffet. Stores at 10225 Research Blvd. and 2805 Bee Cave Road will open in October.
The Arizona-based grocery chain offers all-natural meats, bulk food, a bakery, some locally sourced produce and vitamins and supplements, and it will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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August 21, 2009
H-E-B takes HFCS out of kid products, adds label system
You might start seeing some new kid products and icons at H-E-B stores in coming weeks.
The grocery store chain, which started in Kerrville and now has more than 300 stores in Texas and Mexico, announced this week that it has relaunched H-E-Buddy, a line of foods and products aimed for kids, with new strict nutritional standards: no high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils, and a restricted number of calories from fat, saturated fat and sugar.
Molly McAdams, H-E-B brand development expert who helped relaunch the product line, explained the changes at an event earlier this week at an H-E-B in North Austin. “It’s wasn’t just about wellness,” McAdams said, it was also about making products that kids will have fun eating.
Another change that’s sure to catch astute shoppers’ attention: icons on the front of packages designating which H-E-B brand products are designed for weight management or are vegetarian, gluten-free, lactose-free or “natural” (free from preservatives, flavorings, additives or colors).
“We’re trying to make it easier for people to find these products,” McAdams said.
You’ll also start seeing colored bars on the front of packages to help customers determine which products are low in sodium, high in Omega-3 fatty acids, reduced or fat free, low cholesterol or a good source of fiber, minerals or vitamins.
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August 19, 2009
What's your tale of two milks?
I can’t be the only person in Austin who happily buys — and drinks — both soy and cow’s milk.
My kid has taken to soy milk “cocktails,” which is basically milk and chocolate syrup or powder that he gets to shake. We haven’t always been a two-milk family, but after the snot started running his first winter, we try to keep some around, especially during the fall and winter months, to keep dairy consumption — and therefore mucus — down along with the mucus it can make worse.
But even in hot weather months, it’s nice to have both in the fridge in case we want a slightly sweeter creamy fix from soy.
So, two milks, not for allergies or taste. Just because. The same reason you’d have both orange and apple juice in your fridge.
Anyone else find themselves with multiple kinds of milk after a big trip to the grocery store?
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August 12, 2009
Coupon Queen reduces grocery bill from $239 to $34
Coupons can be a hassle, but not for Susan Samtur, author of “Cashing in at the Checkout,” who has made a career out of showing people how to cut their grocery bills by more than half. Last week, Samtur was in Austin, where she used coupons and store discounts to reduce a Randalls grocery bill from $239 to $34.
Samtur says the key is buying only what you have a coupon for or what the store has on sale. “It’s so easy; you just have to look,” she says as she spies a buy-one-get-one (“bogo” in coupon lingo) offer for cake mix. Every week, she scans newspaper inserts, or circulars, to see what each store has on sale and clips every coupon she can find, including from Sunday papers, in bins at the fronts of grocery stores and online at sites such as coupons.com, redplum.com, smartsource.com and Samtur’s site, selectcouponprogram.com, which costs $4.99 a month.
She files them by category in a small accordion file and makes a list of what items to buy based on what coupons she has. “You have to be brand flexible,” she says, and make dishes based on what products, including meat and produce, are on sale.
Make sure you are getting the most out of coupons by shopping at stores that double or triple their value, she says, but don’t expect jaw-dropping savings like hers unless you can get coupons for free products, which you can often get by signing up for mailing lists on manufacturers’ Web sites and sending off for rebates and coupons advertised on the fronts of packages.
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May 20, 2009
Texas Best Barbeque Sauce is back on shelves
For years, the smoky, not-too-sweet sauce based on an Austin family recipe was one of the top-selling sauces in the country, says Alen Smith, whose great-aunt got the recipe from a teen who worked at her house in Austin in the 1930s. Smith was just 13 when he learned the recipe. He got the company off the ground in the late 1970s and eventually sold it.
Years after Smith sold the company, things went downhill and the sauce was pulled from grocery store shelves. In 2007, Smith bought the company back, and the famous sauce ($3.99), rub ($5.99) and hot sauce ($1.79) are available at H-E-B and several other large retailers again. “We brought it back to the way it originally was,” Smith says.
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May 12, 2009
A quiet opening today for Natural Grocers near UT campus
The Colorado-based Natural Grocers is set to open its first Austin location this week at 3901 Guadalupe St., just north of the University of Texas campus, but the big grand opening party isn’t until a week from today.
The store, which has 32 locations in three states, sells only organic produce, growth hormone-free milk, antibiotic-free meat and food that is free of preservatives, trans fats, hydrogenated oils and artificial coloring and sweeteners. It also has a bulk section and specializes in vitamins and supplements.
On Tuesday, May 19, the store will host a grand opening with a free barbecue, raffle and specials. The store will officially be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. I say officially because the publicist made a point to note that they aren’t firm on those hours, so if it’s 7:59 p.m. and you need to pop in, they aren’t going to kick you out.
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April 20, 2009
Trade plastic bags for reusable ones this Earth Day
Reusable bags were one of the most surprising and widespread shopping trends of 2008. Maybe the trend of 2009 will be remembering to bring them into the store.
For Earth Day on Wednesday, swap five plastic bags for a reusable one at any H-E-B and Central Market. H-E-B says it aims to bring in 1.5 million plastic bags by giving away 300,000 reusable bags from 3 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The offer is limited to one bag per customer.
In other saving-the-Earth news, Reynolds Wrap is now offering an aluminum foil that’s made from 100 percent recycled aluminum foil. The rolls (available in 50- and 35-square foot rolls for $2.99) are a good step in the right direction, but I know I won’t be the only one still delicately folding lightly-used foil to reuse it, just like my grandmother, who won’t let a square inch of the stuff to go waste.
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February 4, 2009
Gas is cheap, but what about food?
A lot can change in six months. We did a price comparison story last summer to look at how $4 a gallon gas was affecting food prices at local grocery stores.
The good news now is that gas prices are well below $2 a gallon, but the national economic turmoil is hitting both consumers and food companies.
How have prices held up? I popped by the H-E-B at South Congress and Oltorf the other day to find out. Interesting results.
- The biggest cost increases were in corn flakes (from $1.19 cents to $1.38), carrots (50 cents to 79 cents), kidney beans (from 55 cents to 74 cents), whole wheat bread (from $1.39 a loaf to $1.93), eggs (from $1.27 to $2.14)
- I was most surprised by the handful of items whose prices fell in the past six months: butter (from $2.29 to $2), mayonnaise (from $3.98 to $3.59). Milk dropped 55 cents from $3.89 a gallon to $3.34. The price of apples also fell from $2.58 for two pounds to $1.98.
- A 13-ounce can of Folgers cost $3.54 last summer. It’s $3.29 now, but you’re only getting 11.5 ounces.
- Things that haven’t budged more than an cent or two include chicken noodle soup, lettuce, broccoli, sugar, toilet paper, peanut butter, lentils, frozen orange juice, chicken breasts and ground beef.
The grand total for all 20 items is $40, 27 cents less than it was in July and 50 cents more than it was two years ago.
Phil Lempert, the self-proclaimed Supermarket Guru who helped us out with the summer story, says that the Austin grocery market is one of the most competitive in the country and that H-E-B and Wal-Mart are usually neck-and-neck for the lowest prices.
Are you surprised by any of these numbers? What are you seeing in your grocery store? Do you spend more or less money depending on the time of year?
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November 10, 2008
Petersen brings the heat with line of salsas
Petersen is still planning to open a restaurant in Austin, tentatively called 12 Gage, sometime in 2009.
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