I know, I was so shocked when I tried it!! So good! :D
What else do you get there that's yummers? I'm going to Santa Fe in a few weeks & will be making a TJ run.

Oh, yeah, I like TJ's for their candy cane joe-joe's in the winter :)

Amy, it's in the fridge section.

Ooh, I love some of their nut mixes. I used to get glazed almonds there and they were really good, but I think they discontinued them.

I am officially going to TJ's when I get my first paycheck! Even though WF's is only like 15 minutes away I have never been there... I just hit up Mother's Market right by my house, it has lots of vegan stuffs :)

Mother's Market--that's one thing I miss about living in Orange County. I love grocery shopping, bulk buying and dining there.

Back to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. I have four(two of each) relatively close(less than a 15 minute walk or drive) to me.

I like buying coffee, vegan muffins, bananas, fresh blueberries, flax seed, dried fruit, nuts, evaporated cane juice, agave nectar, Clif Bars, and some canned goods at Trader Joe's.

I don't know why people say Whole Foods is so expensive. I buy oats(less than a dollar a pound) and other items--flours, grains, beans-- in the bulk bins and they are a lot less than buying them packaged at most grocery stores. Also, Whole Foods has a bunch of coupons in their booklets ranging from 50-cent to $2 off, certain items. For example, today I bought organic peanut butter, Almond Breeze and a Luna bar for a total of $2.93 using the coupons. The Organic 365 brand that Whole Foods carries is relatively inexpensive.

Also, Whole Foods carries a lot of products that Trader Joe's doesn't have. Spelt flour, barley flour, rice flour, soy flour, carob chips, kale, Daiya, brown rice crisp cereal, plain or vanilla vegan yogurt, vegan Amy's Organics pot pies, vegan supplements, fresh-baked vegan cookies and muffins, Earth Balance sticks, a vegan self-serve deli section and hot soups, vegan chocolate section, and lots of Asian, ethnic spices and items.

Lastly, at both the Whole Foods near me, they offer vegan and raw food cooking classes, samples and the customer service is outstanding. On a couple occasions the workers let me try food items for free before purchasing them in case I didn't like them.

I enjoy and frequent both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

I don't know why people say Whole Foods is so expensive.

It's expensive compared to my local hfs, especially for processed food.  I rarely buy it, but it's the example I can think of - vegan cheese is about $0.70 more a package at WF.  Just about everything is just a little more, which adds up for the total.  The way I see it, Whole Foods has the buying power of a national chain, they should be able to beat a locally owned place.  It feels like gouging.

I don't know why people say Whole Foods is so expensive.

It's expensive compared to my local hfs, especially for processed food.  I rarely buy it, but it's the example I can think of - vegan cheese is about $0.70 more a package at WF.  Just about everything is just a little more, which adds up for the total.  The way I see it, Whole Foods has the buying power of a national chain, they should be able to beat a locally owned place.  It feels like gouging.

I think part of the problem is actually that they have so many specialty items. It's like if you go to the "ethnic foods" section of a regular grocery store - everything there is pretty much overpriced, partly because very few people buy it, so they can only order small quantities and probably have to throw a significant quantity out compared to what they actually sell. While it's cool that WF has so many vegan products, there are only so many vegans buying it, so they might only buy, for instance, a dozen FYH cheese blocks per week. At TJs, they will discontinue any item that is *not* selling like hotcakes, so that they can still get a low price on a high volume. Also, TJs orders for their regional warehouse, rather than for an individual store. It's a good thing from a price perspective, but it sucks when something goes out of stock at the warehouse, because that means it might not be back for weeks. And, TJs has a smaller store, a very small stock area (SO FRUSTRATING!), and notoriously insufficient parking, so their rent is lower.

That being said, it seems like even some of the "staple" items are more expensive at Whole Foods... like fruit. Even when it's in season, and conventionally grown.

yeah, i suppose it's all a matter of perspective. since moving to pomona, i've gotten used to getting better prices or a lot of things, so places like Albertsons or Vons looks really expensive to me.
When I lived in West LA, the only place to get vegan cheese (exclude tofutti) was pretty much Whole Foods. The Santa Monica co-op has a few too, but it's the same price i think.

I know, I was so shocked when I tried it!! So good! :D
What else do you get there that's yummers? I'm going to Santa Fe in a few weeks & will be making a TJ run.

their "tortilla chips with an identity crisis" are pretty good. they're made from corn, potato, and brown rice, and are a little bit sweet.
other tasty things:
salsa especial
roasted tomato salsa
edamame hummus
chocolate seashells
any pasta sauce
goddess dressing
those frozen cucumber wontons things are unusual & tasty
tempeh's a good price
Just the Leaves romaine lettuce - 1.99 a bag, not weird tasting (some romaine is to me), and CLEAN (i hate cleaning dead bugs off of lettuce...)
tuscan pane
peach soy yogurt
satay noodles

and the list goes on...