Harris Teeter and Whole Foods are some of the more popular grocery stores in the country. They sell hundreds of thousands of items each year. But if you don’t know which one to shop at, or what the differences are, you come to the right place.
To help you make this decision, I took a look at three major decision making factors that most customers think of when they go to the grocery store:
- Price
- Quality
- Variety
By the end of this article you should have a much better understanding of which one is better for you.
Which is Better: Harris Teeter or Whole Foods? Harris Teeter is anywhere from 17% to 78% cheaper than Whole Foods. However, Whole Foods has much better quality products, according to the FDA.
Is Harris Teeter Cheaper Than Whole Foods?
When most people go grocery shopping, they want to make sure that the store they are shopping at is affordable. In other words, they want to get the most savings when they go grocery shopping.
So, to see which one is cheaper, between Harris Teeter and Whole Foods, I collected the prices of commonly purchased storebrand items and averaged each of them out over a set of categories. Through this I was able to compare each store on a level playing field.
Harris Teeter is anywhere from 17% to 78% cheaper than Whole Foods. In other words, Harris Teeter is significantly cheaper than Whole Foods.
| Category | Harris Teeter Avg Price | Whole Foods Avg Price |
| Beverages | $0.89 | $3.50 |
| Baking Goods | $1.99 | $2.99 |
| Canned Goods | $0.69 | $1.09 |
| Dairy | $3.39 | $5.99 |
| Dry Goods | $0.99 | $1.39 |
| Frozen Foods | $1.69 | $2.39 |
| Personal Care | $1.99 | $3.99 |
| Cleaners | $4.50 | $5.39 |
In every single category I looked at, Whole Foods was much more expensive than Harris Teeter. Especially for beverages, dairy, and personal care items. I created the bar chart below to further show the discrepancy between these prices.
The categories were Whole Foods and Harris Teeter were both close in price were the dry goods category, canned goods category, and the frozen vegetables category.
So, if you are someone who likes to save money while you shop, then Harris Teeter is the better choice.
Product Quality: Harris Teeter vs Whole Foods
Another consideration factor that most shoppers take a look at is the product quality. Customers wanna make sure that what they are buying is safe. So to figure out which grocery store has better quality products, I took a look at the FDA’s product recall database.
The FDA recall database allows anyone to look up how many recalls a certain store has had in recent years. So by looking at the amount of recalls both Harris Teeter and Whole Foods has, we can infer which one has better quality products.
Harris Teeter has 14 product recalls, whereas Whole Foods has two product recalls. This means that Whole Foods has much better quality products than Harris Teeter.
| Category | Harris Teeter Recalls | Whole Foods Recalls |
| Animal & Veterinary | 0 | 0 |
| Biologics | 0 | 0 |
| Cosmetics | 0 | 0 |
| Dietary Supplements | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | 0 | 0 |
| Food and Beverages | 14 | 2 |
| Medical Devices | 0 | 0 |
| Radiation Emitting Products | 0 | 0 |
| Tobacco | 0 | 0 |
Both Harris Teeter and Whole Foods had product recalls in the food and beverages category. This is expected as a majority of what the store sell our food and beverage products.
So, if product quality is something you consider when going to a grocery store, Whole Foods is the best option for you.
Product Variety: Harris Teeter vs Whole Foods
Product variety is also something that a lot of shoppers consider before they go to a store. They wanna make sure that the store they are buying from has enough variety and enough products for them to shop from.
From what I found, both Harris Teeter and Whole Foods carry the same amount of items and their stores. So no matter which one you visit, you are likely to find the same amount of product depth.
| Total Harris Teeter Products | Total Whole Foods Products |
| 30,000 | 30,000 |
Which One Should You Shop At: Harris Teeter vs Whole Foods?
When to shop at Harris Teeter: Harris teeter offers cheaper prices compared to Whole Foods. So if you are a shopper that likes to see savings and affordable prices, then they are the best option for you.
When to shop at Whole Foods: well they may not have the cheapest prices, Whole Foods has very good product quality. Compared to almost every other grocery store out there, they have the least amount of product recalls. This shows how high-quality their products are.