365, Value Brand of Champions

The achingly overplayed joke about how Whole Foods should be called “Whole Paycheck” may have lost its humor, but has it ceased to be truthful? It’s my opinion that the price of good organic foods and other products should reflect the quality of their ingredients, so I’m not sure it matters. This isn’t to say that I’ll just shell out the dough for whatever catches my fancy, however. I’ve got a budget just like everyone else, and because Ted and I are both self-employed, that budget fluctuates monthly. Sometimes I can feel good about throwing down some cash for pricier products I’ve had my eye on, and other times I’ve priced out every item in my cart and done the math in my head to make sure I didn’t exceed my budget for that trip. It’s these times, the lean ones, that make me thankful for Whole Food’s 365 brand.

I’m not going to go into Whole Foods’ other brands during this post, because there’s so many of them, and it gets confusing. You can see them in the aisles of its stores, brands like Whole Treat (which is excellent), Whole Pantry (a line of spices I sometimes use), and Whole Kids (which I don’t have much experience with). Sometimes you’ll see a Whole “Something” brand product next to a 365 product on the same shelf, which is not only confusing but redundant. So, I’m leaving out all these brands to focus on just one for this post, the 365 brand.

The 365 brand products can be divided by one major distinction: some are organic, and some are not. Just like in the rest of the store, the organic 365 products are generally a little more expensive than the non-organic ones, giving customers the choice to buy which version they want. I always prefer the organic 365 products, though sometimes they’re not available.

Buying a 365 brand product can be like an adventure. Sometimes they’re really, really good, and sometimes they stink. I wish I could tell you which are which, but that would take a ridiculously long time. Also, I’m not entirely sure myself. All I can tell you are the 365 products I buy, which means I tried them once and liked them enough to make then repeat items in our household. Here’s a list of the 365 products we currently have in our home (when the item listed isn’t organic, it’s because an organic option wasn’t available):

1. 365 organic grade A dark amber maple syrup
2. 365 shredded mozzarella cheese
3. 365 organic frozen peas
4. 365 raw sunflower kernels
5. 365 organic white basmati rice
6. 365 organic old-fashioned rolled oats
7. 365 organic fusilli
8. 365 wild-caught canned salmon
9. 365 arrowroot powder
10. 365 cream of tartar

I’m sure there are more great 365 products offered by Whole Foods, so make sure you try several out and decide for yourself which ones you like. They’re inexpensive enough that a few poor products won’t break your bank, and when you find products you like, it’s an exciting discovery. But I don’t recommend blindly trusting the 365 brand. For example, Ted once grabbed a bottle of paraben-free 365 Citrus Grapefruit Shower Gel at the store, only to discover (once he got it home) that the ingredient list contains sodium laureth sulfate and cocamidopropyl betaine, among other undesirable chemical ingredients. Like always, make sure you read the label of each 365 product before you toss it in your cart.

Overall, I’d say I like one 365 product in every two. That’s a fifty percent approval rate, which is pretty good. Out of the 365 products I don’t like, I’d say that half of those are alright, and half of them are downright gross. That’s a 25% disapproval rate, which also isn’t bad. The good news is that once you discover which products you like, you’ll be able to save a little money during those times when your budget is a little tighter. Fifty cents here and a dollar there can really add up over time. Just remember to stick with your standards, and you can really make the 365 brand products work for you.