Have Essex County Whole Foods’ Prices Dropped Since Amazon Merger?

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The much-heralded marriage between Amazon and Whole Foods is complete. But has the mega-merger made any difference to your grocery bill in Essex County?

When news of the recent deal was announced, company executives promised that it would end up saving Whole Foods’ customers money on their groceries.

“We’re determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone,” Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer said. “Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality.”

Some of the items that were expected to drop in price included Whole Trade bananas, organic avocados, organic large brown eggs, organic responsibly-farmed salmon and tilapia, organic baby kale and baby lettuce, animal-welfare-rated 85 percent lean ground beef, creamy and crunchy almond butter, organic Gala and Fuji apples, organic rotisserie chicken and 365 Everyday Value organic butter.

• See related article: Whole Foods' Prices Plummet As Amazon Takes Over Grocery

The promised price drops are significant for money-conscious Essex County residents. The area is currently home to 4 out of 17 Whole Foods locations in New Jersey:

• West Orange
• Newark
• Millburn-Union (located in Vauxhall)
• Montclair

Have the savings hit the shelves at Whole Foods in Essex County? Let us know if you’ve noticed a price drop (and on what items) at any of the above stores in the comments section.

Have a longer opinion on the Whole Foods/Amazon merger and local grocery prices? Send a letter to the editor to eric.kiefer@patch.com.

Photo by Rick Obst via Creative Commons