Buying organic groceries comes at a premium for some shoppers.
Shopper Diane Gall said, "I used to buy everything at Whole Foods, organic and I was spending a fortune."
But now most grocery store companies are offering a store brand organic alternative, like Krogers brand new Simple Truth line.
"Grocery stores have done a great job," said registered dietician Monica Bearden. "They are giving us organic products at a very reasonable price by having their own store label versus a private label."
But how big is the price difference? Bearden took us on an organic grocery store tour to show us how big the price difference is.
Simple Truth organic butter is $3.99 but the national brand Organic Valley is $9.99. That's a whopping six bucks difference.
Simple Truth organic quinoa costs $2.99, but the national brand is $6.69 and that's for less product.
Bearden said, "They buy in quantity so they are able to get it at a lower price versus a smaller label that might not have the quantity."
Over at H-E-B, the store prides itself on low prices on their Central Market organic label.
H-E-B spokesperson Cyndy Garza explained, "It's an owned brand product so we don't have to go to another vendor or a third party vendor. Specifically milk -- we have our own milk plant so it's produced here in Houston."
Horizon organic milk is $3.98 a gallon. H-E-B's Central Market price is $2.78. That's a difference of $1.20. Justin's organic peanut butter is $5.95 compared to Central Market's organic jar for $4.17. The difference is $1.78.
Out of the organic brands we price compared at H-E-B, by choosing the store brand, we saved five dollars on five items.
We also checked out prices at Randalls and their "O" organics brand. The national brand organic peanut butter was $6.59 and the Randalls "O" brand was $3.29. That's a whopping $3.30 difference. In fact, for three products we purchased, we saved $5 choosing the "O" brand.
Remember if you are shopping for organics, be sure it is certified. Look for the USDA symbol that tells you it's organic. Otherwise it's just made with organic products.
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