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On several recent visits to the Gaithersburg Amazon Fresh store, I noticed that some things I routinely buy cost more than long-established supermarkets located less than a 15-minute drive away charge for the same products. Case in point: On Dec. 8, Amazon Fresh was selling private label 1-pound bags of cut carrots for $1.69 — or $1.52 for shoppers who belong to Amazon Prime. Yet a Giant Food store a couple of miles away and even Amazon’s very own Whole Foods Market offered the identical item for 99 cents — more than 40% less. I found a similar disparity when pricing a 5.3-ounce cup of Fage Total yogurt at the three stores over the weekend. Amazon Fresh charged $1.89 for that product, while Giant offered it for $1.79 and Whole Foods, which regularly charges $1.89 for that variety of yogurt, had it on sale for $1.25. Bananas, meanwhile, were 59 cents per pound at Amazon Fresh and Giant, but just 49 cents per pound at Whole Foods. And a 7.5-ounce box of Annie’s cheddar squares cost $4.99 at Amazon Fresh, but just $4.69 at Whole Foods. The fact that Amazon Fresh sells some products sporting Whole Foods’ iconic 365 house brand muddles the pricing equation even more. Granted, the 25-ounce jar of 365 pasta sauce I saw during one of my visits to Amazon Fresh for $2.69 was $2.99 at Whole Foods. But as a consumer, I found myself trying to figure out why I was seeing Whole Foods products in Amazon Fresh — and wondering why I’d only save 30 cents on a product also available at a premium grocery store.
