My first visit to Sprouts Farmers Market
Author’s Note: Not a paid review. Not sponsored. I have no affiliation with Sprouts Farmers Market. Or any of the other brands/companies mentioned here. These are my own weird little opinions. Mmmkay.
Well, I didn’t get a pony.
I did something today I’ve never done before. I attended a grand opening. And not just any grand opening: a Sprouts Farmers Market grand opening. Yes, I got up before the crack of dawn and stood in line, in the dark, with a bunch of sleepy strangers.
I’d never been to a Sprouts store before, so this was new for me on every level.
There were already over 100 people waiting in line outside when I arrived at 6:52am. My greedy little heart sank a bit, thinking I wouldn’t get the free bag of goodies after all. But a cheerful store employee pacing up and down the sidewalk assured me there were enough bags for everyone — the first 200 people, in fact. I struck up a conversation with the lady behind me, who admitted it was also HER first grand opening, ever. She whisper-confessed she was here for the free bag, too. We giggled like nervous children and speculated on what that coveted sack might contain. Candy? Maybe a T-shirt? A pony?
Probably not a pony.
I was at the end of the line, so I couldn’t see or hear anything happening at the store entrance. Was there a speech? A ribbon cutting? Perhaps a bottle of champagne smashed on the shiny-new hull of the store? I do not know. Ninjas might have parachuted from the sky and danced an Irish jig, for all I know. I was at the back, in the dark. But, I didn’t have to wait long. Suddenly, the line was moving, and we shuffled past a DJ blaring classic rock into the soggy Florida air. Rows of balloons nodded mysteriously overhead. We were given a store map, and offered a cute little hobbit-sized shopping cart. And, then a very efficient lady was passing us that highly anticipated bag of wonders. We all tried not to appear too eager as we reached for it.
I didn’t even look inside my bag, because I was immediately sucked into the hive energy of the store. It was significantly smaller inside than I expected, with a clean efficiency that reminded me of a very compact Publix.
But as I wandered around the store, I realized it was bigger inside than it looked — like the New Narnia, it kept expanding as I went further in. It took me a full hour and twenty minutes to explore, and I didn’t make it down every aisle. I was impressed by the variety of brands and types of products. There was a huge range of options, and enough novelty to keep even the most cynical shopper engaged.
Sprouts positions itself as a health-oriented store, so there are substantial organic offerings, as well as a robust range of gluten free, vegan, and other special diet foods. I found a bunch of free range meats, grass-fed and low-pasteurized milk, and specialty cheeses. Still, there were quite a few mainstream items, and some truly “unhealthy” stuff, like bulk candy made with corn syrup and dyes. You don’t have to be a health nut to shop here. Definitely something for everyone!
The Bakery
If you’ve been reading my reviews, you know bakery items are my weakness. Like the rest of the store, Sprouts Bakery area isn’t huge, but it’s dense. There was enough array of products to hold me captive, and empty my wallet. I was especially looking forward to trying Sprouts store-brand San Francisco Sourdough Bread, so I bought that ($4.99), plus a limited-time Irish soda bread ($4.99 — I haven’t reviewed this yet, but holy smokes! Buy it!!).
And I bought some Mini Lemon Bites that I just couldn’t say “no” to ($7.99/ dozen — they have a fantastic lemon flavor, but are WAY too sweet!). And then a self-serve cranberry scone ($1.29). And then a bear claw pastry ($2.29). And THEN a 69 cent roll (which I was oddly chuffed to discover — I love the idea of being able to buy just ONE fresh roll! Yaaas!).
Ok, so it’s safe to say I did MOST of my spending in the Bakery area. Still, it’s worth noting that Sprouts has a very different selection of bakery items than, say, The Fresh Market. For example, Sprouts doesn’t offer the fancy decorated cakes and elegant dinner-party desserts that The Fresh Market has — essentially all of Sprouts offerings are more “casual family meal” types. Not quite as gourmet, but crowd-pleasing. I do really love that Sprouts sells halves of items — like half a loaf of fresh Rye Bread ($1.99), or half a pie. This is great for single folks. Ahem.
Smaller Portions
Speaking of that, Sprouts definitely caters to smaller portions throughout the store. After shopping at Costco, it’s a bit of a shock to see the tiny packages. The bulk food aisle was very popular amongst my fellow shoppers — and I saw a lot of folks eagerly buying just enough for one or two people. You can try a wide variety of items on a smaller budget.
There are many single-serve dinner options, and even small rotisserie chickens. I bought a prepared, single-serve Chicken with Morel Mushroom Sauce meal ($12.28 — it was OK, but I wouldn’t buy it a second time) from the chilled Deli case.
Some other “heat and eat” meal options here were Grass Fed Salisbury Steak with Green Beans, Grilled Salmon with Bearnaise Sauce, Grass Fed Beef Bolognese Lasagna with Bechamel Sauce, Kale and Mushroom Lasagna, and Chicken Street Tacos Kit. That’s just a few. There were a LOT.
The Deli
Speaking of the Deli, Sprouts has a selection of packaged pre-made sushi (like most grocery stores these days). I bought a Crunchy California Roll ($9.99 — it was fresh and delicious!), but I was impressed by the range of other Asian-style items in the case, like Chocolate Bao, Garden Spring Rolls (lettuce wraps), Seaweed Salad, and a Crispy Krab Bowl.
Like the rest of the store, there was way more variety here than I expected. Similar to Publix, Sprouts has a “$5 Sushi Wednesday” promotion — when you can buy rolls for just five bucks.
Meat
Unlike The Fresh Market or Publix, Sprouts doesn’t have a particularly large hot-foods Deli area, or an olive bar. There’s a chilled meat & seafood counter — with raw and marinated meats — and cooked cold-cut deli meats & cheeses. There are also packaged ready-to-cook raw meals. And take-and-bake pizzas. And fresh salads. And, of course, the hot rotisserie chickens, hot sides like macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes.
Bulk Foods
In the bulk foods aisles, I served myself some 12-bean soup mix ($2.99 pound) and some organic red lentils ($3.49 a pound) and some Cinnamon Pecans ($14.99 a pound — but my small baggie cost just $1.20). There are twist ties with labels for you to write the code corresponding to the bin, and scales to check how much you’ve bagged.
Sprouts offers a selection of bulk coffee, dried fruits, nuts, grains, beans, and novelty candy in this area — but without actually counting or doing any math, it seemed like fewer options than The Fresh Market’s bulk bins. I was surprised to see you can purchase packaged candy in bulk, too, such as individually wrapped GinGin candies or packets of Albanese Gummy Bears. Interesting.
Produce
The produce department had mostly the expected range of fruits and vegetables — with a respectable assortment of organic options. There were a few specialty items, like these odd Rockit miniature apples ($8.99 per tub), but not as many as I anticipated.
But, potentially I missed some of the goodness in the rush of human bodies. I bought a single Sumo citrus (here’s my review) to finally discover what all the fuss is about ($3.48/ pound) — but I wasn’t tempted by much else. The prices were fair — on par with Publix, perhaps — but not bargain-priced, like Aldi.
Sprouts Store-Brand Products
I was particularly excited to see how many Sprouts-brand products were available. Pretty much every department offered store-brand options, from snacks to milk to eggs to frozen desserts. They had a particularly nice selection of store-brand frozen gourmet pastas, gnocchi, and lasagnas.
I bought some Sprouts-brand grass-fed organic milk ($5.99 half-gallon) and some cage-free eggs ($4.49/ dozen) and some Pistachio Gelato Bombs ($7.99 for two — yikes! Here’s my review!) and some frozen Orange Peel and Provolone Saccottini Pasta ($5.99 / 1 pound — pictured above). As a grumpy side note, I was disappointed to see the Sprouts Heavy Cream includes ingredients like Mono & Diglycerides, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, and Carrageenan. C’mon, Sprouts!
Frozen Food
I definitely want to go back and explore the frozen foods section in more depth. From my quick trot trough the aisles, there were a plethora of tempting choices. I’m a big fan of frozen foods, because it works out better for a busy single career woman like me to always have reliable meals on hand in the freezer. I mentioned above the Sprouts-branded frozen pasta and pistachio bombs, but I also bought a single frozen Red’s Bean and Cheese Burrito ($2.79). Sprouts also has their own store-brand frozen burritos.
I found a hearty selection of my favorite brands of frozen entrees, such as Deep’s Indian Cuisine, and Amy’s Organic, plus popular brands like Blake’s and Rao’s and Purple Carrot. I also discovered a diverse assortment of frozen bagged fruits and vegetables, and a surprisingly vast aisle devoted entirely to ice cream and frozen desserts. Because after eating healthy, sometimes you just gotta…not. Woot.
Cheese
Sprouts cheese assortment includes many popular conventional brands, as well as a sampling of specialty niche items. I bought some Ellsworth Wisconsin Cheese Curds ($4.16 /8 ounces), which were mind-blowingly delicious and worth every penny.
Some other items I ogled, but did not buy, were a Bulgarian Sheep Milk Cheese in Brine, Castello Spreadable Cheese Dip, Bella Capra Raw Milk Goat Cheddar, and The Drunken Goat Cheese Bathed in Wine. Whew. I gotta marry a rich man so I can buy all of these next time.
Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Notably, Sprouts also offers an entire section of plant-based cheeses and plant-based meats. They also label their Gluten-Free and Vegan options with LARGE stickers (including the bulk bins) so that they are easy to find. One of the more expensive items I found in the store was a frozen, gluten-free Wild Maine Blueberry Pie ($28). If I was on a specialty diet, Sprouts is definitely where I would shop!
Vitamins & Body Care
A good portion of the store is devoted to health supplements, vitamins, and natural personal care items. You can buy shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, bath salts, lip balm… and other stuff. So much other stuff. There’s a whole shelf of essential oils, including my favorite NOW brand.
I found a number of gift-able products, like some fancy-pants Essenzia Aloe Vera and Olive Oil hand soap in a heavy glass bottle ($13.49) with a quality metal pump top, and avocado-shaped bath bombs (“Froth Bomb” — $10.99). The front of the store also featured impressively healthy-looking small potted plants. Hostess-gifts abound here. For a price.
The Check-Out Process
The store was crowded by the time I checked out, but there was very little wait. I breezed through the checkout in less than 5 minutes. You have a choice of self-checkout or traditional checkout. Weird confession: I have never in my life used a self-checkout. And I’m not sorry.
Completely unnecessary tangent: Sprouts has ridiculously nice plastic grocery bags. My word! They’re like grocery bags on steroids. Gym-bro grocery bags. The plastic is absurdly thick and fancy. I saved mine for…well, I don’t know what I saved them for, but I saved them. Of course I did.
For a grand-opening day, there was zero stress or chaos in the store. It was stocked thoroughly — even the eggs. Feast your eyes on those eggs! All the employees were in a remarkably good mood. But, in a natural and down-to-earth way — not “I’m smiling because I have to” way. You know?
There was a lot of energetic joking and laughing with the customers, and very sincere offers to help locate items or explain the store layout. We had several reminders to use our 20% off coupon, and the staff was ready to help anyone who didn’t have a code. Err, such as myself. Every employee I interacted with (and it felt like dozens! They were everywhere!) was confident and knowledgeable — and eager to help. I loved this.
If you’re someone who values a stress-free shopping experience, Sprouts has a great vibe and fool-proof system. And, almost every customer I interacted with was happy and excited to be there, too. Except for one very sour, grumpy dude. We won’t talk about him. You know who you are, sir. You know what you did.
Oh, yes, that free bag of stuff!
Ok, so you’ve made it this far, and now you’re probably wondering what was in my free goodie bag. So here it is:
I got a large canvas shopping bag (with a quality reinforced and coated bottom), a can of AF Sparkling Rose beverage, a bag of Lesser Evil popping corn, an Auracacia fizzy bath sachet, and a Wild Society protein rocket pop packet. Honestly, none of these items interest me, and it’s fewer than I expected from the mailed promotion card. But, free is free! Right?! Right. What would I do with a pony, anyway?
Since I got 20% off my order, I saved a total of $16.56. Here’s everything I bought:
The total price (after the discount) was $66.79. While that’s a lot for a frugal single person like myself, it’s not at all bad for the type and quantity of items.
Dramatic Conclusion
Sprouts truly has something for everyone, and although not a bargain store, it is fairly priced and very convenient. Not everything here is strictly healthy, but almost everything I tried was delicious. It is, indeed, a happy place.
And, regarding the Grand Opening experience: this was legitimately fun. The most foodie-fun I’ve had in a while. The most fun I’ve had at a grocery store, period. I’ve decided everyone should be going to Grand Openings, everywhere. Make it so.
The End.
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