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Where to get the biggest bang for your grocery buck in the DC area
If you’re picky about your produce but still cautious about the bottom line it might take visits to multiple DC-area food stores to frugally stock the pantry.
If you’re picky about your produce but still cautious about the bottom line it might take visits to multiple DC-area food stores to frugally stock the pantry.
“Overall, it’s really difficult here in the Washington area to get both high quality and low prices,” said Kevin Brasler, the executive editor at Consumers’ Checkbook.
Secret shoppers went to dozens of area grocery stores to buy 154 common items and evaluate prices. Checkbook subscribers were surveyed to rate factors, such as quality of fresh produce, quality of fresh meat, customer service and more.
“On one hand, Wegmans remains by far the big fan favorite here in the Washington area, but its prices aren’t necessarily that low. They’re competitive with Giant Food and Harris Teeter, but they’re still higher than the really low-priced options that are out there,” Brasler said.
Checkbook didn’t rank grocery stores during the pandemic.
What’s new this time around?
One of the big changes to the Washington-area supermarket scene recently has been the continued expansion of Wegmans. Also, German owned companies such as Aldi, Lidl and Trader Joe’s continue to increase their footprint in the area.
Except for Target, Checkbook found the major chains have consistent pricing from location to location.
Who has the lowest prices?
Among the area’s big food store chains, Walmart and Food Lion have far lower prices than Harris Teeter, Giant and Safeway.
Rock-bottom prices can be found at Aldi and Lidl.
“Aldi and Lidl have extraordinarily low prices — I mean, they’re really, astonishingly low,” Brasler said. “They’re even lower than Costco’s prices, and you don’t have to buy in bulk to get these discounts. But the rub is that you have to buy their own store products: Aldi and Trader Joe’s and Lidl — they’re pretty much kind of selling their own stuff.” That means you may not find everything you need, he added.
While Aldi and Lidl get fairly low ratings for quality, Brasler said some of the big chains, such as Giant and Safeway do too.
Where are the highest prices?
Safeway’s prices averaged about 32% higher than Walmart, 26% higher than Food Lion, 17% higher than Target and 7% higher than Giant, Harris Teeter and Wegmans.
Brasler said a lot of shoppers are shopping at more than one place: They may go to Walmart, Lidl or Aldi “to try to save as much money as they can on the items offered by those places where quality doesn’t matter, like nonperishables , and then they may turn around and buy produce at Whole Foods or Mom’s Organic Market, or even Wegmans,” where the produce quality is high.
Through a special arrangement with Washington Consumers’ Checkbook, WTOP.com readers can see Checkbook ratings for 30 area grocery stores and delivery services for a limited time.
Consumers’ Checkbook/Center for the Study of Services is an independent, nonprofit consumer organization founded in 1974. It has been an innovator in providing information to help consumers make smarter choices for more than 40 years.
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An air fryer makes healthier fast food
But a few months ago, I bought an air fryer.
These devices are essentially countertop convection ovens that can give your food the crunchiness and tenderness that you get from roasting or deep-frying, but in a fraction of the time and without all the oil.
My expectations were low. But to my surprise, I found that this amazing little device opened the door to make an endless variety of fun, delicious and nutritious meals. And I can make dinner in 20 minutes or less, without expensive ingredients or extra cleanup.
Using my air fryer, I’ve made roasted Brussels sprouts, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and sweet potato fries that have the perfect texture and are ready in 10 minutes. I’ve made chicken nuggets at home that my 3-year-old son devoured, and organic teriyaki-flavored tofu cubes that make a great topping for a quick vegetable stir fry or vegetable curry.
One of our favorite recipes is salmon with broccoli, buckwheat noodles and sesame ginger sauce. We start by steaming broccoli and boiling buckwheat noodles. Then we combine soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and fresh lime juice to make the sauce.
I pop a pound of fresh salmon into our air fryer and let it cook for 12 minutes. When the salmon is done, we combine it with the broccoli and noodles, and drizzle on the sauce. This meal requires very little time and effort, and it tastes delicious. Even my 1-year-old daughter scarfs it down.
Why air fryers are different
I’m by no means the first person to discover the joys of air-fryer cooking. The modern air fryer was introduced to the public in 2010 by Philips, the consumer electronics maker. It was developed by a Dutch inventor, Fred van der Weij, who was looking for a way to make perfectly crispy french fries without much oil or hassle. Sales surged during the pandemic as people were stuck at home with more time on their hands to cook. According to the NPD Group, more than 25 million air fryers were sold between January 2020 and December 2021, a 76 percent increase over the previous two-year period.
I purchased my air fryer, made by Chefman, for about $70, which takes up about as much counter space as a large coffee maker. It contains a basket with a perforated tray where the food is placed. A powerful fan above the food circulates hot air throughout the chamber.
Preheating only takes a few minutes. While it’s not necessary to use oil in an air fryer, using a spray bottle to spritz a little olive or avocado oil on foods such as fresh vegetables, sweet potato fries, chicken tenders and salmon helps to keep them moist while also giving them a golden -brown color.
“The perforated tray promotes air circulation around the food and that’s what causes the crispiness and crunchiness on the outside and the juiciness on the inside,” says Mona Dolgov, a nutritionist and cookbook author. “Your food cooks for less time than it would in an oven, and you get great results.”
Videos of mouthwatering foods cooked in air fryers have gone viral on social media. But Dolgov noticed that many of the popular items made in air fryers, such as grilled cheese, French toast and pasta chips, aren’t appealing to people with health-conscious meals in mind. So she wrote “SatisFry: The Air Fryer Cookbook,” which shows people how to use air fryers to make easy and nutritious meals and snacks.
It includes meals such as a spinach, avocado and mushroom frittata that takes about 15 minutes, and a hummus-crusted chicken that’s made with artichoke hearts, olive oil and lemon sauce.
Air-fried vegetables can win over picky eaters
Air fryers can turn sticks of carrots, parsnips and other root vegetables into better-for-you french fries (you just need a bit of olive oil and cornstarch). You can toss Brussels sprouts with a little olive oil, garlic powder and parmesan cheese to make crispy Brussels sprouts in the air fryer.
There are recipes for avocado fries, buffalo cauliflower bites, and zucchini chips with lemon and herb dip. “My husband never used to eat a lot of vegetables. and now he eats them all the time because I put them in the air fryer and they come out great,” Dolgov said.
Air fryers can be a
Tilray and Canopy Growth Are Pivoting to Beer and Energy Drinks
- Big cannabis companies like Tilray and Canopy Growth are expanding into beverages.
- The moves come as they lose market share in Canada’s competitive industry for recreational cannabis.
- These companies are trying to figure out how to give their revenue — and stock prices — a boost.
It’s hard to make money in cannabis, so the world’s largest cannabis companies are pivoting.
They’re slowly but surely getting into beer and sports drinks, too.
The Canadian cannabis company Tilray in early November acquired Montauk Brewing Company, a New York craft-beer brewer. Tilray already owned SweetWater Brewing Company, an Atlanta-based craft brewer, and Breckenridge Distillery, a Colorado whiskey brand.
Tilray’s competitor Canopy Growth, one of the world’s largest cannabis companies, is the majority owner of BioSteel, a sports-beverage brand that has sponsorship deals with professional sports teams such as the Toronto Raptors and the Dallas Mavericks as well as high-profile athletes including Kansas City Chief quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
And both companies are led by executives with experience running traditional consumer-packaged goods and beverage companies. Tilray CEO Irwin Simon used to run Hain Celestial Group, a food and supplements company. Canopy Growth counts the Corona beermaker Constellation Brands among its largest investors and is run by David Klein, the alcohol giant’s former CFO.
‘Trying to be something different’
“I’m trying to be something different,” Simon said in an interview. “I’m trying to create the next generation of a cannabis, beer and spirits company that no one else is doing out there.”
He says that while the market might think of Tilray as just a “cluster of businesses,” his goal is to build intelligently around Tilray’s brands — like Diageo or AB InBev, but with pot.
Tilray CEO Irwin Simon.
Courtesy of Aphria
Both companies have lost market share in Canada’s competitive legal market, according to analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, and recreational cannabis is a shrinking chunk of their overall revenue. The bright spots, analysts say, appear to be their non-cannabis businesses.
After Canopy reported its financial results on November 9, analysts mostly addressed the company’s beverage business and highlighted the company’s continued challenges in making money selling pots.
Canopy’s core cannabis business saw revenue tumble 27% compared with the same quarter last year, while BioSteel revenue nearly quadrupled, according to the company’s filings. Canopy brought in 52.3 million Canadian dollars, or about $39.1 million, from its core Canadian cannabis business, and another CA$10.6 million from its international cannabis business, while BioSteel brought in about CA$30 million.
In a November 11 note, analysts at the investment bank Jefferies called Canopy’s core Canadian cannabis business “a sideshow.” Cowen analyst Vivien Azer said the company’s revenue beat was “driven almost entirely by BioSteel.” Analysts from Stifel continued their “Sell” rating on the stock while touting BioSteel as one of the few successful units at the company.
Canopy, for its part, announced a complex plan in October to plow into the more lucrative US cannabis market, through options it has to purchase three US cannabis companies and report their results on its balance sheet — which would surely give its cannabis revenue a boost . But Nasdaq, where Canopy is listed, objects to parts of the plan, so its fate is unclear.
“While we remain focused on our core cannabis business, our high growth CPG strategy anchored by BioSteel is showing impressive performance as the brand consistently achieves record quarter-over-quarter revenues and continues its rise to the top of the sports hydration category,” a Canopy Growth representative, Jennifer White, told Insider in an emailed statement.
She added that cannabis remained a core component of Canopy’s business and that the company’s mergers-and-acquisitions strategy would be focused on building out Canopy’s capacity in the US cannabis market.
Klein, the Canopy CEO, previously told Insider he’s focused on the US and wanted to be “on the fast-track” to enter the US cannabis market when he’s able to do so.
Tilray’s cannabis business slumps, while beer booms
Like Canopy, Tilray’s core cannabis business is also declining while its beverage unit and other businesses are growing.
Tilray’s cannabis revenue declined 17% in the quarter that ended August 31, compared with the same period last year, while its alcoholic beverage business saw revenue climb 34%.
In January, Tilray changed its corporate name to Tilray Brands to reflect the company’s “evolution from a Canadian LP to a global consumer packaged goods company powerhouse,” the company said in a press release.
To be sure, Tilray’s beverage business still accounts for only a small fraction of its total business. In the most recent quarter, it accounted for 13% of revenue, up from 9% a year earlier. The company’s cannabis business, on the other hand, accounted for 38% of revenue, down from 42%.
Tilray has been expanding its international medical cannabis businesses as well and owns Manitoba Harvest