Whole Foods has come under fire for selling $6 “asparagus water”–water with three green stalks of asparagus in it. Whole Foods reportedly sells a bundle of asparagus for $5.
An employee of the Brentwood Whole Foods Market in a Los Angeles suburb where the water was being sold told Eater that the nutrients from the asparagus transfer into the water by being soaked in it for a prolonged period of time.
Yes! Whole Foods! 3 pieces of asparagus in water for 5.99! For the nutrients! Now that takes balls… $wfm #margins pic.twitter.com/Wt3gMgMoOf
— robert maschio (@robertmaschio) August 4, 2015
Following Eater’s story, the asparagus water was apparently removed from the California store.
Eater was able to speak with the chain’s Senior Media Relations Specialist, who said the asparagus water “was meant to be water with the essence of vegetables and/or mushrooms to be used as broth (similar to a bone broth), which are typically made over a long period of time soaking in water. The product was made incorrectly and has since been removed from the one store where it was carried.”
This is not the first time Whole Foods, popularly referred to as “Whole Paycheck,” has been chastised for how much it charges its customers. Last month, it apologized for overcharging customers, citing errors in weighing food which led to the miscalculated up charge.
Whole Foods recently announced it would be opening several budget-friendly chains, stemming from its in-house brand, called “365 Whole Foods Market.” The stores will target millennials and hipsters.
What all 5 cities getting ‘365’ by Whole Foods Market stores have in common: hipsters http://t.co/FRV0RUgRFe $WFM pic.twitter.com/i6EFbyDXrS
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) August 2, 2015
Eater joked that “[p]erhaps Whole Foods’ Asparagus Water will be sold for $3.99 at its new lower-priced 365 markets.”
Photo: File
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