6 Best And 6 Worst Grocery Stores To Buy Meat

Supermarket chains versus big box stores. High end versus regional. If you're a carnivore who demands the highest quality at the fairest prices, here's where you should and shouldn't be shopping. Target is a quality store for plenty of products, but meat isn't one of them. The chain first opened its doors in the 1960s but didn't roll out its grocery section until 1995, which might explain their shortcomings. Simply put, Target just doesn't specialize in meat. It doesn't have expert butchers, and you're just not very likely to find the freshest cuts available. Furthermore, they don't offer the best deals that you're more likely to find at grocery stores that have a separate meat counter. While the quality and price are less than optimal, Target does at least set expectations with suppliers to follow or exceed its standards for meat and poultry. These standards include, but are not limited to, adhering to national guidelines from organizations like the National Chicken Council and the National Turkey Federation. We appreciate that Target prioritizes animal welfare, but we'll still be buying our meat elsewhere and we advise you to do the same. One of the best grocery stores to buy meat is Wegmans. This East Coast based chain offers all the central departments you'd expect with the addition of an extensive prepared foods department. Some of their pre made offerings include homestyle meatloaf, pulled pork, parmesan chicken and roasted Turkey. The incredible variety that Wegmans offers makes it a crowd favorite amongst meat lovers. On the R Steak subreddit, you'll find shoppers praising the stores rib eyes and marbling, which is particularly encouraging as marbling on beef improves the quality and flavour. This fat makes the meat easier to eat, so don't sleep on it when you see it at Wegmans. If you live near a Wegmans location, you should consider yourself extremely lucky. This chain provides incredible variety, comparable prices and high quality meats that will leave your dinner party guests in awe. We're not worthy. We're not worthy. Trader Joe's is a crowd favorite for snacks, prepackaged meals, and seasonal offerings, but it's less popular in the meat department. This chain focuses heavily on customer service, making patrons feel at home in these stores to ensure they'll return. But you shouldn't feel compelled to buy any beef or chicken on those repeat visits. Trader Joe's also does an excellent job with marketing and packaging, which might lead some shoppers to purchase attractive packages that they don't really need. But that might be a bad idea when it comes to meat. As budget shopping expert Lauren Grootman noted on CNBC, the chain's meats sometimes contain less in each package and cost more than what other stores offer, especially chicken. To be specific, you can sometimes find a package of chicken selling for a dollar or two less per pound at stores like Walmart and Costco. While we certainly love grabbing holiday snacks and other specialty products from Trader Joe's, that love isn't unconditional for everything that they offer. Sprouts Farmers Market draws inspiration from naturally enough farmers markets, as well as healthy choices and organic grocery options. If you're looking for one of the best grocery stores for meat, look no further than Sprouts. This chain prides itself on offering a variety of good for you items that you can't find at any superstore. According to the website Price of Meat, Sprouts offers the best selection of meat, especially beef. They note their beef is always fresh and they never freeze it. It's rated USDA Choice, which means if you know it will be juicy and flavorful. The beef at Sprouts is also 100% grass fed, so you can be sure it's high quality. In addition to packaged meats, the butcher department offers some of the freshest foods with trained butchers who can cut meat and craft artisan sandwiches. The deli sandwiches also taste better than many popular sandwich shops. While not everything at Sprouts is cheap, you absolutely get what you pay for in terms of quality. Whole Foods didn't get its reputation for being expensive for no reason. After its 2017 merger with Amazon, some prices decreased, especially for Amazon members. But when it comes to meat, are you getting the best bang for your buck? In 2017, Bloomberg reported that the chicken from Whole Foods might not be as elite as consumers once thought. Oh, there's a big surprise. That's an incredible. I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die from that surprise. The chain's 365 brand creates the idea that meat meats, especially chickens, are treated with better care and are an exclusive product that you can't buy elsewhere. But researchers have discovered that some other stores sell the same chickens under different brand names for less money. And as Business Insider reported in 2019, Whole Foods charged the most significant premium in its meat department, with some prices more than 40% higher than other stores. While Whole Foods prices have become more competitive in recent years, you should really consider getting your meat elsewhere. Publix focuses on incredible customer service, community involvement, and high quality products. Unlike Sprouts or Whole Foods, Publix offers more affordable options so that you can save money without compromising quality. The chain's meat department offers incredible variety with the likes of ground beef, pork, group raised feel, thick steaks, chickens, racks of lamb, turkeys, and more. Public steaks are never frozen, and trained individuals cut the meats in house to ensure proper cuts. Other major grocery stores simply don't have this same type of quality control. Simply put, Publix is an excellent option if you're looking for healthy, quality, and affordable meat. Publix only downside is its relative lack of real estate. According to the company's website, they have more than 1300 stores, but they're concentrated in seven states in the Southeast. So if you live in that region of the country, you're in luck. Otherwise, you'll have to plan a trip to get the full public's experience. Walmart's motto of save money, live better tells us everything we need to know about the price. But does the quality stack up when it comes to purchasing meat, we want to spend within our budget, but it's worth paying more when necessary to ensure a high quality cut. While Walmart offers noteworthy discounts, the deals in their meat department generally don't meet the expectations of their shoppers. The website Go Banking Rates wrote about Walmart's best and worst deals with meat landing in the latter category. Basically, you can find better prices and choices in other stores or even a farmer's market. And as Consumer Reports noted in 2017, survey respondents griped about the quality of the produce, the lack of variety, and the quality of the meat and poultry. It's a little disappointing to know that you can't count on the meat from the same store where you buy packaged goods, clothes, toys or electronics. If you like shopping at Walmart, we suggest sticking to the categories that offer you the best deals and head somewhere else to buy your meat. Costco delivers in pretty much every category. It's no secret why so many people pay for this superstore's yearly membership. It's reputation for bulk food and low prices makes it one of the best places to shop for anything, especially if you have a large family or are planning a big event. And that includes bulk purchases of meat. One reason that customers should shop at Costco is because they sell USDA Prime beef. This label means that the meat has more marble and thus more fat and more flavor. Costco also offers a variety of organic ground beef, so if non-GMO feed is crucial to you, you're in luck. With better quality for a lower price, Costco absolutely comes through when your stomach is rumbling. 1 of Costco's best deals is their 499 rotisserie chickens that provide a quick and easy meal for a whole family. If you don't want the entire chicken, you can opt for 1/2 or 1/4 instead. It's hard to beat this delicious deal. I feel so calm here just knowing all the bulk deals are waiting. Placing ALDI in the worst category may surprise you. This German founded chain often receives glowing reviews for its low prices and award-winning products. Nevertheless, we don't recommend buying your meat and produce here if you can help it. It all comes down to the fact that you can find more satisfying options elsewhere. Farmers markets and local grocery stores tend to provide the best quality meat and produce, even if the rates run slightly higher. Carnivore Style is one website that has reviewed the meat experience at ALDI, as they noted. Fortunately, when it comes to meats you should avoid, there are quite a few. It's important to remember when saving money on your grocery bill, not everything will be up to expectations, especially if you're used to a butcher's cut. That being said, we don't recommend abandoning ALDI entirely. So when you're shopping there, we would say that you should focus on the store's specialties like gluten free products, organic foods, and dairy. Stater Brothers markets state certified meat cutters prepare fresh cuts guaranteed to satisfy. This chain also provides seasoning, custom cuts, meat tenderizing, and grinding for no additional charge. No doubt about it, the quality meat and customer service makes Stater Brothers one of the best grocery stores to buy meat. It's also worth noting that they finished 9th on Consumer Reports 2017 survey on the best places to grocery shop. The report raved about the chain staff, competitive prices and the quality of meat and poultry. One particular cut that's worth buying at Stater Brothers is the rib eye. Their butchers have also been known to cut a stake to customers preferred thickness if they ask politely. We appreciate a store that takes special requests and makes consumers truly feel special. It's the little things that make a big difference in the shopping experience. Stater Brothers scores highly because of its reasonable prices and excellent quality control. The only drawback is that the company's more than 170 stores can be found only in Southern California. If you're in a neighborhood near a Stater Brothers, don't hesitate to do your grocery shopping here, especially for a delicious cut of meat. And if you're an out of town or visiting Socal, make sure you become acquainted with the Stater Brothers experience. As Stater Brothers, it's our meat that made us famous. Next among the worst grocery stores to buy meat is the popular chain Safeway. There are a lot of mixed reviews out there regarding its meat department offerings and prices. Safeway as a whole sells a variety of delicious products, including packaged and Whole Foods, but it's meat based reputation is rather spotty. In a 2022 article about grocery stores offering the best quality products and prices on the website Consumers Checkbook, Safeway was among the chains that were dinged for the low quality of fresh produce and meats. Obviously, quality it's a huge factor when it comes to buying meat, so this isn't good news. If you do the rest of your shopping at Safeway and know when they're running sales, it could be worth checking out solely for the price reduction. But scoring a deal doesn't exactly ensure high quality products, especially when it comes to a cut of meat. For this reason, we have to say that you're generally better off at stores that have higher prices than Safeway. The Members only Sam's Club makes shopping easy and reduces cost by creating a simple shopping environment. Its prices and quality of goods make it one of our favorite stores to buy groceries in general and buy meats in particular. Sam's Club and its big box rival Costco are generally fairly comparable with Sam's Club having lower prices on chicken but somewhat higher prices on ground beef. And like Costco, Sam's Club also offers $5 rotisserie chickens. We recommend visiting whichever location is more convenient to you, as both offers for great deals and high quality meat. One of the best meat options at Sam's Club is the 100% grass fed organic ground beef, which isn't easy to find at just any old grocery store. Sam's Club also offers a prime brisket that you should be able to score at an attractive price. So if you're looking for grass fed beef or prime brisket or really any other type of meat, you can't go wrong to Sam's Club.