To shake its “whole paycheck” reputation, Whole Foods (WFM) has been pushing to lower the cost of packaged goods, particularly in its budget 365 line. In a related experiment earlier this year, the supermarket started lowering seafood prices: Farm-raised salmon in its seafood cases sold for roughly $10.99 per pound.
That’s certainly not cheapest salmon around, but it was a hit with Whole Foods shoppers. “We saw a huge lift in the amount of pounds of salmon we sold when we reduced our price,” said the chief operating officer, A.C. Gallo, said on an earnings call this week. “We’re really happy with that experiment and plan to expand on that some more this coming year.”
The supermarket chain worked with a new producer that met the company’s no-antibiotic, no-hormone, no-pesticides standards and also took advantage of lower feed prices, which allowed the producer to increase the volume of salmon farmed and bring down the cost, according to Whole Foods spokeswoman Robin Rehfield Kelly. In turn, Whole Foods lowered its price on salmon by 15 percent to 20 percent. The chain did not immediately provide information on how much salmon sales increased.
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