Consumer Reports Ranks Grocers On Perishables

What makes a supermarket great? Years ago, the answer might have been low prices, checkout speed, or variety. Now another consideration is top-of-mind: “fresh.”

When the typical shopper makes each of 83 yearly grocery trips (running up an annual tab of about $5,400), he or she is demanding a wider-than-ever choice of healthy, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish—as well as more organics and local produce. The clamor for “fresh” also extends to freshly prepared meals that can be taken home.

So when we at Consumer Reports did our annual supermarket survey to find America's best supermarkets, we asked readers to rate their grocers on traditional characteristics such as service and cleanliness—but we also asked them to rate the selection of local produce and the price of organics at their stores.

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