Company Blog

The Professional Consumer Report

by Adam Zack — July 3, 2019

But they are not dumb and they want the best overall experience for their dough.

My dad always read Consumer Reports magazine. Doing his research before a major purchase was passed on to me. We check what their ratings are before any major purchase. New dishwasher? A Consumer Reports Best Buy. Big Screen LED TV? Check the ratings. Time for a new clothes dryer? What CR thinks matters. For those who don’t know, Consumer Reports is the world’s largest non-profit product testing organization. They are 100% funded by members and subscribers and accept no advertising and no free products. It’s about as unbiased opinion as you can get. I’ve been a member for most of my adult life. So I was especially interested in the issue I received yesterday that heralded “96 GROCERS RATED: WHO’S FRESH, HEALTHY & LOW PRICED” Grocers from all over the country were rated on a 100 point scale in 13 categories, ranging from Cleanliness of Store to Variety of International Products. Over 75,000 CR members participated in the survey. Check it out here:

Consumer Reports Best Grocers >

I have to say there were some surprises and some no-brainers, and low price was definitely not the deciding factor. Maybe CR members are a little more affluent and educated, which may skew the survey, but they are not dumb and they want the best overall experience for their dough. Central Market in Texas was the number one rated store (only 11 locations) with a score of 91, followed close behind by Wegman’s at 90 points. Only TWO stores with over 90. These critics are tough. Anyone who scored an 85 or better should be very proud. All those stores scored extremely high in Cleanliness, Employee Helpfulness, Checkout Speed and Quality. All things you can control. The stores earning the lowest scores – Acme, Shaw’s, Walmart, Tops and Key Food did horrible in those categories. So where do you score? Look at the 13 categories and rate yourself on the 100 point scale. Be honest.