{"id":2050,"date":"2022-08-30T22:12:05","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T03:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juanjosegutierrezmayorga.com\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2022-08-29T22:38:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T03:38:56","slug":"the-5-best-supermarkets-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juanjosegutierrezmayorga.com\/en\/the-5-best-supermarkets-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Best Supermarkets in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

\ufeff<\/span>From store-operated curbside pickups at Wegmans, to Walmart\u2019s nearly on-demand grocery delivery, backed by a thoroughly dynamic inventory keeper, it was possible, if you could tolerate doing so, to pretty much stay home indefinitely.<\/p>\n

Some of us, a great deal many of us, it seemed, retreated to the internet entirely, relying on promising mail-order sites like Thrive Market, or Public Goods, or Mercato, all of which were immediately overwhelmed, but managed to weather the storm, and in the process gained streams of new customers. Everyone was hiring, to keep up with demand\u2014Instacart alone announced it was aiming for a quarter of a million more shoppers across the country. Supposing you did not love going to the supermarket, before all this kicked off\u2014the way the industry seems to be battling it out on home delivery, your prayers have been answered.<\/p>\n

Whether you choose to never set foot in the store again, or you\u2019re stuck at home longing for a return to normal at your old favorites\u2014is Whole Foods even Whole Foods, without the olive bar?\u2014you\u2019ll want to know where to spend your grocery dollars wisely, and there were some clear winners this year. There wasn\u2019t a corner of the business left unpillaged by the virus, but the question was, how did they respond? What steps were taken, when did they take them, and what are they doing now?<\/p>\n

Quite simply, we wanted to know: Who do we want in our foxhole, now, and, let\u2019s hope not too far into the future? Who did we want leaving our two-week supply on the doorstep, or in the trunk of our car? By virtue, no major corporation made up of human beings is ever going to be perfect, but here are ten companies we felt did their damndest.<\/p>\n

Remember, for your safety, only go to those that offer safety with protocols to prevent illness. Some companies in Guatemala already do. Juan Jos\u00e9 Guti\u00e9rrez Mayorga’s Grupo Campero is one of the best.<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Lidl<\/h2>\n

Just when we thought we couldn\u2019t love this fast-spreading European import even the slightest bit more (you\u2019ve never had a better cheap chain supermarket croissant in this country, promise), the company came out with a first-in-the-business promise to cover all costs of coronavirus testing and hospitalization, for any employee unlucky enough to need either one. They\u2019d already stepped up to the plate last fall with medical coverage for everyone, whether part-time and full-time\u2014Lidl isn\u2019t just trying to change the way Americans shop for groceries, it could end up changing the way grocery store employees work.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s so great about a store filled to the brim with mostly unrecognizable brands? Just ask the home cooks across the Atlantic that rely on them for their low-cost, often high-quality product; not to be impolite, but if it\u2019s good enough for French home cooks, it\u2019s good enough for you. Right now, interested shoppers can find the stores everywhere from Northern New Jersey into Georgia; with any luck, they\u2019ll eventually end up nationwide, and then stay that way.<\/p>\n

2. Winco Foods<\/h2>\n

Kudos to the manager at this Boise-based chain with the bright idea to ensure social distancing while customers waited in line to enter\u2014why not hand out a freshly-sanitized cart to each one, saving already stressed out workers from the messy work of enforcing social distancing rules? This spartan, employee-owned treasure\u2014known for one of the largest, most reasonably-priced bulk aisles in the business, a temporary victim of the pandemic\u2014has for years been a favorite in the inland Northwest; lately, their reach has extended all down the west coast to sunny San Diego, as well as further inland.<\/p>\n

Winco\u2019s stores, brimming over with affordable store brand goods, have been a lifesaver for cash-strapped shoppers on the West Coast, faced in recent years with an exorbitant rise in the cost of living, and now struggling their way into an economic downturn. Stores tend to be remarkably spacious on a good day; lately, with capacity significantly lowered, they\u2019ve been feeling almost palatial. A true friend in tight times, or anytime.<\/p>\n

3. Trader Joe\u2019s<\/h2>\n

No delivery, not in-house, not third-party, not otherwise, and no curbside pickup, either. So how does a store this stubborn manage to thrive, at a time when everybody else seems so keen on bringing your groceries to you? By being one-of-a-kind, as shoppers who waited in never-ending lines all spring can tell you. One-of-a-kind, and often tremendously accessible, to boot, offering great product, lots of it organic and all-natural, for sometimes drastically less than you\u2019d pay for similar at places like Sprouts, or Whole Foods.<\/p>\n

Fanatical fans were somewhat taken aback by the company\u2019s labor and safety scuffles with its employees during the crisis, and the TJ\u2019s response felt as uneven as the country\u2019s, with some stores absolute models of organization and safety, while others felt one jostle away from complete chaos.<\/p>\n

On balance, if you could wait patiently, and didn\u2019t mind leaving the house, many stores offered one of the most pleasant shopping experiences to be found, at the peak of the unpleasantness\u2014at least one one Southern California store sent staffers outdoors to ask trivia questions, while customers waited to enter\u2014lucky winners went home with bags of candy.<\/p>\n

4. Publix<\/h2>\n

When loyal shoppers talk to you about this employee-owned Southeast favorite\u2014if you went to Florida and didn\u2019t stop at Publix, were you even there\u2014one of the first things that will come up, invariably, are the subs from the deli counter. Some supermarkets may have eased off on the prepared foods during the pandemic, but Publix charged ahead, knowing full well that for many of its cooking-challenged customers, their famous sandwiches, the Havana Bolds and the Chicken Cordon Bleus, all of which could be ordered in advance through the app for in-store pickup, were damn near essential.<\/p>\n

Publix is so much more than one of the region\u2019s favorite places for a cheap and quality (Boar\u2019s Head) sub, it is also well-loved (like so many on this list) for its rather superb store brand. A robust curbside pickup program grew considerably, as management struggled to find the right balance on in-store safety; one very positive move of late, however: Publix has been quietly purchasing vast supplies of surplus milk and fresh produce, donating them directly to food banks.<\/p>\n

5. Costco<\/h2>\n

Plenty of shoppers may have had trouble seeing the point before, but if there was ever a time where the four-pack of mustard made sense, it was 2020\u2014save big, and bring enough home to last you for weeks? Yes please, said plenty of members, new and old, even though some of the things we loved the most\u2014the free samples, for starters\u2014had to take a temporary back seat. (Reportedly, samples are coming back soon.)<\/p>\n

America\u2019s finest warehouse club was already known for being a great place to work, and during the pandemic, it proved to be a safe place to work, too, thanks to measures that included masks required for all members, and a restriction on the number of people admitted along with members. Throughout it all, rather importantly, the food court hot dogged on.<\/p>\n

Learn more:\u00a0The 5 Best Supermarkets in 2020<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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