The Best Supermarkets In The Country, As Ranked By 'Consumer Reports'

Fed up with high prices and bad service at your local supermarket?

It's time to move to the Northeast, home of the country's top supermarket as judged by 24,203 readers of Consumer Reports magazine. (Click through below to find out which one it is.) They were asked to rate various grocery chains on service, quality of produce and meat, price and cleanliness to determine which was tops in the country.

The results are printed as part of a blockbuster cover story in the May 2012 issue of Consumer Reports. The story also includes some helpful tips for saving money while shopping for food. One of the most surprising such tips was the power of store brands. The magazine compared the total cost of a shopping trip focused on name brands to one where a shopper only bought generic -- and found that the latter spent $66.23 to the former's $164.28. That's savings of nearly 60 percent.

But the most eye-opening part of the story is the supermarket chain ranking. As you'll see below, some well-known chains ended up in the top 10. But others -- like Whole Foods, Target and Stop & Shop -- don't crop up until much further down in the 52 chains included. Indeed, many of the best performers are regional chains that put friendly service and low prices ahead of flashy marketing.

Click through the slideshow to find out the country's top 10 supermarket chains, as ranked by Consumer Reports:

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Comments

[GodfreySF]

02:00 PM on 04/22/2013

Most individuals simply cannot tell the difference between prime, select, or choice meat, neither can they decipher quality produce or merchandise. So why rate premium stores like Whole Foods in the same category as "everyday" supermarkets. It is simply silly!

If you are financially compromised you have no business at Whole Foods. However, if you appreciate the "best' Whole Foods is for you!

Remember, you are what you eat!

[ryanljimenez]

11:28 PM on 01/09/2013

Sorry but like this link posted nothing compares to Publix. Then again Im biased for Publix but I have to say after 20 years of being there Ive never had a bad experience and they're customer service is phenomenal. Also they're Subs although expensive are unmatched. Which comes to the only knock which is the price but if your like me they're sales and Publix brand products compensate it out. If you shop right you'll never overpay for anything except milk lol.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/newu1085/reasons-why-publix-is-the-best-grocery-store-to-ev-654m

[scalpm]

11:16 AM on 03/07/2013

Lived in Florida all my life until last year. Loved Publix. recently moved to Northern Va. After 43 years of Publix, even Wegmans beats it. Although its close...

[Paul Mezhir]

10:06 PM on 11/18/2012

I consider myself fortunate to be have a Wegman's as my "local" supermarket. We Western New Yorkers are a bit jaded when it comes to our grocery stores....nothing in North America can remotely compare to the Wegman's shopping experience. Wegman's customer service, meats, produce, selection, facilities and community involvement are second to none. I am very price conscious and will admit that Wegman's can be pretty expensive for staples, but the store's selection, atmosphere and overall experience makes it well worth the few extra bucks.

Those who have never shopped at Wegman's wouldn't understand. NOTHING else compares.

[joy2b]

04:07 PM on 04/20/2013

I never understood what the big deal was about good supermarkets. I thought everyone had 24 hour stores with good departments and good service. Admittedly, the bakery, the local brews, and the cheese shop all offer tasty surprises, as good as great boutique restaurants, while being within a price range that makes it safe to try new things. The newer the Wegmans, the wilder the experience, and the better the in store restaurant experience gets.

[Phyl Buscemi]

12:52 AM on 08/23/2012

I have recently moved to Long Island, NY & not a Wegmans in sight! I miss you Wegmans!! When I go back home to Rochester, NY & see the 1st Wegmans truck, I get happy!! They not only treat their customers well, but they also give their employees the same respect & consideration. Wegmans......YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!

[BowlingForRevenge]

12:33 PM on 08/05/2012

I would have to say H.E.B. / Central Market in Texas are fabulous.
They tailor their stores to the community they serve.
The HEB's that are in Hispanic areas are like shopping
at the mercado in Mexico. A culinary spice experience!
Their Central Market's go head to head with Whole Foods in upscale areas.
No matter always a pleasure to shop at the stores.

[Frickett]

01:15 AM on 08/23/2012

I've been to the Central Market in Dallas once when I was visiting friends in TX. It was a fabulous adventure, safari, Disneyland for foodies. My regular market in S. CA is Trader Joes. Great place, although not as inexpensive as it used to be.

[NeffsMom]

12:25 PM on 01/28/2013

I must agree with Wendy, Bowling, Frickett and others. I have lived in AZ, CO, CA, TX, WA, OR and FL over the span of my adult, grocery-buying lifetime. Whole Foods and Trader Joes are great for certain things, but as an overall grocery store experience on a day to day basis, NONE of the other chains are even close to the HEB stores in TX. They are (for the most part) large enough, clean, friendly, great selection, well-stocked and prices are the BEST. And no ridiculous "loyalty cards" or memberships to promote false value. Once I had experienced HEB, the others fell short.

[Kyle Perry]

03:57 PM on 06/15/2012

The absence of Whole Foods only further establishes how deep the influence of Corporate Agriculture extends in this country.

[onionboy]

03:35 PM on 07/26/2012

One of the ratings was 'price'.

I like Whole Foods, but it isn't price competitive with, for instance, Trader Joe's. Better stuff, maybe, but not cheaper.

[supermarket in yerevan]

06:01 AM on 04/23/2012

One of the best supermarket in Yerevan is SAS supermarkets chain, that prove its presence in top by the quality and variety of products from all over the world.

[cul8rsb]

03:21 PM on 04/13/2012

Very good write up, thank you huff-post, that kind of information the whole country needs, forget the Kardashians

[jmacleveland]

03:43 PM on 04/10/2012

Not Aldi's?

[daigz]

03:06 PM on 04/09/2012

Yeah, Wegmans!

[RenaissancePartyTime]

01:18 PM on 04/07/2012

PCC in the Seattle are, perhaps further around the Northwest as well, deserves a slot in front of Trader Joe's, that place is a bunch of pre-made fried foods in a freezer as far as I'm concerned.

[LibertarianCentrist]

09:00 AM on 04/07/2012

I'm SHOCKED Whole Foods isn't on this list....

[onionboy]

03:36 PM on 07/26/2012

It's not price competitive. I shop there, but not because it has bargains.

[raker]

09:24 AM on 04/06/2012

I love Trader Joe's wine department, and chocolate covered peppermint Joe-Joes are the best thing about Christmas, but the rest of the things I've tried were kind of meh.

Wegman's can be dazzling because the stores are so enormous, but I think they are way overrated. The ones I've been to are big, but ordinary. I like the deli and bakery.

I'm lucky to have a Market Basket and a Whole Foods next to each other. I go to Market Basket or the unbelievably low prices on packaged foods in the center aisles, and then to Whole Foods to shop for fresh things around the perimeter.

I used to love shopping at Whole Foods, but ever since Mackey campaigned against health care reform, not so much. If I had another option for fresh, unadulterated food, I'd never set foot in Whole Foods again.

[Ryan Smith100153345]

03:46 AM on 01/11/2013

Wegmans? Big but ordinary? I have never seen a large grocery chain that carries such a wide selection of cheeses. Ditto the olives. For beer, some Wegmans location carry almost enough to put them in competition with some specialty stores. Good deli selection and good (by grocery store standards) bakery. Huge selection of international products - Wegmans always had the best selection of Mexican products in the Syracuse area, at least as far as big grocery chains went. Wegmans is pretty special, as far as grocery stores go.

[wendyme]

05:22 PM on 04/05/2012

I live in Central Texas, & I would defintely have HEB & it's high end sibling, Central Market, at the top of the list. I have become esp. spoiled by the produce at both of these grocers.

[CBGB78]

02:33 AM on 05/03/2012

I live in Central Texas and I lived in Upstate NY, 2 blocks from Wegmans. Wegmans totally wins over HEB.

[Jerilyn Nighy]

04:35 PM on 04/05/2012

Trader Joes blows them all away.

[LibertarianCentrist]

09:01 AM on 04/07/2012

You ever been to a Wegmans?

[RenaissancePartyTime]

01:14 PM on 04/07/2012

Where's all the fresh produce? The one I used to occasionally visit in Seattle had the smallest produce section I'd ever seen. It seemed like all they specialized in was the frozen section.