We compared the prices of 35 items at seven Bellingham grocery stores

What’s the best place to get groceries in Bellingham? While the answer depends on what you’re looking for – quality, variety or options that meet dietary needs and restrictions – prices are a good place to start.

The Herald staff is here to help. Between June 11 and 12, we went to seven of the most popular grocery stores in town with a list of 35 common items, ranging from pantry staples to produce, beverages, meat and dairy products. We checked the price of each item on our list, and compiled the results into a spreadsheet that you can use ahead of your next grocery run.

Which grocery stores did we visit?

We visited seven grocery stores in Bellingham to compile this list:

• Haggen (210 36th Street)

• Fred Meyer (800 Lakeway Drive)

• Safeway (1275 East Sunset Drive)

• WinCo Foods (300 East Bellis Fair Parkway)

• Target (30 Bellis Fair Parkway)

• Trader Joe’s (2410 James Street)

• Whole Foods (1030 Lakeway Drive)

Grocery price methodology

Before we get to the spreadsheet, there are a few important things to note about our list. First of all, grocery stores don’t all offer the same items. We tried to standardize our list as much as possible but some stores offer different sizes or brands than others. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s in particular tend to sell house brand items on products that other stores tend to stock name brand versions of.

Our list included a mix of popular name brands and store brands, so we had to make some adjustments where necessary. In cases where we couldn’t find a name-brand product at a particular store, we substituted the closest item we could find. If that was a store-brand product, it will be marked with a single asterisk next to the price listed on the spreadsheet, while comparable store brand products are marked with two asterisks.

The same was true about the sizing of products. If a certain store carried an item but not in the size we were looking for, we included it anyway. If it’s a significantly larger size than the other products on the list, it will be marked with a dagger symbol (†) and if it was significantly smaller, it will be marked with two dagger symbols (††).

Some products were only available in a slightly different variety at some stores. In those cases, we substituted the closest product we could find – for example, table salt for sea salt, organic apples for non-organic, or maple syrup in place of “pancake syrup.” However, we know that can affect the price, so those items will be marked with the degree symbol.

It’s also worth noting that several items were listed at two different prices: a base price and a sale price or a discounted price for rewards program members. In these cases, we used the base price so that our readers can continue to refer to this spreadsheet even after the sale is over, but noted that the item was on sale with a pound symbol. Some stores listed meat products by weight, but at different prices depending on the size of the package. We recorded the standard price and used the pound symbol to indicate that there’s a discounted price if you buy the value pack.

Lastly, some products, particularly in the produce section, were sold by weight at certain stores and quantity at others. In these cases, we noted the difference in our spreadsheet.

How grocery prices compare at each store

Here’s the full list of the items and their prices at each store:

Here’s a breakdown of the price of each particular item. Use the drop-down menu to display product of choice:

How each store’s total bill compared

We also compared the total price of the grocery list at each store. Since some stores didn’t carry certain items on our list, we substituted the average price of that item at each of the other stores. We didn’t include tax in our final estimates.

Overall, WinCo had the cheapest total bill at just under $99. The total bill at every other store all reached triple digits, with a few approaching the $150 mark.

Here’s how the stores stack up:

Note: This is not a scientific study, but it is a real reflection of items’ prices at grocery stores in Bellingham in the second week of June 2025.