The Sprouting of Sprouts

Not long after the Bristol Farms closure came news that a different sort of market would be coming to Valencia, perhaps better attuned to our choosy-yet-housepoor community. SCVtalk has been following the story all year, and we weren’t alone.

Today, Sprouts Farmers Markets opened in Valencia and I braved the opening day crowds, but not the (fifteen-deep) opening day lines.

While it shares some of the quirkiness (and off-brands) as Trader Joe’s and has its share of Whole Foods-inspired piety, much of the store’s offerings are comparable to what you would find in a conventional grocery store.

For example, just about everything is available in the produce section, regardless of season, and organics are restricted to a space in the corner. That said, fruits and vegetables that are in the height of their season are displayed in abundance. The produce section just might be the largest, as a share of the total space, in the SCV.  There are some additional nice touches, like bulk salad greens, but much of this will look familiar to a Ralph’s shopper.

The cheese-deli-meat operation was an interesting mishmash.  The cheese selection and quality seemed south of Whole Foods and Bristol Farms, but a notch above Trader Joe’s.  The butcher counter is mostly a fish counter, save for the litany of house-made sausage.  The rest of the meat selection was impressive. Nearly all beef is USDA Choice or higher and it’s priced well. From what I could see, there is also a fair amount of organic beef and poultry. Like Trader Joe’s, there are very few larger cuts or roasts.  I noticed a couple of people manning deli slicers, but I couldn’t figure out how to order sliced meat or cheese.

Most unusual, to my eyes, were the aisles of various bulk grains, dried fruit, nuts, granola, and who knows what else.  There is a full barrel of dried cranberries (strange, right?). Next time, I’ll inspect further, but as a home cook, I expect that this will be an invaluable resource.

I confess to being disappointed with the coffee selection, which is limited to a few pre-ground brands and a couple dozen varieties of the house brand, much of it flavored and/or decaf and/or roasted to a crisp.   Oh well.

This sounds like a lot of hemming and hawing, but my early guess is that they’ve found a sweet spot for this community.  There’s a happy medium of price and quality, plus the selection is wide enough to make it your only stop.  The location is less than ideal, especially since just about everyone in this valley will pass another market on their way, but I think there is enough here to keep me, and others, returning.

When the crowds thin out a little, I’ll even buy something.