The cost of a simple apple has sparked a furious debate on social media after a young shopper delivered an impassioned protest at paying $7 for the grocery staple.
More than one million people have seen the diatribe from the TikTok user @via..li, who had just emerged from an unnamed branch of Whole Foods.
The Boston-based influencer reached into her bag, grabbing the apple and her phone and left her followers in no doubt about her fury.
‘I literally just did grocery shopping at Whole Foods and look at this,’ she said holding up the offending fruit.
‘Guess how much this is. This is an apple, it’s called a SugarBee f***ing apple apparently and look at it.
‘The size of my palm. I thought it was like probably two to three dollars. I scanned this motherf***er I scanned it, seven f***ing dollars, seven!’
She said she checked with store staff to make sure there had been no mistake and was assured that she had just paid the correct price.
‘Genuinely what economy are we all f***ing living in that it costs seven dollars to buy an apple?’ she demanded.
‘I could have sworn that some other like apple that I bought was not seven f***ing dollars. It’s crazy, like seven dollars for a latte? OK.
‘This apple better be tasting so f***ing good.’
The video, which has since been deleted, sparked some skepticism with the Whole Foods website suggesting the apple in question sells for $3.99 a pound.
The one bought by the blogger would have to weigh 28 ounces to cost $7 but appears to fit comfortably in the influencer’s hand.
The average American household now spends $1,080 per month at the grocery store after two years of rampant inflation under Joe Biden takes its toll on household budgets.
But some criticized her for shopping at the upmarket grocery store in the first place.
‘Probably at some Whole Foods type place buying apples that are picked by a vegan, washed in glacial ice water, and blessed by some hippie crystals under some planetary retrograde,’ tweeted VidgyaG.
‘Go to a Wally World and get one of our pesticide filled bags of apples for $3,’ suggested JC_Midwest.
‘Joke’s on her,’ added sashakaka445, ‘She checked the price and still bought it.’
‘Whole Foods duh!’ added @KeyserSmoze, ‘Look in the parking lot! See the Maserati, Lamborghini, Bently and the Rolls-Royce?
‘Find the store with the Ford, Chevy and Toyota in the parking lot. $7 will get you a whole bag of apples.’
‘Your first and only mistake was shopping at Whole Foods,’ wrote Elle Henderson, ‘Not sure how anyone who isn’t rich can afford to buy stuff that’s not going to prolong your life.’
Some had more sympathy.
‘Seriously, this isn’t some gourmet apple, food costs are outrageous!’ wrote ErinSpksLoudr.
The annual rate of inflation has fallen to 3.5 percent from its high of 9.1 percent in June 2022, but grocery prices have remained stubbornly high.
In real terms, prices for hundreds of grocery staples have increased more than 50 percent since 2019.
And some defended the store.
‘Don’t buy premium apples at Whole Foods? I just bought 6lbs of fujis for a little over $7 this week,’ wrote KellyOwens9997.
Others pointed out that the ‘SugarBee’ is one of the most expensive apples available anywhere.
Created in Washington in the early 1990s, it is the result of an accidental cross-pollination between a Honeycrisp and another unknown variety.
‘She needed a reason to make a rant video is why,’ suggested Ken W.
‘Buy that seven dollar apple, create a tiktok complaining about the apple and make 100s-1000s of dollars in return,’ added another.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Wholefoods and @via..li for comment.
Whole Foods shopper is left in disbelief after paying $7 for an APPLE added by News89 Team on
View all posts by News89 Team →
You must be logged in to post a comment Login