Wherefore Amazon Grocery?
February 2, 2010 9:35 AM Subscribe
What's worth buying at Amazon Grocery? I've never used it and they seem to have a totally random selection of stuff.
The Zoe olive oil is a good deal. It's a Spanish extra-virgin, first cold pressing. If you subscribe to it and get the discount, it's like $17.70 for 2 liters, eligible for free shipping.
posted by jon1270 at 9:48 AM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by jon1270 at 9:48 AM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]
I worked on the initial advertising campaign for the launch of Amazon Grocery, and what they had in mind was for you to use it for regular, recurring bulk items, which you can set up on a schedule. For example, diapers. You need X diapers per month, and get tired of ordering them over and over, so you just set it up and they bring the diapers to you.
That was the idea. I haven't worked on it in a long time, so I'm not sure if that's how it ended up being used.
posted by bingo at 9:49 AM on February 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
That was the idea. I haven't worked on it in a long time, so I'm not sure if that's how it ended up being used.
posted by bingo at 9:49 AM on February 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
Never browse them but they sometimes have pretty good sale prices, as well as occasional deals on clearance items or soon expiring items. I picked up a 6 boxes of dog biscuits for $13 a while ago.
posted by wongcorgi at 9:55 AM on February 2, 2010
posted by wongcorgi at 9:55 AM on February 2, 2010
Amore tubes! Amore Tomato Paste is essential for cooking (not just for tomato sauce, but a good all-purpose addition for acidity and flavor). Better than the little cans at the supermarket, which go bad easily. Amore Pesto. There's no cheese in it, so you might want to add parmesan whenever you use it. Those are the only ones I've tried, but I'll bet Amore Garlic Paste and Amore Sun-Dried Tomato Paste are good too.
Spectrum ground flax seed. Super-healthy, sprinkle it on yogurt or cereal or peanut butter, use in baking, etc. Must be kept refrigerated or it will quickly go bad. (Hopefully it survives shipping, but I haven't tried this.)
Quinoa. Use and cook it like rice but with far more nutritional benefit (Google info on protein etc.). Extremely versatile. (Some of those results are quinoa pasta, which is different.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 9:58 AM on February 2, 2010
Spectrum ground flax seed. Super-healthy, sprinkle it on yogurt or cereal or peanut butter, use in baking, etc. Must be kept refrigerated or it will quickly go bad. (Hopefully it survives shipping, but I haven't tried this.)
Quinoa. Use and cook it like rice but with far more nutritional benefit (Google info on protein etc.). Extremely versatile. (Some of those results are quinoa pasta, which is different.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 9:58 AM on February 2, 2010
I forgot about subscriptions - you can get pretty good prices by setting up a recurring orders, usually 15%, which you can cancel at any time.
Also, I've never had a problem with soon expiring items from them. They will post an expiration date for those items and prices are usually drastically reduced.
posted by wongcorgi at 9:59 AM on February 2, 2010
Also, I've never had a problem with soon expiring items from them. They will post an expiration date for those items and prices are usually drastically reduced.
posted by wongcorgi at 9:59 AM on February 2, 2010
"It's probably fair to assume that any grocery item available for mail order is not a grocery item worth ordering."
Are we ignoring people who don't live close to grocery stores? People who want international foods that are not carried locally? Canned foods? Spices? Cheeses? Bulk ~preserved items like olives, pickles, etc? Perhaps you should compile a list of grocery items worth ordering for smackfu.
OP, from my experience different regions will have very different uses for Amazon. Probably the best use for it is finding odd things in bulk (say, 12 cans of smoked oysters?) or things that are unusually expensive/rare in your area. I'm not a huge traveler but lots of prices seem to vary by region and depending on what vendors you have locally available.
posted by Phyltre at 10:07 AM on February 2, 2010
Are we ignoring people who don't live close to grocery stores? People who want international foods that are not carried locally? Canned foods? Spices? Cheeses? Bulk ~preserved items like olives, pickles, etc? Perhaps you should compile a list of grocery items worth ordering for smackfu.
OP, from my experience different regions will have very different uses for Amazon. Probably the best use for it is finding odd things in bulk (say, 12 cans of smoked oysters?) or things that are unusually expensive/rare in your area. I'm not a huge traveler but lots of prices seem to vary by region and depending on what vendors you have locally available.
posted by Phyltre at 10:07 AM on February 2, 2010
I use Amazon Grocery to pick up staples that aren't easily available in my area, like the six packs of Mint Magic Celestial Seasonings tea, a flavor which isn't regularly in stock at my local grocery (and definitely not in the quantities that I go through it).
Also, they have a pretty decent selection of Red Mill flours and meals, including ones that aren't available at the urban and very well-stocked high end grocery stores in my area.
posted by joyceanmachine at 10:07 AM on February 2, 2010
Also, they have a pretty decent selection of Red Mill flours and meals, including ones that aren't available at the urban and very well-stocked high end grocery stores in my area.
posted by joyceanmachine at 10:07 AM on February 2, 2010
If you like chili, the 2-Alarm Chili kit is awesome. Maybe not as awesome as fresh ingredients, but it's helluva a lot easier and everything is individually packaged and is the best "chili kit" I've had. None of the local stores carry it, so I have to order it off Amazon.
posted by jmd82 at 10:19 AM on February 2, 2010
posted by jmd82 at 10:19 AM on February 2, 2010
I too use it to buy teas that I can't easily find in my neighborhood.
posted by gaspode at 10:28 AM on February 2, 2010
posted by gaspode at 10:28 AM on February 2, 2010
i use it to mail bulk items on a recurring basses. currently i have cereal and v8 mailed to my office. i have dental floss, toothpaste, replacement heads for my toothbrush, paper towels, toilet paper, tin foil and trash bags, etc mailed to my house.
posted by phil at 11:12 AM on February 2, 2010
posted by phil at 11:12 AM on February 2, 2010
@jon1270
first cold pressing is marketing speak and has no actual meaning.
posted by phil at 11:17 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
first cold pressing is marketing speak and has no actual meaning.
posted by phil at 11:17 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
I get Newman's Own Organics Dog Food. It's very nice to not have to carry a big bag of something home from the grocer. It's nice getting it via the mail every other month so I'm never really out of it. I figured out once the price was cheaper than what I could buy locally. I've been meaning to do this with other products, but sometimes stuff is more expensive via Amazon - you have to watch it if you're a penny pincher.
posted by dog food sugar at 11:33 AM on February 2, 2010
posted by dog food sugar at 11:33 AM on February 2, 2010
Response by poster: sometimes stuff is more expensive via Amazon - you have to watch it if you're a penny pincher
Yeah. I just checked a bunch of the stuff I regularly buy and the prices aren't any better than the local supermarket's sale prices. Some of the ideas for obscure / higher end products look good though.
posted by smackfu at 12:04 PM on February 2, 2010
Yeah. I just checked a bunch of the stuff I regularly buy and the prices aren't any better than the local supermarket's sale prices. Some of the ideas for obscure / higher end products look good though.
posted by smackfu at 12:04 PM on February 2, 2010
I order Brent & Sams cookies and a selection of candies for work, along with personal work supplies like TP. I haven't yet used Amazon for home items because I'm in an urban area with great grocery stores, but they have a fine selection of good quality staples.
posted by bearwife at 12:27 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by bearwife at 12:27 PM on February 2, 2010
If you are living the gluten free lifestyle and have a hard time finding items, then Amazon rocks but you better really like the product so you can buy in decent enough quantities that it is worth your time and money.
posted by jadepearl at 12:44 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by jadepearl at 12:44 PM on February 2, 2010
Another thing ... If you want to do this, I recommend buying Amazon Prime so that you can get free shipping & handling on a lot of items, and get them faster. Some of the comments here about how Amazon grocery is too expensive might not be taking this into account.
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:53 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:53 PM on February 2, 2010
oh yeah - i never order anything from amazon unless i'm at the "spend $25 get free shipping". it just doesn't make sense otherwise.
posted by nadawi at 1:02 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by nadawi at 1:02 PM on February 2, 2010
I buy dehydrated soy milk which I use for (vegan) baking and sauces. It keeps forever, is a lot easier to store and less expensive, and I can make whatever concentration I want ("condensed" or regular). I discovered it at a local grocery store, but they stopped carrying it.
posted by amtho at 2:02 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by amtho at 2:02 PM on February 2, 2010
Amazon Prime REALLY saves us a ton of money each year, nadawi...$79 a year and you can share it with other household members? Me alone, let alone boyfriend = saving a ton of money on shipping.
I order bulk Tom's of Maine toothpaste, Annie's white cheddar shells & some other things that are cheaper in bulk...oh, and Stash double bergamot Earl Grey tea. YUM!
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:05 PM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]
I order bulk Tom's of Maine toothpaste, Annie's white cheddar shells & some other things that are cheaper in bulk...oh, and Stash double bergamot Earl Grey tea. YUM!
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:05 PM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]
Notice that items you subscribe to (cancel anytime!) ship free even below the normal $25 threshold, and even without Prime.
posted by jon1270 at 2:08 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by jon1270 at 2:08 PM on February 2, 2010
We have Amazon Prime and love the fact that we can get deals on bulk purchases of our favorite cereals, diapers, and some not-locally-available things like our kids' favorite all-fruit fruit leather and my preferred brand of flax seed. I don't feel good about the shipping footprint, ecologically speaking, but there are definitely deals to be had.
posted by clever sheep at 2:15 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by clever sheep at 2:15 PM on February 2, 2010
phil: first cold pressing is marketing speak and has no actual meaning.
Well, whaddaya know? I got the advice to buy 'first cold pressed' from a friend several years ago, when I was an olive oil newbie, and never questioned it. Thanks for the heads up.
posted by jon1270 at 3:46 PM on February 2, 2010
Well, whaddaya know? I got the advice to buy 'first cold pressed' from a friend several years ago, when I was an olive oil newbie, and never questioned it. Thanks for the heads up.
posted by jon1270 at 3:46 PM on February 2, 2010
clever sheep - if the fruit leather brand is the one i'm thinking - you might try target's. it's part of their archer farms line - i usually find it with the other archer farms box dinners instead of by granola bars and the like. you miss out on some of the orange colored flavors, but texture seems very similar.
jon1270 - what i heard about olive oil is that in the US, unless you're watching it get pressed, everything you read on the label is close to meaningless.
posted by nadawi at 3:52 PM on February 2, 2010
jon1270 - what i heard about olive oil is that in the US, unless you're watching it get pressed, everything you read on the label is close to meaningless.
posted by nadawi at 3:52 PM on February 2, 2010
I like Amazon Grocery for the stuff I cannot buy in this one-horse town, like Nestle's powdered whole milk (I hate 1% milk) and as other people have mentioned above, whole grains and cereals.
posted by patheral at 9:33 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by patheral at 9:33 PM on February 2, 2010
Butter Chicken Curry is a favorite here. Real tasty, and dirt simple to make. The instructions recommend 1 pound of chicken per pack, but I've used over 3 lbs with pretty much the same delicious results, just a bit less spicy.
posted by sgass at 10:13 PM on February 2, 2010
posted by sgass at 10:13 PM on February 2, 2010
nadawi: what i heard about olive oil is that in the US, unless you're watching it get pressed, everything you read on the label is close to meaningless.
Cook's Illustrated had an article to that effect -- maybe a year or so ago? If I remember right, the problem was worst with Italian olive oils, because extremely high demand has led to adulteration problems. With that in mind, it's worth mentioning that the particular oil I linked to above is quite tasty, regardless of what the label says.
posted by jon1270 at 5:11 AM on February 3, 2010
Cook's Illustrated had an article to that effect -- maybe a year or so ago? If I remember right, the problem was worst with Italian olive oils, because extremely high demand has led to adulteration problems. With that in mind, it's worth mentioning that the particular oil I linked to above is quite tasty, regardless of what the label says.
posted by jon1270 at 5:11 AM on February 3, 2010
I'm late to this, but I order cat litter through Amazon grocery, with the Subscribe & Save option. It winds up being cheaper with the discount, and it saves me having to lug heavy boxes of cat litter from the store. Also, K-Cups for my Keurig coffee maker.
posted by tastybrains at 2:34 PM on February 9, 2010
posted by tastybrains at 2:34 PM on February 9, 2010
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posted by torquemaniac at 9:48 AM on February 2, 2010