Whole Foods has city’s 2nd lowest grocery prices: study

It’s not “Whole Paycheck” anymore.

Shopping at Whole Foods Market is actually a bargain — at least in the Big Apple, a study claims.

The supermarket chain ranks the second cheapest in the city, behind Fairway Market, on a list of popular grocery stores in Manhattan, according to a report released by Bloomberg Intelligence.

Despite Whole Foods’ reputation as a wallet shrinker, it beat out local faves FreshDirect, D’Agostino, The Food Emporium and Gristedes for the best prices, the study says.

But the sticker shocker didn’t come as much of a surprise to some regulars.

“People are always like, ‘Whole Foods is so expensive in New York.’ It’s not,” said Amy Blackburn, a personal chef buying veggies at the Union Square branch on Thursday. “I live in Midtown, and the grocery store that is closest to me is Gristedes, but Whole Foods is cheaper.”

For the study, researchers bought the same 97 items — including snack foods, orange juice and frozen pizza — at five stores in and near Chelsea and through FreshDirect’s delivery service.

The total was $ 347.10 at Fairway, $ 391.39 at Whole Foods and $ 398.44 with FreshDirect. Gristedes was priciest, at $ 458.84.

“Whole Foods has been talking about lowering prices, and now you can see they really are coming closer in price to other stores,” said Jennifer Bartashus, an analyst who headed the study.

Nevine Smith, a 24-year-old educator who was also shopping at the Union Square store, said she has been noticing more deals.

“They have been putting up a lot more sales recently. I’ll shop here more than Trader Joe’s if they become cheaper, because they have a lot more brands,” she said.

Whole Foods made a push this summer to lower prices, especially on produce, to compete with chains that sell more organic products.

A Bloomberg Intelligence rep said it chose the stores based on proximity and demographics.

The study also found that grocery stores in Manhattan offer few sales and that convenience stores are selling more fresh produce.

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