Whole Foods Tried To Sell $6 'Asparagus Water' And It Did Not Go As Planned; Company Issues Apology
Whole Foods has been having a bad go of it this summer, and that’s putting it lightly. Back in June, the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs revealed that the organic food juggernaut had been overcharging its customers, even though products are already considered overpriced. Thanks to a customer visiting one of the company’s California locations, we now have evidence of one of Whole Foods’ most egregious sales mistakes: $6 “Asparagus Water.”
Instagram user Marielle Wakim posted a photo of 16 fl oz. bottles of water inexplicably filled with three asparagus spears each. The post was accompanied by the caption: “Somewhere in L.A., Whole Foods are laughing at all of us.” If the combination of water and asparagus wasn’t ludicrous enough, however, the price of $5.99 was enough to make the Instagram post go viral. The company was quick to address its newest product that has already been taken off supermarket shelves.
"We looked into the item as soon as it was brought to our attention,” Liz Burkhart, Whole Foods’ senior media relations specialist, told the Huffington Post. “It was carried briefly in just one of our stores in California and was meant to be water with the essence of vegetables and/or mushrooms, which is typically made over a long period of time soaking in water. It was made incorrectly and has since been removed.”
Burkart added that Asparagus Water was “carried briefly” by its location in Brentwood, Calif., where it was promptly removed. Trying to dupe customers into spending $6 on a bottle of water with three asparagus spears stuffed into it is pretty foolish it its own right. Doing so when your company is already embroiled in controversy for taking money out of the pockets of its customers is just absurd.