Putting the Whey in Safeway
Inspired by my new-found love for ethnographic analysis of protein powders, I decided to hit up another grocery store. This time, my victim was Safeway in Georgetown. Yup, Georgetown. Surprised they even have such a low-class establishment as Safeway. This Safeway also takes GWorld so clearly their loyalties are not geographically tied.
Walking in, the environment feels cold and sterile. The walls are white and the downstairs entrance is crowded with large, spacious carts. I am immediately aware of register beeping, freezer machines werring and the smell of cookies as the escalator rises.
It’s about 3 in the afternoon on a Sunday and the place is pretty hoppin’. The customers appear to be a mix of families, college aged and young professional types as well as some regular professional types.
Meandering around the store, it takes me some time to find where the protein powder is located (I’m also easily distracted by the general assault of colorful labels, enhanced only in a way florescent lighting is capable). I finally find it, placed beneath an ambiguously labeled “organic” aisle, across from the equally ambiguously labeled “natural foods”.
The floors are a nice, ash grey linoleum wood. The shelves are packed, but only the top one has protein powder. The brand, tera’swhey, has really seemed to monopolize safeway’s selection with a small variety of flavors (vanilla, chocolate and plain). All advertise “grass fed” (which saddened me, made me think of dehydrated cows) with simplistic green labels. They had a couple other brands with vegetarian options featuring hemp and pea derived protein. Those only had one option for each and had more neon labels in blue and green.
The cheapest option was a brand called “Designer Whey,” which for $16.99 you could get 12 oz of protein powder and 11 servings or 2 lbs for $36.99. In comparison, Tera’s was $20.49 for 12 oz. and 12 2servings. The pea protein by Naturade was $16.99 for 12 servings and actually featured the serving amount on the front, which the other’s did not.
The lack of variety and shelf space dedicated to protein powders in Safeway suggests their customer base is maybe more focused on sustainable meals, not supplements for a quick meal replacement or protein surplus. Something I find odd about the protein powders being shoved in with the gummy vitamins and organic soaps, is that it’s actually a similar placement to the protein powders in Whole Foods, but Whole Foods is like… entirely a ‘natural foods’ aisle.
The size of the carts and wide isles suggests the store is made for people doing large quantity shopping trips— families. When I was younger, my mom stopped being a vegetarian because it was easier, and cheaper in some ways, for all of us to just eat meat. Safeway itself is next to Georgetown neighborhoods and has a real parking lot. All this, plus the lack of protein powder variety, is evidence that this Safeway could be marketing a more family friendly environment.
Can’t wait to see what the next site has in store… Okay, now I might be trying too hard.
