Whole30 Grocery Shopping in Honolulu

I can’t stress enough to read your labels. Even I still need to practice this when I shop. Manufacturer’s change their formulas all the time, so what might be a compliant packaged product today, may not be tomorrow, or next week. This catches me as well, so I just want to save you some hassle of having to return something!

Look for allergy warnings, such as CONTAINS SOY / WHEAT. The only tricky one is sulfites, as long as in the ingredients it says CONTAINS SULFITES, but there is no sulfite ingredient (such as potassium sulfite/metabisulfite etc), the food is OK. It’s best to avoid, but we do our best to stay within our budget. We can’t do all our shopping at Whole Foods/Down To Earth (but I do admit, it makes shopping easier on Whole30, but costs about two to three times as much), so if you have to Google a lot of chemically sounding ingredients, you do it (I did it! And I still do!)

I have pricing on here, but please don’t complain to me if they’re off since these are based off of what I’ve purchased, and what I’ve seen. I have no control over a store’s pricing. I also put the location of the store, in case your store is higher, you have an idea of where to go.

Costco (Iwilei):

• Chosen Foods avocado oil 1 liter bottle - $9.99 
• Kirkland aged balsamic vinegar (no added sulfites) 1 liter bottle - $8.99 
• Aidell’s chicken & apple sausages 12 pack (look for added sugar. As of March 19, 2018, it looks like only two flavors are compliant: chicken and apple, poblano and paprika, which worries me as these two may eventually become non-compliant) 
• Proscuitto di Parma 12 ounce pack (ingredients should just be ham and salt) 
• Wholly Guacamole minis - 20 pack 
• Kirkland almond flour, superfine & blanched - 3 pounds - $11.59
• Kirkland organic whole cashews, unsalted, unroasted - 2 pounds - $21.89
• Kirkland wild Alaskan pink salmon (canned)  - 6 x 6 ounce cans - $12.99
• Kirkland organic olive oil - $14.99
• McCormick organic chili powder - 20 ounces - $5.39
• Macadamia nuts (cheaper in bulk, store in the fridge/freezer and portion as you need)
• RX Bars - only the chocolate flavor is compliant

Safeway (Beretania St):

• Unsweetened coconut flakes - $3.49 a pound (located in the bulk bins by the fruit at the Beretania store). I use this as a portable, non-liquid fat. 
• Organics Dijon Mustard

Hit or miss:

• Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk (in the can) - $3.99 (cheaper brand available at Whole Foods) - this is generally out of stock. 
• Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos, Primal Kitchen mayo and Greek dressing - the app says it’s in stock, but there is nothing on the shelves. 

Foodland Farms (Ala Moana):

• Nutritional yeast - (located in the bulk bins by the hot bar, I’d get some to try first, then you can purchase the whole bag of Bob’s Red Mill brand which is cheaper) 
• Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour 
• Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flour 

Whole Foods (Kahala):

• 365 Organic Coconut Milk (in the can) - $1.99
• 365 Organic Tahini 16 ounce jar - $6.99 
• 365 Organic Chicken Broth
• Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos - (this is the only place I’ve found them, Foodland Farms has other products of this brand, but not specifically coconut aminos) 
• Red Boat Fish Sauce 
• Primal Kitchen Avocado Mayonnaise - $12.99 for a tiny jar (cheaper to buy direct from their website at $9.99). 

Walmart (Fort Street Mall):

• Frozen ground beef 
• Frozen ground pork (haven’t seen this for about a month though) 
• Frozen chicken pieces
• Birds Eye frozen cauliflower rice - $3.30/bag 
• Compliant chicken stock 
• StarKist Selects Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water
• Bumble Bee Pink Salmon
• Hunts Tomato Sauce and Paste
• Great Value Diced Tomatoes
• Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil
• Chosen Foods 500 ml avocado oil - $8.99 (Costco is cheaper!) 

Hit or miss:

• Compliant unsweetened coconut milk (in the box) or unsweetened almond milk. 

Read your labels carefully for items from Walmart. While it will save you a lot of money, it will take longer to sift through the list of ingredients. It is easier if you have your mobile phone, Google “Whole30 ingredient” to find out if it’s OK or if it’s compliant. 

Target (Ala Moana):

• Simply Balanced organic spices (read your labels) - range between $2.00-$6.00 per bottle
• Black peppercorns 
• Steak - $9.99 for 18 ounces of sirloin steak 
• Simply Balanced Almond Butter - the only ingredient is almonds! 
• RX Bars (cheap when on sale)
• Ghee $10.99 for a 7.5 ounce jar (it’s way cheaper to make your own, which I do, it's really not that hard, so this is not something I have actively looked for) 

Ross’s Dress for Less:

• Coconut flour - I kid you not! I’ve gotten a pound for $3.99, but it’s not always in stock. Just check the expiration dates. 

Things I haven’t found in stores:

• Tessamae’s dressings 
• The Primal Kitchen dressings 
• Compliant beef broth (they all have caramel color, which is sugar)