6 Things Millennials Really Want in a Grocery Store (We're Serious This Time)

Whole Foods recently announced the launch of 365, a budget-friendly, organic, and fresh foods market targeted at millennials. In light of this news, we decided it was time to outline our wishes for the new grocery store chain.

Last week, one of our fellow millennials here at Cooking Light, Rachel Johnson, offered a satirical list of needs of young shoppers. (Some of you picked up on the humor; some of you, well, did not.) So putting all jokes aside, we would like to expand further with a more serious approach. Here are our top recommendations for 365--and how we think they will best achieve their goal of making millennials happy shoppers:

6. Recipe CardsThere's always one item in the produce section you can't identify—that's where recipe cards come in handy! Little boxes hanging on the ledge of each station can highlight new ways of cooking with that unknown product (i.e., gai lan, ugli, cherimoya, romanesco), and a single scan with the smartphone saves it for future cooking. Since organic produce goes bad more quickly, we want to get the most for our organic dollar as quickly—and deliciously—as possible.

5. Bigger Bulk SectionExpand the bulk section to include as many options as possible. Grains? Yes, please. Nuts? Of course. Teas and coffees? Why not? Many of us are shopping for just one or two people, so buying bulk-sized items will be a waste of product and our dollars. We also don't want to travel to multiple stores to complete a single grocery list. In a nutshell, bulk is cheaper, and we are looking to save as much money as we can.

4. Take-Out We're pressed for time, so virtual shopping would be a big bonus. Using the Internet and a mobile phone app, we should be able to shop on the go by selecting the exact products we need and then picking them up at the store and time of our choosing.

3. Deals On Items We Actually NeedBuy-10-get-1-free deals are great if you have a big household with lots of mouths to feed, but we'd prefer something more reasonable. A few really great weekly buy-one-get-one deals wouldn't hurt. Plus, how about a few deals on the items we really need and want, like bread, milk, paper products, and whole grains? We'll be loyal to people who recognize our need to save and appreciate it.

2. CouponsWe're obsessed with Target's Cartwheel app, and we want all the coupons possible without having to clip any paper. Go green!

1. Low Prices, High QualityIn short, we want high-quality food that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. After all, we have student loans and Target sales to worry about.