The cost of a simple apple has sparked a furious debate on social media after a young shopper passionately protested paying $7 for the staple food.
More than a million people have watched the rant by TikTok user @via..li, who had just left an anonymous Whole Foods branch.
The Boston-based influencer reached into her purse, grabbed the apple and her phone, and left her followers in no doubt about her fury.
“I literally just shopped at Whole Foods and look at this,” he said holding up the offending fruit.
‘Guess how much this is. This is an apple, apparently it’s called SugarBee, and look at it.
More than a million people have watched the since-deleted video in which influencer @via..li expresses her passionate protest over paying $7 for an apple.
The apple in question was purchased at an unidentified branch of the luxury store Whole Foods.
But Whole Foods’ website suggests the apple would have to weigh 28 ounces to cost $7.
‘The size of my palm. I thought it would probably be between two and three dollars. I scanned this motherfucker, I scanned him, seven fucking dollars, seven!’
He said he checked with store staff to make sure there had been no mistake and they assured him he had just paid the correct price.
‘What economy do we all live in, really, that it costs seven dollars to buy an apple?’ he demanded she.
‘I could have sworn any other apple like the one I bought didn’t cost seven damn dollars. Is that crazy, like seven dollars for a latte? OK.
“This apple better taste this damn good.”
The video, which has since been removed, generated some skepticism, with Whole Foods’ website suggesting that the apple in question sells for $3.99 a pound.
The one the blogger bought would have to weigh 28 ounces to cost $7, but it seems to fit comfortably in the influencer’s hand.
The average American household now spends $1,080 a month at the grocery store after two years of rampant inflation taking its toll on family budgets.
But some criticized her for shopping at the upscale grocery store in the first place.
“Probably some Whole Foods type place buying apples picked by a vegan, washed in glacial ice water and blessed with some hippie crystals under some retrograde planet,” VidgyaG tweeted.
“Go to Wally World and get one of our bags of pesticide-filled apples for $3,” suggested JC_Midwest.
“Just kidding,” added sashakaka445, “he checked the price and still bought it.”
‘Whole Foods, of course!’ added @KeyserSmoze, ‘Look in the parking lot! See the Maserati, Lamborghini, Bfully and the Rolls-Royce?
‘What economy do we all live in, really, that it costs seven dollars to buy an apple?’ “This apple better taste this damn good.”
‘Find the store with Ford, Chevy and Toyota in the parking lot. Seven dollars will get you a whole bag of apples.’
“Your first and only mistake was shopping at Whole Foods,” Elle Henderson wrote. “I’m not sure how someone who is not rich can afford to buy things that are not going to prolong their life.”
Some had more sympathy.
‘Seriously, this is not a gourmet apple, the food costs are exorbitant!’ wrote ErinSpksLoudr.
The annual inflation rate has fallen to 3.5 percent from its peak of 9.1 percent in June 2022, but grocery prices have remained stubbornly high.
In real terms, prices for hundreds of staple foods have risen more than 50 percent since 2019.
And some defended the store.
‘Don’t you buy premium apples at Whole Foods? “I just bought 6 pounds of fujis for a little over $7 this week,” wrote KellyOwens9997.
Others noted that ‘SugarBee’ is one of the most expensive apples available in the world.
Created in Washington in the early 1990s, it is the result of accidental cross-pollination between a Honeycrisp and another unknown variety.
“I needed a reason to make a rant video,” Ken W suggested.
“Buy that seven dollar apple, create a tiktok complaining about the apple and earn hundreds to thousands of dollars in return,” another added.
DailyMail.com has contacted Wholefoods and @via..li for comment.