Walmart Shopper Buys Great Value Frozen Broccoli — Then She Makes a Weird Discovery In the Florets

As inflation shoots off the charts, the quality of products continues to decline. Walmart, a leading retailer in the grocery industry, has gained a reputation for its home-grown brand, Great Value. The sub-brand promises to offer quality products at surprisingly affordable prices. But there’s a catch! TikTok creator Quinteise Douglas (@teiseq) shopped for a bag of frozen broccoli from the Great Value section but was left dissatisfied with the contents inside. In a viral video posted to her page, she expressed her shock, sparking a debate about the plummeting quality of groceries at Walmart. 

Quinteise showed a frozen can of broccoli florets with an odd-shaped plant matter on top. As she reached out to pick it up, the shopper realized that it was a broccoli beanstalk conveniently packed with the florets. “Now, why would they give me this big beanstalk?” she said, holding it up. This followed a fit of passive aggression as the woman dropped it back with a thud. The Great Value packaging conspicuously lay behind the can. “Cooking chronicles gone wrong,” she captioned the post, which was viewed half a million times and received more than 47,200 likes. 

People supported the creator’s reaction and shared their fuming insights in the comments. “Every damn time. Count your days, Great Value,” wrote an annoyed shopper (@brooklynkm), and another (@howulu) joked, “It’s like a vegan hamhock.” A third user (@yourkid_onlaxatives) complained, “That brand of frozen broccoli is the worst.” “I can't even buy the GV brand broccoli florets anymore. nothing but stems,” someone else (@ossabosshog) chimed in.

Noting the poor quality of products under the Great Value brand, @missheathertoyou said, “Great Value has been missing the beat the last few times I got broccoli. I keep getting roots and hard bits that will not cook down. bottom of the barrel.” @amandasplantsandpitties shared a unique insight, though. “That's so messed up, but also I promise the stem is delicious,” the comment read. “I got so tired of frozen broccoli quality, I started just buying fresh, and it’s way better tasting anyway,” noted @jtaa2023. Meanwhile, @clcotc admitted, “That’s the best part of the broccoli when it’s fresh, not frozen.” 

A Great Value broccoli bag at Walmart sells for $1.16. A GoBankingRates list of Walmart store-brand products advises against the purchase of GV broccoli. About three-quarters of American consumers purchase GV products, per a 2022 study. According to Medium, Walmart lists 75 million products, and 55% of its net revenue is generated by grocery purchases. Yet, the quality of fresh produce seems to be on the decline. While retailers in the US provide a wide array of products, only a few are actually healthy for consumption.

Lately, customers have been concerned about the dip in quality, particularly in the fresh fruit and vegetable section. Poor harvests and inflation are only a part of the problem; the increasing greed for profits seems to be another. Skimpflation is a new term that has emerged amidst the declining quality of products. It is explained as a practice where supermarkets intentionally gradually decrease ingredient quality to deliver a sub-par product not worth the price tag.

You can follow @teiseq for more interesting content.