The idea of a lower-priced version of Whole Foods aimed at younger consumers is intriguing, but there’s already a hugely popular downmarket alternative to Whole Foods for people seeking natural and organic groceries. It’s called Walmart.

Well, there’s also Costco, Kroger, Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, and whatever your preferred local grocery chain is. While Whole Foods plans a whole chain aimed at younger shoppers, the problem is that the current generation of young adults are used to seeing organic vegetables for sale everywhere that conventionally grown vegetables are found. Whole Foods isn’t growing as quickly as it did in the last decade because millennials can’t afford to shop there. They’ve stopped growing so quickly because what used to be their exclusive products are now for sale in every store.

The Walmart-Whole Foods comparison is interesting because of the companies’ interesting connection when it comes to organic offerings: they now sell organic foods under the Wild Oats brand. Wild Oats was a competing natural-foods grocery chain that Whole Foods acquired in 2007, then were forced to sell two years later when the Federal Trade Commission forced the company to reverse the merger and sell Wild Oats.

The New Organic Walmart Is Eating Whole Foods’ Lunch [Bloomberg News]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.