Key Food Fresh & Natural — Local services in Jersey City

Long time resident with some fun history facts newcomers should know: this used to be called C-Town, the back left area used to have a “fresh” meat section in back, and some fish.. generally the entire store smelled a bit like a nasty old market, had highly processed prepackaged foods and no wide selection you see today- where isles are very narrow actually jammed with too much stuff. There was nothing medium to ‘higher’ end you take for granted, nothing healthy or truly fresh without containing pesticides.. all in all a sad, unhealthy experience, though the tiny upside it was less expensive. No wonder some local kids had learning disabilities- seriously, food is brain fuel and that food was poor quality.

Locals waited for many years for any other store to open up as an alternative, tried hard to avoid fast food offering like the greasy chicken joint, Burger King near the PATH and eventually the McDonalds opened up, so we would even shop in Manhattan (for good milk, cheese, meats, veg etc) and drag 2 bags home on the PATH, fingers sore from the weight of it all. There were no farmers markets either-a huge positive change.

Then Shop-rite was built, with more selection but was a bit far for daily shopping needs, especially for older folks and delivery via cel phone apps wasn’t a thing.

Eventually the C-Town owners sold or did a total renovation and the miracle happened, what customers see today (and since 2011/2012 or so) is a near total transformation from what was, and seems only the actual brick guts of the building still exists from the old days. Even the staff is new and frankly, nicer, better pay will do that. All in all a happy evolution, except for the high NYC like prices!

Btw If you see a local, old person there on a tight budget shopping (you’ll know if they’re buying only processed cheap unhealthy items), flash a smile and ask them if they accidentally dropped a $20 bill you just found near their basket or cart (hint hint), and insist it’s theirs because you don’t use cash (a white lie), a little way to make their day and offset what they can’t...

I've been grocery shopping in this store for a little over a year now. I have to admit there produce and inventory has significantly change over the course of the year. There's more and more organic produce available as the time passes. One can never go wrong with organic produce. Also they have fresh bread as well. Trick is to pick up earlier in the day. The staff at the check out counter is always quick and efficient. I've never waited over 6 minutes in the checkout line. I find that remarkable as the checkout line wait usually tends to be longer in Supermarkets but not this one. If you live locally and shop over $50 they deliver produce to your home/apt. They have a citibike stand rite outside as well that make it super convenient as well. I've never gotten cold cuts from the deli section so I can't really tell about the produce from Keyfood deli. I am very happy by this neighborhood gem. It can always do with more organic produce. I believe the neighborhood has evolve significantly in the past 2 years and locals won't mind paying an extra buck for organic produce. Again very impressed by the staff efficiency at the checkout counter. I usually get Pete and Gerrys organic free range eggs , Horizon Organic Milk, keyfood white bread, mince meat (turkey/veal/chicken). Sometimes the beef taste funky if it's been sitting on racks for a while so I've stopped getting beef. They need to increase inventory of shrimp/seafood. They have frozen shrimp in the fridge in packets. Not a huge fan of seafood that is packaged and have expiration date well over a month. Oh there is a restroom , I don't know if it's open to public but shoppers and customer can use it. The restroom is located on the right side of the checkout counter. All in all this supermarket suffice my grocery list and the staff is prompt. The manager is doing an amazing job as you can see her always working on or with someone at the same time very eager to help and...

The only good thing about this grocery store is their employees, who are the best. Everything that you need a grocery store for they are horrible. They pump their meats full of whatever concoction it is they use that make their chicken and other meats much heavier than they should be and also makes the meat itself a strange rubber texture. They lie about the packaging date (probably illegal), multiple occasions where I have seen the package date be listed as tomorrows date. Their food prices are the highest of any grocery store in Jersey City, I don’t know how they can keep raising prices like this. I just went and checked all the cleaning items I needed and they are DOUBLE THE PRICE, yes twice the price, compared to having them shipped over night to me.

Key foods would claim that “as a small family owned business” they suffer the impact of rising cost and therefore have to adjust pricing accordingly. However, there are over 250 Key Foods grocery stores in the area and their eggs still cost more than the 1 off mama and pops corner store on Manila Ave. And their Jersey City location prices items at a few dollars higher than other locations. They are actively taking advantage of JC residents and doing it knowingly.

I have been coming to Key Foods almost every other day since the pandemic because I really like the employees but I can’t do it anymore. I will walk 10 more mins to Wholefoods. KEYFOODS YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES. Ripping off the people of...