First Trader Joe’s came to Houston, as did Aldi. Now another “neighborhood” grocery store with an old-fashioned feel – this one based in Arizona – is opening multiple stores in the Houston area. Sprouts promotes the idea of making healthier choices, and the stores are stocked with everyday staples as well as homemade burgers and sausages, fresh bakery goods, gourmet cheeses, vitamins and supplements and many natural, organic and gluten-free groceries.

There are currently two Sprouts in our area – one is at 23105 Cinco Ranch Blvd. in Katy, and there is a second at 22506 Hwy. 249. Locations number three and number four are already in the works.

Sprouts Farmers Markets technically launched in 2002 in Arizona, and in 2004 they expanded to Texas and later to Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma and Utah. The Sprouts concept, however, was conceived by Henry Boney in 1943 in California. Between Henry and his sons, the Boney family created many retail establishments before finally homing in on the Sprouts Farmers Market concept. Their website is highly informative and tells the whole Boney Family retail history.

By 2012, Sprouts had grown to more than 150 stores in eight states and is one of the fastest-growing retailers in the United States.

The new Katy store is approximately 28,000 sq. feet and neatly appointed. The layout has a nice flow from the single center entrance. Sprouts has been called “Whole Foods Light,” and one of the differences is the large prepared foods section Whole Foods Market typically offers.

In general, Sprouts is located in the suburbs and mostly serves families shopping for ingredients to prepare meals at home. Whole Foods Market, especially locations like the stores on Waugh and on Kirby, cater to younger singles and on-the-go families who are too busy to prepare meals at home, thus the many more prepared items.

Section for section, Sprouts is pretty comparable to Whole Foods. Trader Joe’s is different in that it carries so many of its own branded products, and Aldi’s is closer to a regular grocery store than a farmers’ market. Anyone could do their weekly or monthly shopping at Sprouts and not have to go to another grocery store.

(Of course, just like at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, brand name sodas are not available, so you will need to get your Diet Coke fix elsewhere.)

There is one rather large difference between Sprouts and Whole Foods, and it pertains to meat, poultry and seafood. Whole Foods has implemented very rigorous standards for their purveyors as to how an animal is raised, fed, sheltered, medicated and slaughtered. Sprouts Farmers Market is not as discerning. They are strangely boastful about using only Choice Natural Beef that has had diets of corn and grain (which, let’s face it, is not the natural diet of cows). They do offer a grass-fed beef, but it is from Uruguay, which is hardly local.

Sprouts’ chicken is described as “farm-fresh” with no further explanation. They do also offer an organic choice that sounds a bit more promising. Similarly, Sprouts’ pork and lamb is merely described as “natural.”

If there is a Sprouts Farmers Market near, it is a good grocery store that has an outstanding produce section and many other natural, organic and gluten-free products to satisfy shopping needs. As a carnivore with a conscious, however, I would choose to buy my meat and seafood at Whole Foods Market.

SPROUTS FARMERS MARKET, 23105 Cinco Ranch Blvd., Katy, 281-769-0444; 22506 Hwy. 249, 832-698-0004, 7055 Hwy 6 North (coming soon) and 11940 Westheimer (coming soon), sprouts.com