Ever wonder which grocery store has the lowest prices? Is it No Frills, Food Basics, Sobeys, Price Chopper or Metro?
Well now No Frills has an interesting new website lowpricereport.ca that compares the prices of items across these five grocery stores. Of course since No Frills is owned by Loblaws, they were too coward to put Loblaws and Superstore grocery stores into their comparison.
I love the idea of the grocery price comparison but I wish the website was not so biased towards No Frills and Loblaws grocery stores. I also wish that weekly flyer prices and coupons were also taken into consideration.
Which store do you like the most? No Frills, Food Basics or Price Chopper?
Click here to visit Low Price Report
Lowpricereport is biased towards NoFrills and Loblaws because it is published by them. It would be nice to see an independent third party with nothing to gain by promoting one store over another publish something similar without the bias. Even if it was a manufacturer, whose products are sold at all the stores in the report.
Depending on the location (some are clean and organized, some a complete disaster) – I like No Frills. I’m addicted to President’s Choice and love that for the exact same PC product, they’re sometimes $1-$2 cheaper than Loblaws.
I shop at Price Chopper most often, but that’s because it’s the store closest to our house. There are a couple of No Frills nearby as well & if there’s a good deal on at any of them, the added distance becomes worthwhile. If I had a FoodBasics anywhere near us, I’m sure I’d do the same.
Really, I’m more interested in price than store loyalty!
I agree with Kitty – I go for price more than story loyalty. I have a T&T store (chinese store in toronto area) that always has good prices on meat/fish…I go there if I need to stock up – the savings are really good and I like to venture into new territories to provide my family with variety.
It depends. Some things are cheaper at some places while some other items at others. For ex, bread and eggs were the cheapest at No Frills before both PC and FB decided to match their prices. And most of the cheaper prices are for their No Name/Selections/Compliments store brands. National brands prices are probably around the same at all three stores. Again it depends on the item. Luckily for me I live within a 27 minute walk to all three places so I alternate all three stores depending on what they have on sale and what I need to buy.
NO FRILLS!!!!!!HANDS DOWN…….Price Choppers has a little trick where if a special doesn’t sell one week, (when on special) they repakage, freeze, and relist as another special…Got bad Pork Tenderloin… had been frozen after special the previous week. My son and I got very ill I went to Hospital with food posioning son threw up all over the movie theater. And lately they are has pricey as any of the higher end stores…Loblaws and RCSS has more recently brought their prices more in line with others. I rarely buy Produce at Pr.Ch. same story goes bad with-in days.
For QUALITY meats Loblaws, for non perishable No Frills. The rest only if it’s a SUPPER Bargin..And you have to watch Food Basic for expirey Dates, good price, but past “Best Before” right now the Mayo. Happy Hunting!!!!!!!
Wow, this site looks alright.
In my town it’s comparing No Frills vs Wal-mart, Food Basics, Price Chopper, Metro, Sobey’s
What’s weird is when another store has a lower price on an item they don’t highlight it in red for you…
it’s a good find, saves looking at the damn fliers and makes figuring out where to shop that much more efficient.
Honestly I have more store loyalty then which store is the cheapest. Here we have a food basics, Zehrs, Foodland and Valumart to choose from in a 20 minute drive. (i’m rural)
Valumart- Barely ever step in it, noone really shops there and the whole place smells rotten.
Foodland- Not very fresh, only go there because its in town for eggs or bread milk etc. Once got a can of Carnation Milk that was 2 yeard expired. Packers still pack groceries and help you out to your car with them.
Food Basics (next town over) Too many occasions did I get bad or spoiled product. Also brought home these cute (omg not) bugs in the sugar I purchased. Pretty much run by teenager, store messy
Zehrs- Pricier but consistently clean and good product, friendly staff and service. Packers pack groceries and assist you to your car if you need it.
Verdict. Zehrs lol.
I’m with ed
I’m right smack dab in the middle of a variety of grocery stores – food basics and price chopper being 2 of the closest 5 (all within 10 min) and I just go where the prices and sales are good for that week – usually I end up at two locations to get all the good stuff
I find the first of the month flyer (sales) to usually be the best at Food Basics – Sobeys and RCSS are where I go for meat – I haven’t had good experience with Basics and PC
I’ve been lured into Food Basics on a few occasions by advertised specials and disappointed to find the advertised products not in stock. No Frills does a better job of ensuring they have an ample supply of their advertised goods. Price Choppers are too far and few.
We live in a small rural town, and the choices are No Frills (tiny and dirty) or Foodland (slightly larger and way overpriced – likely because the owner knows too many people will shop there just because it’s local). I try to wait and once a week do a major grocery shop in town, where a larger No Frills, Metro, WalMart Supercentre, Fortinos, No Frills and Price Chopper are all within a 15 minute drive/radius. I check the flyers before I go and map out where the top 3 or 4 stores are, and forget the rest. It’s not worth more stops than that unless there are really humongous bargains to be had, because I would spend the savings on the extra turning off & stating my car. And yes, beware of expiry dates – even at large supermarket chains!
Personally, I am devoted to No Frills, but, then again, I also collect the PC Mastercard Points.
My daughter will only eat the frozen mac and cheese from food basics (equality brand) so I have to go there the majority of the time, but I find No Frills has some pretty sweet deals most of the time, so I like to go there first and get what I can, and then head to Food Basics, for the “Blue package Mac and Cheese” LOL
I alternate between Price Chopper & Food Basics for the basics on sale. I try to get my meat at Mr. Meat Market and produce from Joseph’s Farm Market. Both of them are cheaper, fresher and more customer friendly. I go to 24-hr Metro if I can’t find the item anywhere else or if all the other stores are closed.
I’m not entirely sure how accurate this website is, as they seem to make up competitors in certain cities that don’t even exist.
For example, Sault Ste Marie is listed as having a Sobeys and Price Chopper as competitors, when there are no locations within that city, or even 2-3 hours distance from there. Parry Sound lists Food Basics and Price Chopper as competitors, but yet last time I checked neither chain had locations there either.
I’ve been buying meat from butchers for many years now, there is no way that I will ever buy my meat from a grocery store. The price are a lot cheaper and the quality of meat is so much better. Check out places like Mr. Meat Market, Fred’s Farm Fresh, or Castle Beef. There are so many more in the phone book. Definitely worth an extra drive for the savings!!
Interestingly, I just finished my shopping at Zehrs Superstore, then compared prices with No Frills for 21 of 29 items I purchased (couldn’t get price comparisons for the rest). Sometimes I saved, other times I lost, but even though I frequently had better name brand products in my shopping, I came out surprisingly ahead by shopping at Zehrs by $1.13
If shopping for veggies though, No Frills is usually a better deal, unless you’re into organics, so selection an issue.
I like Food Basics. Each store is different I have my favorite Food Basics. It is the Managers and Staff that make the store. I really support my Food Basics Store