This month’s report that food prices have risen about 10% over the past year confirmed what every Nova Scotian already knows: a single trip to the grocery store can clobber your monthly budget. For many of us, that’s ‘bye bye weekend wallet.’
High grocery prices had me wondering: for Haligonians living on the peninsula, what is the cheapest option for filling a fridge? I set out to find an answer.
First of all, what are the options for grocery shopping?
On the peninsula, there are three major grocery chains: the Loblaws-owned Atlantic Superstore, Sobeys and the Walmart supercentre. And there’s Pete’s Frootique & Fine Foods, a small-ish, high-end supermarket on Dresden Row that was sold to Sobeys in 2015.
Atlantic Superstore and Sobeys have three locations each on the peninsula, while the only Walmart supercentre is by the Mumford terminal, just making it onto the peninsula. Pete’s is one of a kind.
It’s worth noting there are other options. A variety of Asian grocery stores can be found in the Quinpool area, including M&Y and the cheap, unassuming Food & Nutrition. Convenience stores carrying essentials like milk and eggs abound, and there are butcher shops scattered around, including the fairly affordable Halal Meat Market in the North End.
But none of these places carries the range of groceries that the chains do. Let’s face it—Halifax residents looking for a relatively affordable one-stop grocery haul will be visiting one of the major supermarkets.
Pete’s is an especially popular store considering it markets itself as a purveyor of fine foods. You can get all produce and essentials at Pete’s and it’s the closest option for residents right downtown, the second being the Atlantic Superstore on Barrington Street.
Now that we’ve narrowed our list of grocery options to the Atlantic Superstore, Sobeys, Walmart and Pete’s, how do we define a grocery haul?
I made a list of 10 items that might be found in a grocery basket. Each person’s basket would of course look different, depending on taste preferences and dietary needs. I did not include long lasting items like butter and cooking oils, which are purchased every few weeks. The goal was to assemble a nutritious pantry allowing one person to eat for one week.
Here’s what I came up with for a generally relatable list:
Produce:
3 peppers
1 head of broccoli
1 kilogram of onions.
Carbs:
1 pack (410 grams) of spaghetti
1 loaf of whole grain bread
1 kilogram of rice.
Animal products:
1 litre of milk
1 kilogram of chicken
1 carton of medium eggs.
I also threw in a bag of potato chips because, who knows, there might be a storm and, to be frank, this haul would otherwise make for a pretty damn boring week for someone's taste buds.
You could make a simple stir fry a few times of chicken, rice and broccoli like a gym nut, and toast and eggs. It’s pretty bare bones, but it’ll feed you.
I collected prices for this food basket at each of the major stores. For Atlantic Superstore, I visited the store on Quinpool Road and for Sobeys the one at the corner of North and Windsor streets. I did not consider temporary sales, but did look at each chain's discount brand. For Atlantic Superstore, that’s President's Choice. For Walmart, Great Value. For Sobeys, Compliments.
Pete’s has no discount brand. In fact Pete’s tends to carry only expensive brands. You can’t get a bag of Lay’s at Pete’s but you can get gourmet kettle chips or something odd imported from the U.K…fancy some “cheese and onion crisps,” anyone?
Anyway, here’s what I found:
Superstore Sobeys Walmart Pete's
Bread $4.29 $3.29 $2.47 $4.19
Spaghetti/410g $2.99 $3.99 $2.37 $4.79
Rice/kg $4.90 $3.88 $2.74 $4.61
Eggs carton $4.99 $4.99 $4.68 $5.29
Milk/ltr $2.59 $2.99 $2.59 $3.09
Chicken/kg $18.28 $16.24 $14.93 $22.02
Onions/kg $1.35 $1.80 $2.18 $1.99
Peppers/3 $4.99 $6.99 $3.97 $8.95
Broccoli/head $3.99 $3.99 $2.97 $2.49
Chips $2.99 $3.99 $1.27 $5.49
Basket total $51.36 $52.15 $40.17 $62.91
For fresh produce, the Atlantic Superstore is cheaper than Sobeys for most things, but Walmart wins easily as I found that its grocery basket is 22% cheaper than even the Atlantic Superstore. For affordability, the clear choice for cheap food is Walmart.
Some produce at Pete’s is surprisingly cheap, broccoli being the only example on the chart. But mostly it’s quite pricey.
For discount brands, Compliments products tend to be cheaper than PC ones, but Great Value from Walmart wins again.
For most people living on the peninsula, their closest spot is likely an Atlantic Superstore. Though the Atlantic Superstore and Sobeys are neck in neck for prices, it looks like the superstore option is the slightly better option.
–HBB
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