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January Shopping Price Comparison

In an interesting exercise, media brand “The South African” went shopping and discovered which of the 5 major shops is going to cost you the most for basic groceries during January.

Each month The South African does a comparison between Checkers, Pick ‘n Pay, Shoprite, Spar and Woolworths.

Check them out here: www.thesouthafrican.com

While it can be hard to compare exact products (some shops have no name brands or house brands) and while this is by no means all the items needed to get through the month, it is interesting to see what sort of percentage price difference we are talking between the most and the least expensive.

What items did they compare? Check out the list below.

THE SHOPPING LIST

    • 700g loaf of Albany Superior Sliced White Bread, or store brand
    • 2-litre store brand sunflower oil
    • 2.5kg Iwisa maize meal
    • 2.5kg Selati white sugar
    • 2-litre store brand milk
    • 2kg Tastic rice
    • 2.5kg Snowflake cake flour
    • 175g bar of Dettol Herbal Soap
    • 9-pack of 2-ply toilet paper, average price over all brands

And this is what the totals look like:

As you can see, this month, Woolies are the most expensive, while Spar is the cheapest. Over time we will no doubt see how these stats shift (we hope to bring you an update in Feb etc.).

Now some shoppers will obviously, prefer specific items from a specific shop due to flavour or quality. Still, it is good to have a look at current pricing trends on common items across these shops.

By shopping around and shopping wisely, you can help reduce or at least control your overall grocery bill each month. This can help you stay within your budget.

If you can stick within your budget each month, then you can stay on target to get out of debt, while still putting delicious food on the table.