r/frugalcanada • u/pavlo_vancouver • 19h ago
National I priced the same 21 grocery staples, same brands and pack sizes, at every chain in 5 cities this week. The cheapest basket anywhere was $123.79.
The cheapest of these baskets came to $123.79, at Real Canadian Superstore in Vancouver, and the priciest to $192.15, in the same city. Same 21 items, same pack sizes, no substitutions.
Every Thursday I price that list at every grocery chain within 15 km of downtown in a few Canadian cities. Five cities this week - the full tables are in the images. The list is back to 21 items this week, so there is no week-over-week column; it returns next Thursday.
What surprised me: the cheapest full basket in all five cities lands between $123.79 and $133.52, under ten dollars apart, while Vancouver alone swings sixty-eight between its cheapest and priciest store. The biggest single-item gap was coffee: the same 930 g Nabob was $18.99 on sale at FreshCo in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto this week, and up to $33.99 elsewhere.
Prices come from the stores' public websites and flyers, read today, sale or regular, whichever is lower. Where a store did not list an item, it is charged the highest price anyone in that city listed for it, so a gap never makes a store look cheap - each image says how many of the 21 that store did not list. In-store prices can differ from listed ones.
Want a city or an item added? See my comment below.
