Cheapest ‘essential’ groceries are at this chain with NC locations, national study shows

A national survey has ranked some of the largest grocery chains in the U.S. according to affordability, and nine of those chains have stores in North Carolina.

The website BravoDeal.com said it “analyzed the cost of the 12 most frequently bought groceries from 11 of the major grocery stores in America,” basing the average cost on a household of three people. The site then ranked those stores to determine which had the best prices.

▪ What they shopped: The list of 12 “essentials” shopped by BravoDeal, based on mentions throughout their report, were: a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, peanut butter, jelly, frozen pizza, Honey Nut Cheerios, a six-pack of Coca-Cola in cans, boneless chicken breasts, ham, laundry detergent and olive oil. The site used Kaggle to determine the items most often purchased by consumers.

▪ Where they shopped: BravoDeal compared prices at Albertson’s, Aldi, Costco, Kroger, Lidl, Publix, Sam’s Club, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Whole Foods. Only Albertson’s and Kroger do not have locations in North Carolina, though Kroger does own Matthews, N.C.-based Harris Teeter.

▪ Who had the best prices: The website found that German grocery chain Aldi had the cheapest prices on the “essentials” they checked, coming in at $43.38. In second place is Aldi’s German competitor, Lidl, with a total bill of $54.24. In third place is Trader Joe’s, at $60.58.

▪ Caveats: There are a few things to note about the BravoDeal report.

• BravoDeal did not specify if the items analyzed were checked in-person or online. Online prices can sometimes be higher than prices in stores.
• The company also ranked according to cost per product, not cost per unit. That’s why you see the vast difference between prices at stores like Walmart ($64.98) and Costco ($267.94), which sells items in bulk. BravoDeal noted: “The cost per product was used in the weekly shop calculation as this is how a consumer would buy the product.”
• Food Lion, a North Carolina-based grocery chain with more than 1,100 stores nationwide, was not included in the survey, despite being considered the sixth largest chain in the country, according to data from FoodIndustry.com and ScrapeHero — both by revenue and by number of stores.

A 2022 News & Observer analysis of grocery prices in Raleigh, based on shopping for more than 50 grocery items across 16 stores, found Rochester, NY-based chain Wegmans to have the lowest prices, with Aldi and Lidl close behind. In our 2022 research, Target also beat out Walmart. The N&O report did not include Costco and Sam’s Club, but we do have a report on those stores coming this month.

Here’s the list of the grocery chains analyzed by BravoDeal along with their “estimated cost of essentials”:

1. Aldi: $43.48
2. Lidl: $54.24
3. Trader Joe’s: $60.58
4. Albertsons: $63.18
5. Walmart: $64.98
6. Target: $65.38
7. Kroger: $65.78
8. Publix: $70.19
9. Whole Foods Market: $73.98
10. Sam’s Club: 106.47
11. Costco: 267.94

This story was originally published March 13, 2024 at 9:16 AM.

Brooke Cain

The News & Observer

Brooke Cain is a North Carolina native who has worked at The News & Observer and McClatchy for more than 30 years as a researcher, reporter and media writer. She is the National Service Journalism Editor for McClatchy.