Grocery basket showdown March 2024: Woolies vs Checkers vs Pick n Pay and more

Makro continues to be the most affordable of the top seven grocery retailers in South Africa for a basket of selected essential items.

This is according to BusinessTech’s grocery basket comparison, which collected the online prices of nine staple foods and products in a typical middle-income grocery basket as of March 2024.

The comparison included seven of South Africa’s major retailers – Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Spar, Woolworths, Food Lover’s Market, and Makro.

The grocery basket comparison includes the following:

• 700g loaf of Albany Superior sliced white bread
• 2-litre sunflower oil (cheapest option)
• 2.5kg Iwisa maize meal
• 2.5kg Selati white sugar
• 2-litre milk (cheapest option)
• 2kg Tastic rice
• 2.5kg Snowflake cake flour
• 175g bar of Dettol herbal soap
• 9-pack of two-ply toilet paper (cheapest option)

In very rare cases, some brands are not available at all retailers – for example, Woolworths does not stock Albany Superior sliced white bread, but it does have its own like-for-like product, which is used in the comparison.

Because brands vary across all stores for sunflower oil, milk, and toilet paper, the cheapest version available is used from each store. If any other substitutions are required, these are noted and explained in the table below.

It must be stressed that it is possible to find the same products in the basket at a lower price or use cheaper non-branded alternatives. Pricing can change from region to region or, in the case of Spar, across different franchises.

The basket is, therefore, not a representation of the absolute cheapest version of every item. The specific brands are chosen for consistency across retailers and their recognisability among middle-class shoppers.

The pricing in the analysis comes from retailers in Gauteng and is collected in the middle of the month. The normal price of items was used, and limited-time specials were not considered.

The results

According to the data collected, the average cost for our basket of nine staple items in March was R410.50, which is slightly less expensive than in February 2024 (R413.50).

Makro offered the cheapest basket in March 2024, totalling R360.64, which was R20.00 less than last month. However, this is R30.19 less than the second cheapest retailer – Food Lover’s (R390.83).

Woolworths had the most expensive basket at R441.91, unchanged from last month, and R81.26 more than Makro.

Spar was the third cheapest retailer (R396.91). It must be noted that Spar is franchised, meaning prices and items can vary from store to store.

The table below gives the breakdown of prices for each item from the eight grocery retailers and who comes out as the cheapest.

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) has reported that food prices in South Africa have reduced since January 2024. However, the group warns that it is still too early to celebrate.

The PMBEJD’s basket comprises 44 food items that most households in South Africa would purchase in a typical month. While this reflects a lower-income basket, this is what the majority of households would look at.

Across the 44 food items tracked by the group, seven have come down in price, year-on-year, showing increased levels of disinflation for key foods. Onions (-29%) and cooking oil (-13%) recorded significant decreases.

However, the PMBEJD said this needs to be understood in the context of pricing coming off a high base.

Most food items are still showing high levels of inflation, with 19 recording double-digit price increases – and six of these are over 20%

Read: Good news for braai lovers this Christmas – with a warning for 2024