{"id":708516,"date":"2023-08-02T11:29:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T09:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=708516"},"modified":"2023-08-02T11:29:47","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T09:29:47","slug":"cheapest-retailer-for-groceries-in-south-africa-right-now-woolies-vs-pick-n-pay-vs-checkers-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/708516\/cheapest-retailer-for-groceries-in-south-africa-right-now-woolies-vs-pick-n-pay-vs-checkers-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheapest retailer for groceries in South Africa right now &#8211; Woolies vs Pick n Pay vs Checkers and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Makro remains the most affordable option for essential items among the top eight grocery retailers in South Africa&nbsp;for a fourth consecutive month as of 31 July 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is according to The Outlier\u2019s monthly<strong> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theoutlier.co.za\/cost-of-living\/2023-07-31\/86080-410,407\/the-outliers-grocery-basket-july-2023\" target=\"_blank\">grocery basket<\/a><\/strong> comparison, which collected the prices of 12 staple foods and products near the end of each month from eight major retailers \u2013 Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Spar, Food Lover\u2019s Market, Woolworths, Boxer, and Makro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The grocery basket comparison now includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>700g loaf of Albany Superior sliced white bread, or store brand<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2-litre sunflower oil (cheapest option)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2.5kg Iwisa maize meal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2.5kg Selati white sugar<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2-litre milk (cheapest option)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2kg Tastic rice<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2.5kg Snowflake cake flour<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>175g bar of Dettol herbal soap<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>500g Fatti\u2019s &amp; Moni\u2019s spaghetti, or store brand<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>400g smooth Black Cat peanut butter<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1kg Jungle Oats<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>100 Joko tagless teabags<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Outlier&nbsp;also noted&nbsp;that, in some cases, store brand alternatives are used because some stores only keep the store brand versions of those items. Additionally, when some items aren\u2019t available in-store, the online price is considered. The comparison covers the various retailers in several areas within Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> It added that in almost all cases, it is possible to find any of these products at a cheaper price or to find cheaper alternatives, depending on location or time of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the data, The average cost for our basket of 12 staple items in July was R480, which is slightly cheaper than last month (R483.20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Makro offered the cheapest basket in July 2023, totalling R426.90<\/strong>. This is R38.98 less than the second cheapest retailer \u2013 Shoprite (R465.88).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Woolworths had the most expensive basket at R510.88<\/strong>, the only retailer to total over R500, and is R84 more than Makro. It must be noted that Spar is franchised, meaning prices and items can vary from store to store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The infographic shows the total basket price comparison of the eight grocery retailers and who comes out as the cheapest.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-02-092130.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-02-092130.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-708536\" width=\"652\" height=\"649\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-02-092130.png 756w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-02-092130-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-02-092130-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 652px) 100vw, 652px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Reasons for price fluctuations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In July, there was an R84 difference between the cheapest and most expensive baskets, whereas, in June, the difference was R54.89, so the research platform looked into why this is the case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The table below shows the month-on-month basket price differences compared to June 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><div class=\"table-responsive\"><table class=\"table\"><thead><tr><th>Retailer<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">June price<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">July price<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Change<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Makro<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R450.99<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R426.90<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-green-cyan-color\">-R24.09<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Checkers<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R504.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R495.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-green-cyan-color\">-R9.00<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Pick n Pay<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R505.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R497.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-green-cyan-color\">-R8.00<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Fodd Lovers<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R474.30<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R467.30<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-green-cyan-color\">-R7.00<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Shoprite<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R463.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R465.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">+R2.00<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Boxer<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R478.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R483.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">+R5.00<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Woolworths<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R502.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R510.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">+R8.00<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Spar<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R483.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R497.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">+R14.00<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to The Outlier, the two biggest fluctuations where seen at Makro and Spar. Makro\u2019s basket price decreased by a substantial R24.09, and Spar\u2019s increased by R14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research platform noted that a main contributor to these price changes is oil. The price of sunflower oil at Makro in July was R15 cheaper than it was in June. At Woolworths, sunflower oil increased by R7, which accounts for the R8 increase in the overall basket price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Spar, the culprit was cake flour, which was R39.99 in June and had risen to R49.99 in July 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The price difference across brands of two other basic items \u2013 sugar and maize meal \u2013 also tell their own story, The Outlier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cheapest 2.5kg packet of white sugar we found was Food Lover\u2019s Market\u2019s store brand, which cost R44.99. This was followed by a packet of Hullets-branded sugar at Woolworths for R53.99.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast, a 2.5kg packet of Shibobo maize meal at Boxer was R31.99, which was the cheapest brand at the eight stores compared. Pick n Pay\u2019s Pride maize meal was the priciest at R49.99, which was R18 more expensive than Boxer\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/707792\/huge-relief-for-cash-strapped-south-africans\/\">Huge relief for cash-strapped South Africans<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Outlier compares 12 stable foods and products and reveals the cheapest and most expensive retailer for groceries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":708570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[853,17955],"class_list":["post-708516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-south-africa","tag-the-outlier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708516"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":708576,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708516\/revisions\/708576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}