{"id":840760,"date":"2025-10-26T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=840760"},"modified":"2025-10-26T08:08:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T06:08:34","slug":"the-food-retailer-much-cheaper-than-pick-n-pay-food-lovers-market-and-spar-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/840760\/the-food-retailer-much-cheaper-than-pick-n-pay-food-lovers-market-and-spar-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"The food retailer cheaper than Pick n Pay, Food Lover&#8217;s Market, and Spar in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Makro is the cheapest grocery retailer in South Africa for a basket of essential grocery items compared to its top six competitors, including Pick n Pay, Food Lover&#8217;s Market, and Spar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is according to BusinessTech\u2019s grocery basket\u00a0comparison, which collected the online prices of nine staple foods and products in a typical middle-income grocery basket as of the end of October 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The comparison included seven of South Africa\u2019s major retailers\u2014Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Spar, Woolworths, Food Lover\u2019s Market, and Makro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The grocery basket comparison includes the following products:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>700g loaf of Albany Superior sliced white bread<\/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>9-pack of two-ply toilet paper (cheapest option)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In certain instances, not all retailers may carry specific brands that are directly comparable to one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, Woolworths may not offer Albany Superior sliced white bread but may provide a similar alternative for comparison purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure consistency, each store selects the most affordable sunflower oil, milk, and toilet paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If any substitutions are necessary, these are clearly outlined and justified in the price comparison table below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to note that it\u2019s possible to discover the same basket of products at a lower price or opt for less expensive non-branded options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prices may also vary from one region to another (such as provinces or cities) or within different franchises, which is the case with Spar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The basket is, therefore, not a representation of the absolute cheapest version of every item<\/strong>. The specific brands are chosen for consistency across retailers and their recognisability among middle-class shoppers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pricing in the analysis comes from retailers in Gauteng. The normal price of items was used, and limited-time specials were not considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Makro-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Makro-2-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-832689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Makro-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Makro-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Makro-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Makro-2.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the data collected, the average cost for our basket of nine staple items in October 2025 was R410.81, R6.55 more than September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Woolworths has the most expensive basket at\u00a0R439.91<\/strong><strong>, which is R2.00 less than it was last month<\/strong>. Pick n Pay is the second most expensive at R438.91.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Checkers followed behind Pick n Pay with a basket price of R415.91. Shoprite was the fifth most expensive at R415.91.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spar has the fourth most expensive retailer in October, with a basket price of R409.91. It must be noted that Spar is franchised, meaning prices and items can vary from store to store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Makro offers the cheapest basket in October 2025, totalling\u00a0R375.55<\/strong>, which was R23.00 more than last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this is notably cheaper than the other retailers. Makro is R64.36 and R63.36 less than Woolworths and Pick n Pay, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is also R11.66 less than the second-cheapest retailer, Food Lover\u2019s, which priced the basket at R387.21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The table below breaks down the prices for each item from the eight grocery retailers and shows which is the least expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><div class=\"table-responsive\"><table class=\"table\" class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Item<\/th><th>Woolies<\/th><th>Pick n Pay<\/th><th>Checkers<\/th><th>Spar<\/th><th>Shoprite<\/th><th>Food Lover\u2019s<\/th><th>Makro<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>White Bread<\/td><td>R20.99<\/td><td>R19.99<\/td><td>R19.99<\/td><td>R18.99<\/td><td>R19.99<\/td><td>R19.99<\/td><td>R14.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sunflower oil<\/td><td>R86.99<\/td><td>R74.99<\/td><td>R84.99<\/td><td>R77.99<\/td><td>R79.99<\/td><td>R69.99<\/td><td>R66.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Maize meal<\/td><td>R34.99<\/td><td>R52.99<\/td><td>R39.99<\/td><td>R39.99<\/td><td>R39.99<\/td><td>R39.99<\/td><td>R38.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>White Sugar<\/td><td>R68.99<\/td><td>R65.99<\/td><td>R65.99<\/td><td>R63.99<\/td><td>R65.99<\/td><td>R65.99<\/td><td>R59.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Milk<\/td><td>R38.99<\/td><td>R34.99<\/td><td>R34.99<\/td><td>R29.99<\/td><td>R32.99<\/td><td>R29.95<\/td><td>R28.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Rice<\/td><td>R46.99<\/td><td>R49.99<\/td><td>R42.99<\/td><td>R44.99<\/td><td>R42.99<\/td><td>R35.99<\/td><td>R36.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Flour<\/td><td>R41.99<\/td><td>R44.99<\/td><td>R41.99<\/td><td>R39.99<\/td><td>R41.99<\/td><td>R41.99<\/td><td>R44.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Soap<\/td><td>R19.99<\/td><td>R19.99<\/td><td>R14.99<\/td><td>R18.99<\/td><td>R13.33<\/td><td>R13.33<\/td><td>R18.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Toilet paper<\/td><td>R79.99<\/td><td>R74.99<\/td><td>R69.99<\/td><td>R75.99<\/td><td>R69.99<\/td><td>R69.99<\/td><td>R64.95<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>October total&nbsp;<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>R439.91<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>R438.91<\/strong><\/td><td><strong><strong>R415.91<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><td><strong>R410.91<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>R407.25<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>R387.21<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>R375.55<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BusinessTech\u2019s food basket comparison shows the cheapest retailer for basic groceries at the end of October 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":840858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[5223,15927,8961,4067,7520,853,9838,949],"class_list":["post-840760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-checkers","tag-food-lovers-market","tag-makro","tag-pick-n-pay","tag-shoprite","tag-south-africa","tag-spar","tag-woolworths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840760","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840760"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":841010,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840760\/revisions\/841010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}