People just about everywhere are feeling the crunch of rising food prices :confounded: More and more Canadians are heading to budget-friendly grocery stores to save on their food bills. Narcity's Ashna Bharkhada went to No Frills and Food Basics and compared the prices on 8 common food items to see if one retailer is actually cheaper than the other.
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00:00With food prices on the rise, many Ontario residents are turning to budget-friendly grocery stores to keep their costs down.
00:05So today I'm comparing items at No Frills and Food Basics to see if one is actually cheaper than the other.
00:10I'm going to be comparing this list of common grocery items and to make sure the comparison is as accurate as possible,
00:16I'll look at products with the same weight and quality on the same day, May 5th, 2023.
00:21So right when I walked in, I headed to the bananas. No Frills and Food Basics
00:25both had them for $0.59 a pound. Grabbing six bananas weighing at about 2.3 pounds would cost me around $1.36.
00:32Next on the list is red onions. No Frills had a 10-pound bag priced at $7.99.
00:36Food Basics, on the other hand, had a sale on their 3-pound bag for $3.88.
00:40So in this case, No Frills came out cheaper at around $0.80 a pound compared to $1.29 a pound at Food Basics.
00:46I then headed to the bread section and there were so many options to choose from at both retailers.
00:51But I decided to stick with a basic loaf of whole wheat bread.
00:53It was so great to see that No Frills' No Name brand had an in-store feature for $1.99.
00:58Food Basics' Selection brand, however, was priced slightly higher at $2.29.
01:02Then I went looking for some extra lean ground chicken.
01:05There weren't that many options to choose from, so I decided to look at two different halal brands weighing at about
01:10450 grams each. The Sufra brand at No Frills was $8, while the Sabiha brand at Food Basics came to $6.49.
01:18That's a whole $1.51 difference.
01:21Next, I went to the dairy section looking for eggs.
01:23I wanted a dozen large eggs of the home brand. Both No Frills' eggs and Food Basics' Selection eggs were priced at $3.69.
01:30Alright,
01:30I love cheese and my fridge will definitely confirm that. A 400 gram block of No Frills' No Name brand cheddar was priced at
01:37$5.99. The Selection brand cheddar was priced the same.
01:40But lucky for me, Black Diamond was having a sale on their cheddar cheese that day for $4.44.
01:46Another staple at my house is butter. Once again,
01:48both the No Name and Selection brand butter had the same price tag at $6.49 for a
01:54454 gram stick. However, I do want to note that the Lactansia brand butter was going for $8.49 at Food Basics,
02:01whereas at No Frills, it was 20 cents cheaper at $8.29.
02:04Okay, lastly,
02:05I wanted to look at spaghetti because it's such an easy weekday meal. A
02:09900 gram pack of No Name brand spaghetti was going for $2.29. Food Basics was a little cheaper.
02:15This Selection brand cost $1.79. Okay,
02:18so I came home and tallied everything up and I'm actually really surprised at what I found. The totals are so similar.
02:24After adding up the eight items that I looked at without taking taxes into consideration,
02:29No Frills' total bill came to a whopping
02:34$33.81. Now, Food Basics, on the other hand, came in just a little bit cheaper. Actually,
02:4081 cents cheaper at $33 on the dot. When it comes to comparing the No Name brand versus Selection's brand,
02:46many items were priced the same. There were some differences, though. For example,
02:50No Frills had their bread 30 cents cheaper and Food Basics had their pasta 50 cents cheaper.
02:55So overall, I don't think one grocery store is necessarily cheaper than the other,
02:59but I do have key takeaways from this whole shopping experience.
03:02One, I think shoppers should become very familiar with the staple items they use in their household and which grocery store sells them the cheapest.
03:09This way it'll save time and money when it comes time to purchasing them.
03:13Number two is look at weekly flyers and take advantage of sales. These little savings on each bill will really add up over time.
03:19Well, thanks so much for watching.
03:21And if you have any tips on how to save money at the grocery store with these crazy food prices,
03:26let us know in the comments. With Narcy Canada, I'm Ashna Barkhata.