According to a Restaurant Furniture Plus study, Kroger offers shoppers the cheapest food products.
The B2B online distributor and commercial-grade food service furniture wholesaler compared 15 popular convenience items from four major grocery stores—Kroger, Walmart, Aldi and Albertsons—to determine the lowest overall cost. Kroger was the cheapest, with a total basket cost of $30.
The Cincinnati-based grocer offered the lowest prices on 10 of the 15 items analyzed, beating all retailers. Kroger did well in the pantry category, offering the lowest prices on items like canned diced tomatoes (72 cents for a 14.5-ounce can), spaghetti (96 cents for a 16-ounce bag) and granulated sugar ($2.56 for a four-pound bag). A dozen large eggs ($1.29) and a 20-ounce loaf of wheat bread ($1.40) also ranked lowest in the group.
Walmart came in second with a total cart value of $30.95. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer had the lowest prices on three of the 15 items analyzed. The retailer performed best in the food and protein categories, offering the lowest prices on chicken breast ($1.95 per pound), white rice ($1.34 per two-pound bag) and canned black beans ($85 cents per 15-ounce can).
Aldi came in third with a total basket value of $33.15 and had the lowest price on two of the 15 products. A grocery store in Batavia, Illinois had the cheapest gallon of whole milk ($3.05).
Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons came in fourth with a total basket value of $35.58.
In May Kroger announced he was working on a plan to lower the prices of thousands of products. CEO Greg Foran said the company will test the price cut before rolling it out on a larger scale and rolling it out to stores in stages.
To cut costs, Kroger plans to reduce domestic spending, including direct imports of goods and more efficient use of technology.