Woolworths turns tables, offers best value in basic grocery items test

Savvy shoppers looking for the best prices on basic goods should do the grocery run at Woolworths, and boozers on a beer budget should drink ... well ... beer.

Woolworths has emerged as the cheapest grocery stockist on a basket of basic items this November — beating even bargain brand Shoprite. And the price of vodka has more than doubled in five years.

After five months of diligently tracking the in-store prices of the same basket of goods across five major retailers — Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Spar and Woolworths — Shoprite’s three-month run as the most affordable store ended as Woolies pipped them at the post.

The upmarket store, it turns out, is the cheapest of all for maize meal, white sugar, rice, flour, soap and Baby Soft toilet paper.

The Outlier is an independent outfit specialising in using data to create public service stories. Since August they have collected data on a set of standard household groceries bought from the five mainstream stockists.

This November Spar again featured as the most expensive shop, with the basket costing R431, while Woolworths charged R392.91 for the identical haul — R39 cheaper.

While Spar, Checkers and Shoprite have increased their prices in recent months, both Woolworths and Pick n Pay have dipped some of their prices.

Another tracker of food prices is Stats SA, which follows grocery costs using the monthly Consumer Price Index reports. These prices are collected in different ways and taken through fieldwork and online shopping in urban areas.

Stats SA’s price tracking goes back five years, detailing clearly how the price of five staple goods has increased over time. The items tracked are: 750ml sunflower oil, 1kg cereal (including hot porridge), 1kg tomatoes, 1 tin of mixed vegetables and 500g salt.

The cost of oil was R21.84  in September 2017, and is now 90% more or almost double at R41.38. Tomatoes increased by 86% and salt by 82% in five years, while mixed vegetables went up 72% and hot cereals by 61%.

Over the same five-year period the CPI shows that the cost of alcohol has rocketed. The increase in beer prices ranks it as the most stable — rising by 26% or an average of 5% a year. Vodka, on the other hand, has more than doubled in price, shooting up 110% — or 22% a year.

This is what is in the standard trolley:

One 700g Albany Superior sliced white bread (or store brand);

2-litre store brand sunflower oil;

2.5kg Iwisa maize meal;

2.5kg Selati white sugar;

One store-brand two-litre milk;

2kg Tastic rice;

2.5kg Snowflake cake flour;

One 175g bar of Dettol Herbal soap; and

A nine-pack of two-ply Baby Soft toilet paper (or store brand).

Where some brands weren’t available alternatives were used.