Budget brands are on average half cheaper than A brands | Money

Prices for basic commodities, including bread, coffee, toilet paper, fruit and cleaning products, rose by an average of 21 percent last year. In September, the Consumers’ Association compared the price of more than a hundred of these types of daily products at the fourteen largest supermarket chains in the Netherlands. The price of A brands was compared with the cheapest comparable product in the store (house or budget brands).

On average, the cheapest variant is half the price compared to the A-brand, according to the survey. Four years ago, the difference between budget and premium brands was still 40 percent.

If you want to go for the lowest price, you don’t have to go directly to a discount supermarket: Dirk is 11 percent cheaper than average and therefore also the cheapest for basic products. Vomar follows with 9 percent and in third place is Deka with 5 percent below the average. Lidl is 3 percent cheaper than average and Aldi, together with Albert Heijn, is 1 percent below average. The prices at Jumbo and Plus are average.

Joyce Donat, spokesperson for the Consumers’ Association, states that Lidl and Aldi are not the cheapest in this price survey because these discounters hardly sell A-brands. “Those discounters often only have one (cheap) line. If you compare it with the cheapest line at the other supermarkets, you are just as expensive. That is surprising.”

Online supermarket Picnic is above average with 3 percent, just like the Northern Dutch chain Poiesz (7 percent). At Spar you pay by far the most for your basic groceries: the prices there are 26 percent above the average. “Spar often has small shops in neighborhoods where there are no large supermarkets nearby,” explains Donat. “They then have a somewhat smaller range, which means that the prices are a bit higher.”

How much you save depends on the products you buy. The difference can be more than 80 percent, for example with shampoo. At Dirk you pay 0.99 euros (500 ml) for a bottle of ‘Everyday’ shampoo from the house brand Derlon. For the A-brand Andrélon you pay 3.59 euros for a smaller bottle of 300 ml. Converted per milliliter, the budget brand is almost 85 percent cheaper.

You can also save considerably on detergent, dishwasher tablets, shower gel, toothpaste, coffee, applesauce, bleach and soft drinks: often more than 70 percent. For a bottle of concentrated whitewash (28 turns) at Jumbo you pay 2.99 euros for the private label. In comparison: the A-brand Robijn will cost you no less than 17.81 euros for 34 washes. In this situation, the budget brand is 80 percent cheaper. At supermarket Deka you pay 4.89 euros for the fish fingers from Iglo. The budget brand Vismarine saves more than half in price: these fish fingers only cost you 2.09 euros.

There are local differences at Hoogvliet, Jumbo and Picnic, the Consumers’ Association reports. These supermarkets adjust their prices to the competition. If there is a lot of competition in the area, the prices are often lower. Depending on where you live, you may therefore have to deal with a lower or higher price. The highest price was included in the study.

Keeping an eye on the prices yourself can pay off anyway, even if you have already paid for your groceries. Last week, a sample of the Consumers’ Association showed that supermarkets regularly charge the wrong price for offers. As a result, consumers often pay more at the checkout than is indicated in the store. Jumbo was the most wrong in this sample.

Also read: These people always check the receipt: ‘On an annual basis, it saves at least 100 euros’

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