The Supply Side: Aldi food, pantry prices competitive with Walmart

Walmart continues to tout low food prices to consumers dealing with inflation that pushed overall grocery prices 3.1% higher in February from a year ago, according to the Consumer Price Index. But the retailer doesn’t always have the lowest prices.

In Walmart’s recent fourth-quarter ending Feb. 1, comp-store sales increased 4.6%, and the food categories recorded mid-single digit comps, led by fresh produce and pantry items.

The retail giant also said it had about 6,200 price rollbacks in the fourth quarter, up 23% from a year ago. A majority of the rollbacks were said to be in grocery and food categories.

A recent price comparison was completed on a basket of 30 items that a family might need for a weekend at a lake house. Prices were checked March 11 at the Bentonville Walmart Store No. 100 and Aldi, which is located about 1 mile away. Despite $1.33 in rollback savings in the Walmart basket, Aldi still had an overall price 1.74% lower for similar products.

Given that the majority of Aldi’s products are private brands, the comparison was made with Great Value and other private brands at Walmart. The basket included dairy, fresh produce, fresh and processed meats, breads, sodas, sugary snacks, salty snacks, dry grocery items, and consumables like paper plates and paper towels. The basket items included three grain products, a large loaf of bread for sandwiches, a package of brioche hamburger buns, and a box of Cheerios-like cereal for breakfast.

At Walmart, the price for these three grains totaled $8.28, with the bulk of that attributed to the package of six brioche hamburger buns. Comparing like items at Aldi, the price tag was $8.03, for a savings of 25 cents.

The beverage category was a different story. The Walmart basket included a Sam’s Cola, Twist-up soda that resembles Sprite, a 24-pack of Great Value bottled water (16.9 ounces), and a half-gallon of 2% milk (Great Value). The total beverage cost at Walmart was $7.44, which included price rollbacks of 44 cents for the two bottles of soda.

Aldi’s basket included a generic brand of cola and lemon-lime soda at 2 liters each, a 24-pack of PurAqua water, and a half-gallon of 2% milk, totaling $7.68. Walmart wins the beverage prices with a savings of 24 cents. Without the two rollbacks, Aldi would have won this price category by 20 cents.

Aside from the milk, three dairy products were included in the basket: a 7.5-ounce package of sliced colby-jack cheese, a dozen large eggs and a 16-ounce package of butter. Walmart’s basket was all Great Value, at a cost of $7.08, and included a 30-cent rollback on the cheese. Aldi’s prices for similar items totaled $7.05, a savings of 3 cents. Without the price rollback, Aldi’s advantage would have been 33 cents.

Meat is a category that has seen prices rise more than 8.6% year over year. The basket included a pound of 85% lean hamburger meat that cost $6.92 at Walmart. A pound of Great Value bacon rang up at $3.94, with 3.3 pounds of chicken legs costing $3.76 and sliced roasted turkey deli meat at $5.97 for 16 ounces. Walmart’s meat bundle totaled $20.59 with a 59-cent price rollback on the chicken legs. Similar products at Aldi totaled $21.14, 55 cents more than Walmart. Absent the rollback, Aldi would have had a slightly lower price.

Dry grocery items in the basket ranged from Duke’s Mayo, the one national brand in both shopping carts, to barbecue sauce and dry rub seasonings, a can of baked beans, potato chips and corn chips, and a large jar of hamburger dill pickle slices. Walmart’s basket of dry groceries totaled $21.05 with no price rollbacks. Aldi had a cost of $19.18, a savings of $1.87.

The sweet-and-salty snack bundle was all Great Value at Walmart and Aldi’s private brands. Oreo-style cookies, chocolate chip cookies and a 12-bag box of popcorn were also in this snack bundle. The Walmart total price was $10.41, with the Aldi cost at $10.45, giving Walmart a 4-cent savings.

Fresh produce in the basket included a 3-pound bundle of bananas, four ears of cleaned fresh corn, 1.5 pounds of fresh sliced tomatoes and green leaf lettuce. Walmart’s fresh basket cost $12.46, compared to $10.76 at Aldi, which happened to have bananas on sale. The savings at Aldi totaled $1.70.

There were two paper consumables in the baskets: a 50 count of 10-inch paper plates and a two-pack of paper towels. The Great Value products at Walmart cost $8.12, which is lower than the $9.68 at Aldi. Walmart won this bundle with $1.56 in savings.

When adding up the baskets, the cost of the 30 items at Walmart rang up $95.43 before tax, which was 1.74% more than the Aldi basket that cost $93.77.

Editor’s note: The Supply Side section of Talk Business & Politics focuses on the companies, organizations, issues and individuals engaged in providing products and services to retailers. The Supply Side is managed by Talk Business & Politics.