Kroger's store-brand basket of 15 essentials cost $30, undercutting Walmart ($30.95), Aldi ($33.15) and Albertsons ($35.58) in a new study. Food prices have climbed 32% over five years.
Kroger had the cheapest store-brand grocery basket in a new comparison of four major U.S. chains, undercutting Walmart, Aldi and Albertsons on a basket of 15 essentials.
The Ohio-based grocer's total came to $30, according to a study from Restaurant Furniture Plus reported by Southern Living. Walmart was second at $30.95, followed by Aldi at $33.15 and Albertsons at $35.58.
Kroger posted the lowest price on 10 of the 15 items analyzed, more than any other retailer in the study. That included canned diced tomatoes, spaghetti, sugar and a dozen large eggs. Aldi's store-brand dairy products stood out as a particularly strong value, the study noted.
The comparison did not include Costco, Trader Joe's, H-E-B or Piggly Wiggly. Trader Joe's was excluded because it did not carry some items. Costco's bulk model made single-item price comparisons difficult.
The findings arrive as food prices remain a squeeze for many households. Grocery costs have climbed 32% over the past five years, according to an Urban Institute study released Monday. More than one in four working-age Americans have taken on credit card debt to cover regular grocery bills, the report found.
Kroger operates roughly 1,229 stores across 16 states. The chain's pricing edge comes as shoppers increasingly hunt for value in an inflationary environment.
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