If you’re looking for cheap grocery options, sometimes your best bet is buying a company’s in-house brand.
But which one of Canada’s popular in-house grocery banners offers the best deal?
We decided to do our own experiment and compared the prices of nine basic food items from the in-house brands of three popular grocery stores: Great Value (Walmart), No Name (Loblaw), and Compliments (Sobeys).
For this haul, we compared the regular prices for items only.
Here’s a breakdown of our haul.
Whole wheat bread
Superstore/Walmart| screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $1.97 for 675 grams/$0.29/100g
No Name (Loblaw): $1.97 for 520 grams/$0.38/100g
Compliments (Sobeys): $3.49 for 675 grams/$0.44/100g
Winner: Tie between Walmart and Loblaw.
A dozen large white eggs
Walmart/screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $3.87
No Name (Loblaw): $3.93
Compliments (Sobeys): $4.09
Winner: Walmart’s Great Value brand.
Bacon
Superstore/Screenshot
Note: The stores didn’t carry the same cuts of bacon.
Great Value (Walmart): $4.87 for a 375-gram package of thick sliced bacon/$1.30/100g
No Name (Loblaw): $5.99 for a 500-gram package of mild sugar-cured bacon/$1.20/100g
Compliments (Sobeys): $6.99 for a 375-gram package of naturally smoked bacon/$1.86/100g
Winner: Loblaw’s No Name brand.
Regular potato chips
Walmart/screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $1.37 for a 200-gram bag/$0.69/100g
No Name (Loblaw): $1.49 for a 200-gram bag/$0.75/100g
Compliments (Sobeys): $3.49 for a 200-gram bag/$1.75/100g
Winner: Walmart’s Great Value brand.
Pasta sauce
Walmart/screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $1.77 for a 680 ml can/$0.26/100g
No Name (Loblaw): There was no No Name pasta sauce listed on the website.
Compliments (Sobeys): $4.99 for a 650 ml jar/$0.77/100 ml
Winner: Walmart’s Great Value band.
Shredded cheddar cheese
Walmart/screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $5.67 for a 320g bag/$1.77/100g
No Name (Loblaw): $5.99 for a 320g bag/$1.87/100g
Compliments (Sobeys): $8.29 for a 320g bag ($2.59/100g) of shredded cheddar pizza mozzarella as plain cheddar was not available.
Winner: Walmart’s Great Value band.
Croutons
Superstore/screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $2.47 for a 142g bag/$1.74/100g
No Name (Loblaw): $2.79 for a 145g bag/$1.93/100g
Compliments (Sobeys): $3.19 for a 145g bag/$2.20/100g
Winner: Walmart’s Great Value brand.
Smooth peanut butter
Walmart/Screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $4.27 for a 1kg jar
No Name (Loblaw): $4.79 for a 1kg jar
Compliments (Sobeys): $5.29 for a 1kg jar
Winner: Walmart’s Great Value brand.
Black beans
Walmart/screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $1.47 for a 540ml can
No Name (Loblaw): $1.49 for a 540ml can
Compliments (Sobeys): $1.69 for a 540 ml can
Winner: Walmart’s Great Value brand.
Mac and cheese
Walmart/screenshot
Great Value (Walmart): $0.97 for a 200g box/$0.49/100g
No Name (Loblaw): $0.99 for a 200g box/$0.50/100g
Compliments (Sobeys): There was no Compliments mac and cheese listed on the website.
Winner: Walmart’s Great Value brand.
For this grocery haul, Walmart’s Great Value brand came out as the clear winner for cheaper prices, while Sobeys’ Compliments brand was on the pricier side.
What other Canadian grocery comparisons would you like to see? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected].