Who has the best grocery prices in Charlotte? There’s a new winner out of 11 stores

As food prices continue to rise, The Charlotte Observer found a new winner for our annual comparison shopping look at who had the lowest local grocery store prices.

The latest Consumer Price Index data shows that grocery store food prices have risen 12.4% nationally compared to last year.

In Charlotte, we found the lowest receipt for an 11-item grocery basket rose 37% in December compared to last year, and 42% compared to 2020. And the price difference this year between the store with the lowest and highest prices in our shopping carts for the same list of items was nearly $52.

Overall, only one item — bread — could be picked up at the same price as last year. All of the 10 other items cost more.

But the biggest leap in price was for a carton of eggs. A dozen eggs cost 79 cents last year at Aldi compared to this year’s lowest price of $2.99 at Harris Teeter and Target. The highest egg price was $6.41 at Publix.

Despite rising costs, there are plenty of options for price checking around town.

How we compared grocery prices

In our comparison, we price-checked online for 11 stores: Aldi, Lidl, Walmart, Target, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Trader Joe’s, Publix, Whole Foods Market, Fresh Market and Earth Fare. Be aware: Some stores may have higher prices online than in stores.

We checked the items on Dec. 19, similar to last year’s review. We chose the cheapest available option at each store and looked for the least expensive choice, whether in-house or brand name. Only regular prices were used, not sales or loyalty discount programs.

Our cart included five basic meatloaf ingredients, which the Observer had checked out for comparison last year, plus five other items from last year’s list.

We also broke down cost per ounce for optimal comparison on items like corn flakes and ketchup because size offerings varied between stores. The cost per ounce was calculated to 20 ounces of ketchup and 12 ounces of corn flakes.

Low-price winners at Charlotte grocery stores

We have a new winner atop the low-price leaderboard this year: Lidl edged out Aldi, which had the lowest prices the past two years for the lowest overall price.

The total cost of our 11-item bag was $24.09 at Lidl, followed by Aldi at $24.61 then Walmart at $25.52 and Target at $29.10.

Of traditional grocers, Food Lion was the lowest at $29.74, followed by Harris Teeter at $31.40. Specialty grocer Trader Joe’s basket cost $38.79, or $2.70 less than Publix.

Earth Fare, a specialty grocer that sells many natural and organic items, was the most expensive in our comparison, with our groceries totaling $75.84, followed by Fresh Market at $58.10 and Whole Foods at $43.79.

Put another way, the difference between shopping for the same category of items at Earth Fare and Lidl was $51.75.

So what happened when we just looked at meatloaf ingredients or a handful of staples?

▪ Comparing meatloaf-only ingredients of a dozen large eggs, a gallon of skim milk, a loaf of white bread, ketchup at 20 ounces and 1 pound of 80% lean ground beef, Aldi was the cheapest at $12, followed by Lidl at $13 and Harris Teeter at $13.10. (That’s an increase from last year’s $8.15 at Lidl, followed by Aldi at $8.43 and Food Lion at $10.42.)

▪ And on three staples, Lidl beat its competitors on the milk and bread prices, while Target and Harris Teeter tied for the lowest egg price at $2.99.

Charlotte supermarket price spread

Here are some of the more significant price spreads from our carts:

▪ One gallon of skim milk: $2.44 at Aldi to $9.29 at Earth Fare.

▪ White bread: 50 cents at Lidl, compared to $4.69 at Earth Fare.

▪ 1 lb. ground beef 80% lean: $3.79 at Aldi compared to $8.09 at Earth Fare.

▪ Romaine hearts, three-count bag: $3.48 at both Lidl and Walmart to $9.29 at Earth Fare.

▪ Vanilla ice cream: Lidl and Walmart tied at $2.24 compared to $13.89 at Earth Fare.

Our totals from the comparison

According to the Observer’s comparisons, shoppers would pay over three times as much between the items we found for the cheapest prices, at Lidl, and at the most expensive store, Earth Fare. Here are the totals:

Lidl: $24.09

Aldi: $24.61

Walmart: $25.52

Target: $29.10

Food Lion: $29.74

Harris Teeter: $31.40

Trader Joe’s: $38.79

Publix: $41.49

Whole Foods: $43.79

Fresh Market: $58.11

Earth Fare: $75.84

More grocery store options around Charlotte

Despite store closings by Asheville-based Earth Fare and online-only grocer Farmstead’s exit, the competition remains hot in Charlotte.

In November, online grocer Food Rocket made its East Coast debut operating from Circle K stores in Charlotte. Florida-based Publix is preparing to open its Huntersville store early next year and a Mooresville store in 2024, plus several other stores are planned.

In May, the German chain Lidl opened its 10th Charlotte-area store since its 2019 debut.

Salisbury-based Food Lion also expanded this year, opening at 5939 Weddington Road and 2201 West W. T. Harris Blvd. in Charlotte. Lowes Foods, based in Winston-Salem, debuted its “first-of-its-kind” store in February with entertainment in Huntersville and is planning another store at Christenbury Village in Concord.

And international grocer Super G Mart expects to open its third and largest North Carolina store before the end of the year at 10500 Centrum Parkway in Pineville, with a food hall, full-service restaurant and retail.

This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 5:40 AM.