Food City vs Walmart Prices: Who is cheaper?
Food City is a grocery store with about 140 locations in 5 states (GA, TN, AL, KY and VA), while Walmart is available in every state in the US for grocery shopping.
We are going to build a meal plan and grocery list, then price compare Food City and Walmart to find out who has cheaper prices for groceries. Scroll to the end to see the final verdict!
Is Food City cheaper than Walmart?
For this price comparison, I have made a meal plan for a family of 4 using “25 Cheap food that fills you up when you are broke!” as a guide. Our plan is to get groceries for a week that are healthy and cheap!
Here is our meal plan:
Breakfasts
- Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats
- Easy Sausage Muffins (1cup of Biscuit Mix, 1 lb of sausage, 4 eggs, 1 cup of cheese)
- Scrambled Eggs with Biscuits and applesauce
Lunches
- Pepperoni Pizza Quesadillas
- Salad with Hard Boiled Eggs x2
- Leftover Chicken & Salad Wraps
- Dinner Leftovers
Dinners
- Eggroll in a Bowl (1 lb ground turkey, 1/2 bag of coleslaw mix, soy sauce)
- Kielbasa Sausage, Potato, Squash Sheet Pan Bake
- Baked Chicken Thighs, Soy Sauce Rice, and California Blend Vegetables
- Chicken Parmesan Pasta (chicken breasts, pasta, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, breadcrumbs) with side salad
- BBQ Chicken Wraps with Coleslaw (1/2 bag of coleslaw mix)
- Cheesy Shepherd’s Pie (ground turkey, mash potatoes, tomato sauce, frozen peas and cheese) with Biscuits
Snacks
- Bananas
- Celery with Ranch or Peanut Butter
- Homemade Granola Bars (peanut butter, quick oats, and chocolate chips)
- Applesauce
Sweet Treat
- Peach Cobbler (using biscuit mix and canned peaches)
For this price comparison, I am using prices available in Cleveland, Tennessee. I will be selecting items for our meal plan that are the absolute cheapest.
This means mostly generic store brand options and the smallest size needed. This may not be the best value, but we are going for the cheapest option.
We are assuming that we already have kitchen basics like cooking oil, seasonings, salt/pepper, and baking powder at home. Everything else needed for the meal plan will need to be purchased.
For a more in depth break down on how I would make this meal plan work, check out “Healthy Grocery List for Family of 4 on a Budget #4.”
Produce Section
This is all the fresh vegetables and fruits we need for the week.
| Item | Walmart Price | Food City Price |
| 6 bananas | $0.58 a lb = $1.38 | $0.55 a lb = $1.30 |
| Celery | Dole 1 stalk= $1.68 | Foxy 1 stalk = $2.49 |
| Coleslaw Mix | Marketside 16oz bag = $1.98 | Dole 14oz bag = $2.49 |
| Potatoes | 5lb bag of Idaho Potatoes = $4.27 | 5lb bag of Russet Potatoes = $4.99 |
| Yellow Squash | $1.48 a lb = $0.89 | $1.69 a ln = $1.01 |
| Cucumber | $0.64 each | $0.79 each |
| Roma Tomato x4 | $1.38 a lb = $1.64 | $1.69 a lb = $2.01 |
| Total: (7 items) | $12.84 | $15.18 |
Walmart came out cheaper in produce with a total of $12.84. This was $2.70 cheaper than Food City’s total of $15.18.
Deli/Meats
This is all the meats that we will need from the deli and meat counter.
| Item | Walmart Price | Food City Price |
| 1lb ground sausage | Festive 1lb turkey sausage roll = $2.54 | Tennessee Pride 1lb roll = $3.99 |
| Pepperoni | Armour 5oz bag= $2.14 | Armour 6oz bag = $3.29 |
| 2lb ground turkey | Festive 1lb roll $2.54 x 2= $5.08 | Jennie-O 1lb fresh $5.79 x 2= $11.58 |
| Kielbasa Style Sausage | Eckrich 14oz = $3.46 | Jennie-O 14oz = $3.59 |
| Chicken Thighs | Perdue $1.32 a lb (5lb) = $6.60 | Tyson 5lb bag of thighs = $4.99 |
| Chicken Breasts | Perdue $3.44 a lb (1.8lbs) = $6.33 | Food City $4.49 a lb (1.8lbs)= $8.08 |
| Total: (6 items) | $26.15 | $35.52 |
Walmart easily came in cheaper at $26.15. This was $9.37 cheaper than Food City’s total of $35.52.
Dry Goods
This is all the dry goods and shelf stable items that we need for our meal plan.
| Item | Walmart Price | Food City Price |
| Quick Oats | Mom’s Best Oats 16 oz container= $1.28 | Food Club 18oz container = $2.29 |
| Chocolate Chips | Great Value 12oz bag = $2.32 | Food Club 11.5 oz bag = $2.49 |
| Biscuit Mix | Great Value 40oz box = $3.74 | Food Club 40oz box = $2.99 |
| Flour Tortillas | Chi-Chi’s 12 ct= $1.68 | Food Club 10ct = $1.19 |
| Tomato Pasta Sauce | Great Value 24oz jar = $1.48 | Food Club 24oz jar = $1.79 |
| Ranch Dressing | Great Value 16oz bottle = $1.97 | That’s Smart 16oz bottle = $1.69 |
| Peanut Butter | Great Value 18 oz jar = $1.74 | That’s Smart 16oz jar = $1.69 |
| Soy sauce | Great Value 15oz bottle = $1.58 | Food Club 10oz bottle = $1.49 |
| White Rice | Great Value 2lb bag= $1.46 | Supreme 1lb bag = $0.99 |
| Pasta | Great Value penne 16oz box = $0.92 | Barilla Rotini 16oz box = $1.79 |
| Breadcrumbs | Great Value 15oz container = $1.08 | Food Club 15oz container = $1.79 |
| BBQ sauce | Bull’s-eye 17.5 oz bottle = $0.98 | That’s Smart 18oz bottle = $1.19 |
| salad dressing for coleslaw | Kraft 16oz bottle = $2.52 | Kraft 16oz bottle = $2.99 |
| Canned peaches | Great Value 15oz can = $1.00 | Food Club 14.5 oz can = $1.69 |
| Applesauce | Great Value 48oz jar = $2.72 | Food Club 48oz jar = $3.29 |
| Total: (15 items) | $26.47 | $29.35 |
Great Value came in cheaper with a total of $26.47. This was $2.88 cheaper than Food City with $29.35.
Frozen Foods
These are the frozen items needed for this week’s meal plan.
| Item | Walmart Price | Food City Price |
| California Blend Vegetables | Great Value 12oz bag = $1.00 | Food Club 10.8oz = $1.49 |
| Frozen Peas | Great Value 12oz bag = $0.84 | Food Club 12oz = $1.59 |
| Total: (2 items) | $1.84 | $3.08 |
Another win for Walmart being cheaper with a total of $1.84. This was $1.24 cheaper than Food City with a total of $3.08.
Dairy Section
These are all the dairy items needed like milk and cheeses.
| Item | Walmart Price | Food City Price |
| Eggs | Eggland’s Best 12ct large white = $2.92 | Food Club 12ct medium white = $2.99 |
| Shredded Cheddar Cheese | Great Value 8oz bag = $2.20 | That’s Smart 8oz bag = $1.99 |
| Shredded Mozzarella Cheese | Great Value 8oz bag = $2.20 | That’s Smart 8oz bag = $1.99 |
| 2% milk | Great Value gallon= $3.62 | That’s Smart Gallon = $3.99 |
| Total: (4 items) | $10.94 | $10.96 |
Wow that was a close one with only a $0.02 difference. Walmart came in at $10.94 and Food City came out to $10.96.
Is Food City more expensive than Walmart?
Walmart easily came in cheaper for most sections. Let’s look at the overall totals.
| Section | Walmart Price | Food City Price |
| Produce | $12.48 | $15.18 |
| Deli/Meats | $26.15 | $35.52 |
| Dry Goods | $26.47 | $29.35 |
| Frozen Foods | $1.84 | $3.08 |
| Dairy | $10.94 | $10.96 |
| Overall Total: (34 items) | $77.88 | $94.09 |
Walmart came out cheaper than Food City with a total of $77.88. This was $16.21 (about 17%) cheaper than Food City’s total of $94.09.
By shopping at Walmart instead of Food City you have the potential to save about 17% on your grocery budget.
This doesn’t mean dump Food City, but I would pay close attention to their weekly sales flyers. They probably offer some loss leader sales on meat and produce to get people to come shop.
If you can find these items, you can potentially save a lot of money by just buying these. So, if you stick to Walmart for most items, but supplement by shopping sales at Food City!
For more grocery store comparisons, check out “Meijer vs Walmart: Who is cheaper?” and “Fred Meyer vs Albertsons: Who is Cheaper?“
