Acme vs Giant Eagle: Who is Cheaper for Groceries?
By being a savvy shopper and keeping an eye on grocery store prices, you can rack up some serious savings. Trust me, those little price differences add up over time, giving you more dough in your pocket for other important stuff or future dreams.
Today we will be doing a side-by-side price comparison of Acme and Giant Eagle to determine who is cheaper for groceries. We will also see if shopping at one store is better or if shopping at both stores can actually save us more money on our grocery budget!
Is Acme cheaper than Giant Eagle?
For this price comparison, I have made a meal plan for a family of 4 using 25 Foods to buy 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
- Egg, Cheese, and Bacon Burritos x2
- Toast with Peanut Butter and Bananas x2
- Baked Apple Oatmeal Bars x3
Lunches
- Spinach Salads with Hard Boiled Eggs and Leftover Ham & Ranch Dressing (and tomato & cucumber)
- Homemade Hummus with Carrots and Celery
- Egg Salad Sandwiches
- Leftovers
Dinners
- Meatloaf with Mashed potatoes and Sauteed Carrots
- Chicken Lo Mein with Broccoli (sauce is made with soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sesame oil)
- Leftover Chicken and Dumplings using frozen mixed vegetables and 1 can of cream of chicken soup)
- Ham and Cheese Quiche with Homemade Rice a Roni
- 3 Meat Pizza using leftover Ham, leftover Bacon, and Pepperoni with a Spinach Side Salad
- Leftover Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas with Rice and Black Beans
Snacks
- Bananas
- Carrots & Celery with Ranch
- Peanut Butter and Apples
Sweet Treat
- Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
For this price comparison, I am using prices available in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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 “Family Meal Plan on a Budget Week #2.”
Produce Section
This is all the fresh vegetables and fruits we need for the week.
| Item | ACME Price | Giant Eagle Price |
| 6 Bananas | $0.28 each = $1.68 | $0.15 each= $0.90 |
| Apples | 3lb bag of Red Delicious apples= $4.49 | 5lb bag of Fuji apples= $4.99 |
| Spinach | 8oz bag= $1.99 | 5oz bag= $2.50 |
| Carrots | 1lb bag= $1.19 | 1lb bag= $1.79 |
| Celery | 1 bunch= $2.99 | 1 bunch= $2.99 |
| Potatoes | 5lb bag of Russets= $5.99 | 5lb bag of Russets= $5.79 |
| Tomato | On the Vine= $1.32 | Stem Tomato= $0.75 |
| Cucumber | $0.89 each | $1.50 each |
| Total: (8 items) | $20.54 | $21.21 |
In the produce section, Acme came out cheaper with a total of $20.54. This was $0.67 cheaper than Giant Eagle’s total of $21.21.
Deli/Meats
This is all the meats that we will need from the deli and meat counter.
| Item | ACME Price | Giant Eagle Price |
| Bacon | Signature Farms 16oz pack= $4.99 *on sale* | Giant Eagle 16oz pack= $4.49 *on sale* |
| Ground Beef (1lb) | Fresh 80% 1.35lbs = $6.06 | Market District fresh 80% 1lb= $6.19 |
| Chicken Breasts (4-6 needed) | $4.99 a lb (3.5lbs)= $17.47 | $2.99 a lb (3.5lbs)= $10.47 *on sale* |
| Diced Ham | Smithfield 8oz pack= $3.49 *on sale* | Sugardale 8oz pack= $3.59 |
| Pepperoni | Armour 5oz pack= $2.99 *on sale* | Sugardale 8oz pack= $3.49 |
| Total: (5 items) | $35.00 | $28.23 |
In the meat section, Giant Eagle came out cheaper with a total of $28.23. This was $6.77 cheaper than Acme’s total of $35.00
Dry Goods
This is all the dry goods and shelf stable items that we need for our meal plan.
| Item | ACME Price | Giant Eagle Price |
| Flour Tortillas | Signature Select 10ct= $2.19 | Giant Eagle 10ct= $1.79 |
| Sandwich Bread | Signature Select 20oz bread= $2.49 | Pantry 20oz bread= $2.29 |
| Peanut Butter | Skippy 16.3oz jar= $2.99 *on sale* | Giant Eagle 16oz jar= $2.19 |
| Quick Oats | La Fe 14oz bag= $1.99 | Giant Eagle 18oz container= $2.89 |
| Brown Sugar | Signature 16oz bag= $1.99 | Giant Eagle 16oz bag= $1.49 |
| Garbanzo beans (canned) | Signature Select 15oz can= $1.29 | Giant Eagle 15.5oz can= $0.89 |
| Mayonnaise | Signature Select 15oz jar= $2.99 | Hellman’s 8oz jar= $3.49 |
| Soy Sauce | Signature Select 10oz bottle= $2.99 | Giant Eagle 10oz bottle= $2.19 |
| Hoisin Sauce | Sun Luck 8oz jar= $4.19 | Lee Kum Kee 8.3oz jar= $3.29 |
| Sesame Oil | Signature Select 5oz bottle= $4.49 | Sun Luck 5oz bottle= $5.29 |
| Spaghetti Noodles | Signature Select 16oz box= $1.25 | Giant Eagle 16oz box= $1.39 |
| All Purpose Flour | Signature Select 2lb bag= $2.19 | Pillsbury 2lb bag= $2.49 |
| Cream of Chicken Soup | Signature Select 10.5oz can= $1.39 | Giant Eagle 10.5oz can= $1.29 |
| Chicken Bouillon Cubes | Knorr 6ct 2.5oz= $1.69 | Knorr 6ct 2.5oz= $1.79 |
| Dry Active Yeast (need 2) | Fleishmann’s 3pack= $1.50 *on sale* | Red Star 3pack= $1.99 |
| White Rice | Signature Select 2lb bag= $2.69 | Giant Eagle 1lb bag= $1.99 |
| Black Beans (canned) | Hanover 15.5oz can= $1.25 *on sale* | Giant Eagle 15.5oz can= $0.89 |
| Powdered Sugar | Signature Select 16oz bag= $1.99 | Giant Eagle 16oz bag= $1.49 |
| Total: (19 items) | $41.55 | $39.12 |
In the dry goods section, Giant Eagle came out cheaper with a total of $39.12. This was $2.43 cheaper than Acme’s total of $41.55.
Frozen Foods
These are the frozen items needed for this week’s meal plan.
| Item | ACME Price | Giant Eagle Price |
| Frozen Broccoli | Signature Select 16oz bag= $2.29 | Giant Eagle 16oz bag= $1.49 *on sale* |
| Frozen Mixed Vegetables | Bird’s Eye 10oz bag= $1.50 *on sale* | Giant Eagle 10oz bag= $1.29 |
| Pie Crust | Signature Select 2 pack= $4.29 | Giant Eagle 2 pack= $3.29 |
| Total: (3 items) | $8.08 | $6.07 |
In the frozen section, Giant Eagle came out cheaper with a total of $6.07. This was $2.01 cheaper than Acme’s total of $8.08.
Dairy Section
These are all the dairy items needed like milk and cheeses.
| Item | ACME Price | Giant Eagle Price |
| Eggs | Lucerne 12ct large white eggs= $2.49 | Hillandale 12ct jumbo white eggs= $1.79 |
| Shredded Cheddar Cheese (16oz) | Lucerne 8oz shredded ($2.00 each) = $4.00 *on sale* | Giant Eagle 16oz shredded= $4.19 |
| Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (8oz) | Lucerne 8o bag= $2.00 *on sale* | Giant Eagle 8oz bag= $2.39 |
| Milk (gallon) | Lucerne gallon= $4.25 | Dairy Maid gallon= $2.99 |
| Total: (4 items) | $12.74 | $11.36 |
In the dairy section, Giant Eagle came out cheaper with a total of $11.36. This was $1.38 cheaper than Acme’s total of $12.74.
Is Giant Eagle more expensive than Acme?
Giant Eagle came in cheaper in most sections, but let’s look at overall totals.
| Section | ACME Price | Giant Eagle Price |
| Produce | $20.54 | $21.21 |
| Deli/Meats | $35.00 | $28.23 |
| Dry Goods | $41.55 | $39.12 |
| Frozen Foods | $8.08 | $6.07 |
| Dairy | $12.74 | $11.36 |
| Overall Total: (38 items) | $117.91 | $105.99 |
Overall, Giant Eagle came out cheaper than Acme with a total of $105.99. This was $11.92 (about 10%) cheaper than Acme’s total of $117.91.
My goal is always to come out under $100 for a weekly grocery haul, and unfortunately neither store was able to do that. If I had to choose one store, I would pick Giant Eagle since they were pretty close to my $100 mark.
If I had the time to go to both store or place pick up orders, and I only bought what was cheaper at each store, our total would have been $99.23.
That would be an additional savings of $6.76 (about 6%) and would put us under the $100 grocery budget. $6.76 may not seem like much, but if both stores were convenient and not going to cost a lot of extra gas money, I would definitely shop at both places.
