Food 4 Less vs Vons: Who is Cheaper for Groceries?
By harnessing the power of price comparisons at grocery stores, you can unleash your inner ninja, effortlessly slashing costs and maximizing savings, thus ensuring your grocery budget reaches its full potential.
Today we will do a side-by-side price comparison of Food 4 Less and Von’s to determine who is cheaper for groceries. We will also see if it is better to just shop at one store, or if shopping at both stores could potentially save us even more money on our grocery budget!
Is Food 4 Less cheaper than Vons?
For this test, I have prepared a meal plan for one week that consists of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners for a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 young kids). I am using the “Cheap and Filling Food Options” as my guide to pick not only healthy foods but also ones that should be fairly cheap.
Here is the meal plan for this grocery trip:
Breakfasts
- Peanut Butter Toast with Bananas x2
- Overnight Oats with Apples and Raisins x3
- Scrambled Eggs with Cheese on top and Toast x2
Lunches
- Tuna Salad Sandwiches x 2
- Veggie & Pepperoni Pasta Salad with Zesty Italian Dressing
- Salad Wraps with tomato, cucumber, and cheese
- Leftovers
Snacks
- Carrots
- Apples
- Popcorn
Dinners
- Baked Whole Chicken with rice and sautéed carrots
- Leftover Chicken in a Pasta with Alfredo Sauce, Broccoli, and side salad
- Ground Turkey Tacos with Corn and Refried Beans
- Leftover Taco Meat in a Mexican Baked Potato Bar with Side Salads
- Pork Loin with Mashed Potatoes and Corn
- Hawaiin Pizza with Leftover Pork, Pepperoni, and Pineapple (using a little Alfredo Sauce as the Base)
Sweet Treat
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
For this meal plan, I am going to shop at both stores and look for the best deals on price. We will be using prices in Santa Clarita, California for this store comparison.
Most items will be the generic store brand, and I will be aiming to get my groceries needed for the cheapest price available.
Even though my pantry is very well stocked, for this experiment I will shop as if I only have the bare basics at home like seasonings, salt, sugar, and cooking oil. For a full breakdown of this meal plan, and how I would make it work, check out “Healthy and Cheap Meal Plan #1.”
Produce
These are the fresh vegetables and fruits needed in the produce section for my meal plan this week.
| Items | Food 4 Less Price | Vons Price |
| 8 Bananas | $0.26 each= $2.08 *on sale* | $0.28 each= $2.24 |
| Apples | 3lb bag of Granny Smith apples= $4.99 | 3lb bag of Fuji apples= $4.99 |
| Lettuce | 1 head Romaine= $1.99 | 1 head Romaine= $1.99 |
| Potatoes | 5lb bag of Russets= $3.49 | 5lb bag of Russets= $3.99 |
| Tomatoes x3 | Red Tomatoes $0.25 each= $0.75 *on sale* | On the Vine tomatoes $0.99 each=$2.97 |
| Cucumber | $0.67 each | $0.99 each |
| Carrots | 1lb bag= $0.99 | 1lb bag= $0.99 |
| Totals: 7 Items | $14.96 | $18.16 |
In the produce section, Food 4 Less came out cheaper with a total of $14.96. This was $3.20 cheaper than Von’s total of $18.16.
Deli/Meats
Here are the items I will need from the deli and meat section of the stores.
| Items | Food 4 Less Price | Vons Price |
| Pepperoni | Kroger 6oz pack= $2.99 | Hormel 6oz pack= $3.99 *on sale* |
| Whole Chicken | Sanderson Farms $1.89 a lb (5.1lbs)= $9.64 | Signature Farms $1.69 a lb (5.5lbs)= $9.30 *on sale* |
| Ground Turkey | Jennie-O 85% 1lb roll= $3.29 *on sale* | Jennie-O 85% 1lb fresh= $4.99 *on sale* |
| Pork Loin | *substitution* Swift 2.5lb pork shoulder= $12.48 | Hormel 24oz pack= $9.99 |
| Totals: 4 Items | $28.40 | $28.27 |
In the meat section, Von’s came out cheaper with a total of $28.27. This was $0.13 cheaper than Food 4 Less’s total of $28.27.
Dry Goods
This is the center area of most grocery stores, and I call this area dry goods. It is all items that are considered shelf stable and are typically stored in a cabinet or on a pantry shelf.
| Items | Food 4 Less Price | Vons Price |
| Sandwich Bread | Kroger 20oz bread= $1.79 *on sale* | Value Corner 16oz bread= $1.49 |
| Peanut Butter | Kroger 16oz jar= $2.29 | Signature Select 16oz jar= $3.49 |
| Quick Oats | Mom’s Best 16oz container= $1.79 | Mom’s Best 16oz container= $3.99 |
| Raisins | Kroger 6oz mini boxes= $2.69 | Sun Maid 6oz mini boxes= $3.29 |
| Canned Tuna Fish (2 cans) | Kroger 5oz can ($0.89 each)= $1.78 | StarKist 5oz can ($1.50 each)= $3.00 *on sale* |
| Pasta | Kroger 16oz box= $1.25 *on sale* | Signature Select 16oz box= $1.49 |
| Zesty Italian Dressing | Kroger 16oz bottle= $1.67 *on sale* | Signature Select 16oz bottle= $2.49 *on sale* |
| Flour Tortillas | Kroger 10ct= $1.99 | De Harina 10ct= $1.99 *on sale* |
| Microwave Popcorn | Kroger 6ct box= $2.99 | Jolly Time 3ct box= $2.99 *on sale* |
| White Rice | Kroger 2lb bag= $1.79 | Signature Select 2lb bag= $1.99 |
| Alfredo Sauce | Kroger 16oz jar= $1.49 *on sale* | Prego 14.5oz jar= $2.99 *on sale* |
| Canned Corn | Kroger 15.25oz can= $0.89 | Signature Select 15.25oz can= $1.25 |
| Refried Beans | Kroger 16oz can= $1.00 | Rosarita 16oz can= $1.29 *on sale* |
| Salsa | Kroger 16oz jar= $1.99 | Herdez 16oz jar= $2.49 *on sale* |
| Canned Pineapple | Kroger 20oz can= $1.49 | Signature Select 20oz can= $1.99 |
| All Purpose Flour | Kroger 5lb bag= $2.49 | Signature Select 2lb bag= $2.49 |
| Dry Active Yeast | Fleishmann’s 3pack= $2.49 | Signature Select 3pack=$1.99 |
| Brown Sugar | Kroger 2lb bag= $1.99 | Signature Select 1lb bag= $2.99 |
| Totals: 18 items | $33.86 | $43.69 |
In the dry goods section, Food 4 Less came out cheaper with a total of $33.86. This was $9.83 cheaper than Von’s total of $33.06.
Frozen Foods
This is the area in the store that typically has frozen meats, vegetables, fruits, and ice cream. We will mainly stick to the frozen veggie section.
| Items | Food 4 Less Price | Vons Price |
| Frozen Mixed Vegetables | Kroger 12oz bag= $1.25 | Signature Select 12oz bag= $1.79 *on sale* |
| Frozen Broccoli | Kroger 12oz bag= $1.25 | Signature Select 12oz bag= $1.79 *on sale* |
| Totals: 2 items | $2.50 | $3.58 |
In the frozen foods section, Food 4 Less came out cheaper with a total $2.50. This was $1.08 cheaper than Von’s total of $3.58.
Dairy
This is the final section of the store and will cover all dairy needs like cheeses and milk.
| Item: | Food 4 Less Price | Vons Price |
| Eggs | Kroger 12ct white large eggs= $2.49 | Lucerne 12ct white large eggs= $2.79 *on sale* |
| Milk (gallon) | Kroger gallon= $3.59 | Value Corner gallon= $3.49 *on sale* |
| Cheddar cheese (16oz) | Kroger 16oz shredded= $4.29 | Lucerne 8oz shredded ($3.79 each= $7.58 |
| Mozzarella cheese (8oz) | Kroger 8oz shredded= $2.79 | Lucerne 8oz shredded= $3.79 |
| Sour Cream | Kroger 8oz container= $1.49 | Daisy 8oz container= $1.99 *on sale* |
| Totals: 5 items | $14.65 | $19.64 |
In the dairy section, Food 4 Less came out cheaper with a total of $14.65. This was $4.99 cheaper than Von’s total of $19.64.
Is Von’s more expensive than Food4Less?
Food 4 Less came out cheaper in most sections, but let’s look at the overall totals.
| Section | Food 4 Less Price | Vons Price |
| Produce | $14.96 | $18.16 |
| Deli/Meats | $28.40 | $28.27 |
| Dry Goods | $33.86 | $43.69 |
| Frozen Foods | $2.50 | $3.58 |
| Dairy | $14.65 | $19.64 |
| Overall Total | $94.37 | $113.34 |
Overall, Food 4 Less came out cheaper than Von’s with a total of $94.37. This was $18.97 (about 16%) less than Von’s total of $113.34.
I always love it when my weekly grocery total comes out less than $100, and Food 4 Less was able to do that this week! Wooohoo!
Since Vons did not come out to under $100, if I had to only pick one store to shop at, I would pick Food 4 Less.
If I had the time to go to both store or place pick up orders, and only bought what was cheapest at each store, my total would have been $90.64. That is an additional savings of $3.73 (about 4%).
$3.73 is not a huge amount, so I am not sure that would be worth going to both places. I do like the fact that it would allow us to have an extra $9.36 to stock up on staple items or apply to savings challenges.
So, I will let you decide if it is worth going to both places. For me it would depend on if going to both places was convenient to where I was already going so as not to spend extra on gas.
