Food Lion vs Giant: Who is cheaper for Groceries?
Food Lion and Giant grocery stores are both owned by the same company, Ahold Delhaize USA. This would make you think that the prices at both stores should be pretty close.
To test this out, we are doing a price comparison at both stores for a week of meals. Let’s see which one comes out cheaper. Skip to the bottom to see the final verdict!
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Is Food Lion cheaper than Giant?
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
- Egg, Cheese, and Bacon Burritos x2
- Toast with Peanut Butter and Bananas x2
- Baked Apple Oatmeal Bars x3 (easy recipe here)
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 (easy dumpling recipe here) using frozen mixed vegetables and 1 can of cream of chicken soup)
- Ham and Cheese Quiche with Homemade Rice a Roni (rice a roni recipe here)
- 3 Meat Pizza using leftover Ham, leftover Bacon, and Pepperoni with a Spinach Side Salad (easy pizza dough recipe here)
- 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 (see recipe here)
For this price comparison, I am using prices available in Hanover, 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 “Healthy Grocery List for Family of 4 on a Budget #2.”
Produce Section
This is all the fresh vegetables and fruits we need for the week.
| Item | Food Lion Price | Giant Price |
| 6 Bananas | $0.49 a lb = $1.17 | 4-6 in a bunch= $1.47 per bunch |
| Apples | Gala 3 lb bag= $4.49 | Fuji 3lb bag- $3.99 |
| Spinach | Dole 6oz bag- $3.29 | Giant 8oz bag- $1.99 |
| Whole Carrots | $0.79 a lb = $0.79 | Giant Baby Carrots 16oz bag- $1.00 *on sale* |
| Celery | 1 stalk= 1.29 *on sale* | 1 stalk – $1.99 |
| Potatoes | Russet 5lb bag- $3.79 | Russet 5lb bag- $3.69 |
| Tomato | $1.89 a lb=$0.94 | $0.67 each |
| Cucumber | $0.89 each *on sale* | $0.79 each |
| Total: (8 items) | $16.65 | $15.59 |
Giant is coming out cheaper on produce with a total of $15.59. That is $1.06 cheaper than Food Lion at $16.65.
Deli/Meats
This is all the meats that we will need from the deli and meat counter.
| Item | Food Lion Price | Giant Price |
| Bacon | Food Lion 16oz $4.48 *on sale* | Giant 16oz $4.99 |
| Ground Beef (1lb) | Food Lion 93% 1lb roll – $5.99 *on sale* | Giant 80% fresh 1lb- $5.39 |
| Chicken Breasts (4-6 needed) | Food Lion $2.49 a lb, 4.5lbs – $11.20 | Perdue Frozen Chick Breasts 3lb – $9.99 |
| Diced Ham | Smithfield 16oz pack- $5.99 | Berks 8oz pack- $3.50 *on sale* |
| Pepperoni | Food Lion 6oz – $2.48 | Hormel 6oz- $4.49 |
| Total: (5 items) | $30.14 | $28.36 |
Technically Giant was cheaper with $28.36, but we ended up with frozen chicken breasts and half the diced ham. Food Lion came out $1.78 more expensive at $30.14.
Dry Goods
This is all the dry goods and shelf stable items that we need for our meal plan.
| Item | Food Lion Price | Giant Price |
| Flour Tortillas | Food Lion 10ct – $2.39 | Mission Street 10ct – $2.39 |
| Loaf bread | Cha-Ching White Bread 20oz $1.09 | Giant White Bread 20oz- $1.25 |
| Peanut Butter | Cha-Ching16.3oz jar- $1.79 | Giant 16.3 oz jar- $2.29 |
| Oatmeal | Food Lion 18oz container- $2.19 | Giant 18oz container – $2.89 |
| Brown Sugar | Food Lion 16oz – $1.69 | Giant 16oz- $1.59 |
| Garbanzo beans (canned) | Food Lion 15.5 oz can – $0.84 | Giant 15.5 oz can – $0.75 |
| Mayonnaise | Food Lion 16oz jar- $2.39 | Giant 15oz jar- $2.19 |
| Soy Sauce | Kikkoman 5oz- $1.49 | Giant 10oz – $2.69 |
| Hoisin Sauce | Dynasty 7oz – $2.99 | KA-ME 8oz – $3.89 |
| Sesame Oil | Kikkoman 5oz – $3.79 | Dynasty 5oz – $4.19 |
| Spaghetti Noodles | Food Lion 16oz – $0.98 | Giant 16oz – $1.25 |
| All Purpose Flour | Food Lion 2lb bag- $1.49 | Giant 2lb bag- $2.19 |
| Cream of Chicken Soup | Food Lion 10.5 oz can – $0.99 | Giant 10.5oz can – $1.39 |
| Chicken Bouillon Cubes | Knorr 3.1oz box- $1.19 | Goya 2.82 oz box – $1.19 |
| Dry Active Yeast (need 2) | Red Star 3ct- $1.89 | Fleishmann’s 3ct – $2.39 |
| White Rice | Food Lion 1lb bag – $0.84 | Giant 1lb bag- $1.09 |
| Black Beans (canned) | Food Lion 15.5oz $0.84 | Giant 15.5oz can – $0.75 |
| Powdered Sugar | Food Lion 16oz bag- $1.69 | Giant 16oz bag – $1.59 |
| Total: (19 items) | $30.56 | $35.96 |
Food Lion was definitely cheaper for dry goods with a total of $30.56. This was $5.70 cheaper than Giant that came in at $35.96.
Frozen Foods
These are the frozen items needed for this week’s meal plan.
| Item | Food Lion Price | Giant Price |
| Frozen Broccoli | Food Lion 12oz bag- $1.49 | Giant 12oz bag – $1.59 |
| Frozen Mixed Vegetables | Food Lion 16oz bag- $1.69 | Giant 12oz bag- $1.59 |
| Pie Crust | Food Lion Deep Dish 2-pack – $2.09 | Pillsbury 2ct – $2.54 *on sale* |
| Total: (3 items) | $5.46 | $5.18 |
Food Lion came out ahead again with a total of $5.46. This was $0.45 cheaper than Giant at $5.18.
Dairy Section
These are all the dairy items needed like milk and cheeses.
| Item | Food Lion Price | Giant Price |
| Eggs | Food Lion Large White 12ct – $2.29 | Giant White Large 12ct- $3.05 |
| Shredded Cheddar Cheese | Food Lion 8oz bag- $2.19 | Giant 8oz bag- $2.29 |
| Shredded Mozzarella Cheese | Food Lion 8oz bag- $2.19 | Giant 8oz bag- $2.29 |
| Milk | Food Lion 2% gallon – $5.09 | Giant 2% Gallon – $4.78 |
| Total: (3 items) | $11.76 | $12.41 |
The dairy section was definitely closer than the other sections with Food Lion coming out to $11.76. This was $0.65 cheaper than Giant with $12.41.
Is Food Lion more expensive than Giant food stores?
I was thinking that Giant would come out cheaper after the first two sections, but then it turned!
| Section | Food Lion Price | Giant Price |
| Produce | $16.65 | $15.59 |
| Deli/Meats | $30.14 | $28.36 |
| Dry Goods | $30.56 | $35.96 |
| Frozen Foods | $5.27 | $5.72 |
| Dairy | $11.76 | $12.41 |
| Overall Total: (38 items) | $94.38 | $98.04 |
Food Lion is cheaper than Giant by $3.66. The total for Food Lion was $94.38, while the total for Giant was $98.04.
So even though both grocery store chains are owned by the same company, the prices are not the same at both stores.
That means shopping at Food Lion gave us a savings of 3.73%. That is not a huge difference, but it could add up quickly.
I think if you were to really dive into to each store’s sales ad and meal plan based on what is on sale for the week, you can probably get your grocery total closer to $80.00.
You can save even more money at Giant by checking out their coupons using Choice Rewards that will give you money off at checkout. Currently they are offering $30 off a $60 delivery or pickup order for new customers!
Food Lion has a program called “Shop & Earn” where you not only get digital coupons and savings, but you can also collect cash back off your total. Plus you will want to sign up for their MVP card that gives you access to all sale prices.
For more food price comparisons, check out “Food Lion vs Kroger: Who is Cheaper?” and “Is Walmart or Food Lion cheaper for groceries?“
