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Food Lion vs Lidl: Who is Cheaper?

ByJennifer

Food Lion is a fairly large grocery store chain under the Ahold Delhaize Company with about 1100 stores in 10 states. Lidl is similar to another discount German grocery store company Aldi, and has about 173 stores in 9 states.

Let’s compare food pricing for Food Lion and Lidl in Charlotte, NC and see if one store has cheaper prices for groceries. Scroll to the end to see the final result!

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Is Lidl cheaper than Food Lion?

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 Charlotte, North Carolina. 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.

ItemFood Lion PriceLidl Price
6 Bananas $0.49 a lb=$1.22 $0.79 a lb (organic)= $1.96
Celery $1.19 each *on sale* $2.19 each
Coleslaw Mix Fresh Express 14oz bag= $2.39 *substitution* 1 head of cabbage= $4.29
Potatoes 5lb bag of Russets= $4.39 *on sale* 5lb bag of Russets= $6.39
Yellow Squash $1.47 a lb = $0.88 *on sale* $1.49 each
Cucumber $0.65 each *on sale* $0.99 each
Roma Tomato x4 $1.39 a lb= $1.61 $1.99 a lb=$2.30
Total: (7 items)$12.33$19.61

In the produce section, Food Lion came out cheaper with a total of $12.33. This was $7.28 cheaper than Lidl’s total of $19.61.

Deli/Meats

This is all the meats that we will need from the deli and meat counter.

ItemFood Lion PriceLidl Price
1lb ground sausageHatfield 1lb pack= $2.49 *on sale* Jimmy Dean 1 lb roll= $6.09
Pepperoni Food Lion 6oz pack= $2.48 Hormel 6oz pack= $5.19
2lb ground turkey Butterball 1lb roll ($3.79 each x2) = $7.58 Lidl 1lb fresh ($6.29each x 2)= $12.58
Kielbasa Style Sausage Eckrich 14oz pack= $3.29 *on sale* Eckrich 14oz pack= $4.39
Chicken Thighs Food Lion ($1.49 a lb/2.5lbs)= $3.73 Sanderson Farms ($4.58 a lb/2.58 lbs)= $11.33
Chicken Breasts Food Lion ($2.99/2.5lbs) = $7.47 Sanderson Farms ($5.99 a lb/2.19lbs)= $13.12
Total: (6 items)$27.04$52.70

In the meat section, Food Lion came in cheaper with a total of $27.04. This was $25.66 cheaper than Lidl’s total of $52.70.

Dry Goods

This is all the dry goods and shelf stable items that we need for our meal plan.

ItemFood Lion PriceLidl Price
Quick Oats Food Lion 18oz container= $2.19 Lidl 42oz container= $4.59
Chocolate Chips Food Lion 12oz bag= $1.89 *on sale* Lidl 12oz bag= $2.59
Biscuit MixCB Old Country 32oz box= $3.09 Lidl 32oz box= $2.59
Flour TortillasChi-Chi’s 10ct= $1.79 Lidl 10ct= $2.59
Tomato Pasta Sauce Food Lion 24oz jar= $1.45 *on sale* Lidl 24oz jar= $1.89
Ranch Dressing Food Lion 16oz bottle= $2.29 Lidl 16oz bottle= $2.59
Peanut Butter Food Lion 16.3 oz jar- $2.18 Lidl 18oz jar= $2.29
Soy sauce Food Lion 10oz bottle= $2.49 Lidl 15oz bottle= $2.09
White Rice Food Lion 1lb bag= $1.19 Lidl 17.6oz bag organic= $2.79
Pasta Food Lion 1lb Rotini= $0.94 Italpasta 1lb Penne= $1.19
Breadcrumbs Food Lion Panko 8oz container= $1.69 Lidl 8oz panko container= $2.39
BBQ sauce Food Lion 18oz bottle= $1.19 *on sale* Lidl 18oz bottle= $1.79
salad dressing for coleslaw Marie’s 12oz bottle= $3.50 *on sale* *substitution* Asian Style Ginger Dressing 12oz= $4.69
Canned peaches Food Lion 15.25oz can= $1.38 Lidl 14.4oz can= $1.69
Applesauce Food Lion 25oz jar= $2.29 Lidl 46oz jar= $3.59
Total: (15 items)$29.55$39.35

In the dry goods section, Food Lion came out cheaper with a total of $29.55. This was $9.80 cheaper than Lidl’s total of $39.35.

Frozen Foods

These are the frozen items needed for this week’s meal plan.

ItemFood Lion PriceLidl Price
California Blend Vegetables Food Lion 12oz bag= $1.79 *substitution* Lidl 12oz broccoli= $1.19
Frozen Peas Food Lion 16oz bag= $1.69 Lidl 12oz bag= $1.19
Total: (2 items)$3.48$2.38

In the frozen section, Lidl came out cheaper with a total of $2.38. This was $1.10 cheaper than Food Lion’s total of $3.48.

It is worth noting we had to substitute frozen broccoli at Lidl instead of California Blend Frozen vegetables.

Dairy Section

These are all the dairy items needed like milk and cheeses.

ItemFood Lion PriceLidl Price
Eggs Food Lion 12ct white eggs= $2.51 Simpson 18ct white eggs= $3.59
Shredded Cheddar Cheese Food Lion 8oz bag= $2.00 Lidl 8oz bag= $2.89
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese Food Lion 8oz bag= $2.00 Lidl 8oz bag= $2.89
2% milk Food Lion gallon= $2.95 Lidl gallon= $3.39
Total: (4 items)$9.46$12.76

In the dairy section, Food Lion came out cheaper with a total of $9.46. This was $3.30 cheaper than Lidl’s total of $12.76.

Is Food Lion more expensive than Lidl?

Food Lion came out cheaper for most of the sections, but let’s look at the overall totals.

SectionFood Lion PriceLidl Price
Produce $12.33$19.61
Deli/Meats $27.04$52.70
Dry Goods $29.55$39.35
Frozen Foods $3.48 $2.38
Dairy $9.46$12.76
Overall Total: (34 items)$81.86$126.80

Overall, Food Lion was much cheaper than Lidl with a total of $81.86. This was $44.94 (about 35%) cheaper than Lidl’s total of $126.80.

For this entire grocery list, there were only 2 items that were cheaper at Lidl and that was in the frozen section.

Unless you were buying something on super sale at Lidl, I would recommend shopping at Food Lion if you wanted to save money on your grocery budget every month.

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 grocery store price comparisons, check out “Safeway vs FoodMaxx: Who is Cheaper?” and “Food Lion vs Acme Markets: Who is Cheaper?“

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