Giant vs Acme: Who is Cheaper for Groceries?
Price comparing grocery stores can be worth it, as it allows you to save money by identifying the stores with the best deals on the products you need, ultimately helping you make more informed purchasing decisions.
Today we will do a side-by-side price comparison of Giant and Acme to determine who is cheaper for groceries. We will also see if shopping one store is best, or if shopping both stores will save us even more money on our weekly grocery budget!
Is Giant cheaper than Acme?
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 “25 Cheap Healthy Foods to Buy” 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 Bear, Delaware 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 Family Meal Plan Budget #1.”
Produce
These are the fresh vegetables and fruits needed in the produce section for my meal plan this week.
| Items | Giant Price | Acme Price |
| 8 Bananas | 2 bunches= $3.04 | $0.28 each= $2.24 |
| Apples | 3lb bag of Gala apples= $4.99 | 3lb bag of Red Delicious apples= $4.49 |
| Lettuce | 1 head of Green Leaf= $2.49 | 1 head Romaine= $1.49 *on sale* |
| Potatoes | 5lb bag of Russets= $4.99 | 5lb bag of Russets= $5.99 |
| Tomatoes x3 | On the Vine $0.50 each= $1.50 *on sale* | 4ct Hot House tomatoes= $2.99 |
| Cucumber | $0.66 each *on sale* | $0.89 each |
| Carrots | 2lb bag= $1.99 | 2lb bag= $1.99 |
| Totals: 7 Items | $19.66 | $20.08 |
In the produce section, Giant came out cheaper with a total of $19.66. This was $0.42 cheaper than Acme’s total of $20.08.
Deli/Meats
Here are the items I will need from the deli and meat section of the stores.
| Items | Giant Price | Acme Price |
| Pepperoni | Giant 6oz pack= $2.50 | Armour 5oz pack= $2.99 *on sale* |
| Whole Chicken | Nature’s Promise $2.49 a lb (4lbs)= $9.96 *on sale* | Perdue $1.69 a lb (6lbs)= $10.14 *on sale* |
| Ground Turkey | Shady Brook Farms 93% 1lb fresh= $4.99 *on sale* | Jennie-o 93% 1lb fresh= $4.99 *on sale* |
| Pork Loin | Giant 1.13lbs pack= $6.77 | Hatfield 27.2oz pack= $8.99 *on sale* |
| Totals: 4 Items | $24.22 | $27.11 |
In the meat section, Giant came out cheaper with a total of $24.22. This was $2.89 cheaper than Acme’s total of $27.11.
It is worth noting that we got way more chicken and pork loin at Acme, so they were probably the better value!
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 | Giant Price | Acme Price |
| Sandwich Bread | Giant 20oz bread= $1.69 | Signature Select 20oz bread= $2.49 |
| Peanut Butter | Peter Pan 16.3oz jar= $2.89 | Signature Select 16oz jar= $2.99 |
| Quick Oats | Moms Best 16oz container= $2.29 | Moms Best 16oz container= $3.49 |
| Raisins | Giant 6oz mini boxes= $1.99 | Signature Farms 12oz box= $2.49 |
| Canned Tuna Fish (2 cans) | Starkist 5oz can ($1.25 each)= $2.50 | Chicken of the Sea 5oz can ($1.25 each)= $2.50 *on sale* |
| Pasta | Giant 16oz box= $1.25 *on sale* | Signature Select 16oz box= $1.25 |
| Italian Dressing | Wish Bone 8oz bottle= $1.66 *on sale* | Wish Bone 8oz bottle= $2.50 *on sale* |
| Flour Tortillas | Giant 8ct= $1.69 | Signature Select 10ct= $2.19 |
| Microwave Popcorn | Giant 3ct box= $2.39 | Act II 3ct box= $2.49 *on sale* |
| White Rice | Giant 2lb bag= $2.36 | Carolina 1lb bag= $1.99 |
| Alfredo Sauce | Ragu 16oz jar= $2.29 *on sale* | Prego 14.5oz jar= $2.49 *on sale* |
| Canned Corn | Giant 14.75oz can= $1.00 *on sale* | Signature Select 14.5oz can= $1.19 |
| Refried Beans | Giant 16oz can= $1.19 | Rosarita 16oz can= $1.50 *on sale* |
| Salsa | Pace 16oz jar= $2.00 *on sale* | Signature Select 16oz jar= $2.50 |
| Canned Pineapple | Giant 20oz can= $1.89 | Del Monte 20oz can= $1.50 *on sale* |
| All Purpose Flour | Giant 2lb bag= $1.99 | Signature Select 2lb bag= $2.19 |
| Dry Active Yeast | Red Star 3pack= $1.99 | Signature Select 3pack= $0.99 |
| Brown Sugar | Giant 1lb bag= $1.95 | Signature Select 1lb bag= $1.99 |
| Totals: 18 items | $35.01 | $38.73 |
In the dry goods section, Giant came out cheaper with a total of $35.01. This was $3.72 cheaper than Acme’s total of $38.73.
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 | Giant Price | Acme Price |
| Frozen Mixed Vegetables | Giant 16oz bag= $1.34 *on sale* | Signature Select 12oz bag= $2.49 |
| Frozen Broccoli | Giant 16oz bag= $1.49 | Signature Select 12oz bag= $2.29 |
| Totals: 2 items | $2.83 | $4.78 |
In the frozen foods section, Giant came out cheaper with a total of $2.83. This was $1.95 cheaper than Acme’s total of $4.78.
Dairy
This is the final section of the store and will cover all dairy needs like cheeses and milk.
| Item: | Giant Price | Acme Price |
| Eggs | Giant 12ct large white eggs=$2.19 | Lucerne 12ct large white eggs= $2.29 |
| Milk (gallon) | Giant gallon= $3.79 | Lucerne gallon= $4.59 |
| Cheddar cheese (16oz) | Giant 16oz block= $4.99 | Lucerne 8oz shredded ($2.00 each)= $4.00 *on sale* |
| Mozzarella cheese (8oz) | Giant 8oz shredded= $2.49 | Lucerne 8oz shredded= $2.00 *on sale* |
| Sour Cream | Giant 8oz container= $1.29 | Lucerne 8oz container= $1.49 |
| Totals: 5 items | $14.75 | $14.37 |
In the dairy section, Acme came out cheaper with a total of $14.37. This was $0.38 cheaper than Giant’s total of $14.75.
Is ACME more expensive than Giant?
Giant came out cheaper in most sections, but let’s look at the overall totals.
| Section | Giant Price | Acme Price |
| Produce | $19.66 | $20.08 |
| Deli/Meats | $24.22 | $27.11 |
| Dry Goods | $35.01 | $38.73 |
| Frozen Foods | $2.83 | $4.78 |
| Dairy | $14.75 | $14.37 |
| Overall Total | $96.47 | $105.07 |
Overall, Giant was cheaper than Acme with a total of $96.47. This was $8.60 (about 8%) cheaper than Acme’s total of $105.07.
I am always a huge fan of a weekly grocery haul under $100 and Giant was definitely able to pull that off this week. If I could only pick one store to shop at, then I would pick Giant easily.
If I had the time to go to both stores or place pick orders, I could buy just the cheapest options at each store. This would have made my total $90.93. That would be an additional savings of $5.54 (about 5%).
$5.54 is not a huge amount but if you are really trying to pinch pennies it could come in handy. If we only spend $90.93 and our grocery budget is $100, that leaves us $9.07 to stock up on food deals or apply to savings.
