Safeway vs FoodMaxx: Who is Cheaper?

Safeway is a large grocery store chain under the Albertsons Company with about 904 stores in 17 states. Foodmaxx is a small no frills grocery store chain with about 53 stores in 2 states (California & Nevada).

Let’s compare pricing for Safeway and FoodMaxx in Bakersfield, CA and see if one store has cheaper prices for groceries. Scroll to the end to see the final result!

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Is FoodMaxx cheaper than Safeway?

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 Bakersfield, California. 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.

Item	Safeway Price	FoodMaxx Price
6 bananas	$0.36 each= $2.16	$0.25 each= $1.50
Celery	1 head= $2.69	1 head= $2.49
Coleslaw Mix	Signature Farms 14oz bag= $2.49	Fresh Express 14oz bag= $2.19
Potatoes	5lb bag of Russets= $3.99	5lb bag of Russets= $3.19
Yellow Squash	$2.00 each	$0.92 each
Cucumber	$1.00 each *on sale*	$0.79 each
Roma Tomato x4	$0.75 each= $3.00	$0.48 each= $1.92
Total: (7 items)	$17.33	$13.00

In the produce section, FoodMaxx came out cheaper with a total of $13.00. This was $4.33 cheaper than Safeway’s total of $17.33.

Deli/Meats

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

Item	Safeway Price	FoodMaxx Price
1lb ground sausage	Signature Select 1lb roll pork sausage= $4.49	Jennie-O 1lb roll turkey sausage= $3.99
Pepperoni	Hormel 6oz pack= $4.49 *on sale*	Hormel 6oz pack= $3.99
2lb ground turkey	Signature Farms 1lb fresh $5.49 x2= $10.98	Jennie-O 1lb rolls $4.49 x2= $8.98
Kielbasa Style Sausage	Hillshire Farms 14oz pack= $3.50 *on sale*	Hillshire Farms 14oz pack= $4.19
Chicken Thighs	Signature Farms ($2.49 a lb./2 lbs.) = $4.98	Foster Farms ($1.99 a lb./3.5lbs) = $6.97
Chicken Breasts	Signature Farms ($6.99 a lb./2lbs) = $13.98	Foster Farms ($2.49 a lb./4.8lbs) = $11.95
Total: (6 items)	$42.42	$40.07

In the meat section, FoodMaxx came out cheaper with a total of $40.07. This was $2.35 cheaper than Safeway’s total of $42.42.

It is worth noting that not only was FoodMaxx’s prices lower, we also were able to get larger amounts of meat like the chicken thighs and chicken breasts.

Dry Goods

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

Item	Safeway Price	FoodMaxx Price
Quick Oats	Malt O Meal 18oz container= $2.29	Mom’s best Oats 16oz container= $1.89
Chocolate Chips	Nestle 12oz bag= $3.00 *on sale*	Sunny Select 12oz bag= $2.49
Biscuit Mix	Bisquick 40oz box= $5.99	Krusteaz 32oz box= $3.19 *on sale*
Flour Tortillas	Signature Select 10ct= $2.29	Mission 10ct= $2.29
Tomato Pasta Sauce	Prego 24oz jar= $2.00 *on sale*	Hunt’s 24oz can= $1.49
Ranch Dressing	Signature Select 16oz bottle= $3.49	Sunny Select 16oz bottle= $2.29
Peanut Butter	Signature Select 16oz jar= $2.79	Sunny Select 16.3oz jar= $2.29
Soy sauce	Signature Select 10oz bottle= $2.29	Kikkoman 5oz bottle= $2.49
White Rice	Signature Select 2lb bag= $2.49	Sunny Select 2lb bag= $1.99
Pasta	Signature Select 16oz rotini= $1.59	Barilla 16oz rotini= $1.69
Breadcrumbs	Progresso 8oz container= $2.50 *on sale*	Sunny Select 15oz container= $1.49
BBQ sauce	Bulls Eye 18oz bottle= $1.67 *on sale*	Kraft 18oz bottle= $1.29 *on sale*
salad dressing for coleslaw	Lighthouse 13oz bottle= $4.49	Marie’s 12oz bottle= $4.29
Canned peaches	Signature Select 15oz can= $2.49	Sunny Select 15oz can= $2.19
Applesauce	Signature Select 24pz (mini cups)= $2.49	Sunny Select 47oz jar= $2.49
Total: (15 items)	$41.86	$33.85

In the dry goods section, FoodMaxx came out cheaper with a total of $33.85. This was $8.01 cheaper than Safeway’s total of $41.86.

Frozen Foods

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

Item	Safeway Price	FoodMaxx Price
California Blend Vegetables	Birds Eye 14oz bag= $2.79 *on sale*	Sunny Select 16oz bag= $1.99
Frozen Peas	Green Giant 9oz box= $1.49 *on sale*	Bird’s Eye 10oz bag= $1.50 *on sale*
Total: (2 items)	$4.28	$3.49

In the frozen food section, FoodMaxx came in cheaper with a total of $3.49. This was $0.79 cheaper than Safeway’s total of $4.28.

Dairy Section

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

Item	Safeway Price	FoodMaxx Price
Eggs	Lucerne 12ct white eggs= $4.49	Nulaid 12ct white eggs= $3.29
Shredded Cheddar Cheese	Lucerne 8oz bag= $3.99 *on sale*	Sunnyside 8oz bag= $2.69
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese	Lucerne 8oz bag= $3.99 *on sale*	Sunnyside 8oz bag= $2.69
2% milk	Value Corner gallon= $4.99	Bayview gallon= $3.99
Total: (4 items)	$17.46	$12.66

In the dairy section, FoodMaxx came out cheaper with a total of $12.66. This was $4.80 cheaper than Safeway’s total of $17.46.

Is FoodMaxx more expensive than Safeway?

FoodMaxx came in cheaper in every section, so let’s look at the overall totals!

Section	Safeway Price	FoodMaxx Price
Produce	$17.33	$13.00
Deli/Meats	$42.42	$40.07
Dry Goods	$41.86	$33.85
Frozen Foods	$4.28	$3.49
Dairy	$17.46	$12.66
Overall Total: (34 items)	$123.35	$103.07

Overall, FoodMaxx is definitely cheaper than Safeway with a total of $103.07. This was $20.28 (about 16%) cheaper than Safeway’s total of $123.35.

Out of 34 items purchased, only 4 of those were cheaper at Safeway. These included the Kielbasa sausage, soy sauce, pasta, and frozen peas. (2 of these items were on sale and not regular everyday prices.)

If Safeway and FoodMaxx are my only options, I am going to shop primarily at FoodMaxx but I will look at the Safeway flyer each week to check for good deals.

By looking at the weekly sales ads for both stores, you have the potential to save even more money by using sale items for your meal plans and to stock up.

Safeway does have weekly ads, and you can use them to help you meal plan for maximum savings. For more savings at Safeway, check out their FreshPass. They are currently offering a 30-day free trial!

For more grocery store price comparisons, check out “Albertsons vs Smart & Final: Who is Cheaper?” and “Food Lion vs Acme Markets: Who is Cheaper?“