Who has the lowest grocery store prices in Charlotte now? We found a clear winner

Grocery shoppers in the Charlotte region have a growing number of options to choose from to spend their dollars. To help you keep your food bills at a manageable level, The Charlotte Observer ran its annual comparison to find which store has the lowest, and highest, prices.

The latest Consumer Price Index data shows that grocery store food prices ticked up 2.1% nationally compared to last year.

However in Charlotte, we found the lowest receipt for an 11-item grocery basket of staples like eggs, milk and salad dropped 0.7% in December compared to last December. Still, the lowest-priced cart was 31% higher compared to the same items we purchased two years ago.

There’s also a big gap this year between the store with the lowest total price for our groceries, and the one that ran up the biggest bill — nearly $55 separated them.

In our comparison, we price-checked online at 11 stores: Aldi, Lidl, Walmart, Target, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Trader Joe’s, Publix, Whole Foods Market, Fresh Market and Earth Fare.

How we compared grocery prices

We checked the items on Dec. 7, the same month as last year.

We chose the cheapest available option at each store and looked for the least expensive choice, whether in-house or brand name. Only regular prices were used, not sales or loyalty discount program prices. Be aware: Some stores may have higher prices online than in stores.

Our cart included five basic meatloaf ingredients, which the Observer had checked out for comparison last year, plus five other items from last year’s list.

We also broke down cost per ounce for items like corn flakes and ketchup because available sizes varied between stores. The cost per ounce was calculated to 20 ounces of ketchup and 12 ounces of corn flakes.

Charlotte grocery store low-price winners

Aldi recaptured its top spot as the lowest overall price leader. Last year, Lidl edged out Aldi, which also had the lowest overall price in 2021 and 2020. Both Aldi and Lidl are German-based discount grocers.

The total cost of our 11-item bag was $23.93 at Aldi, followed by Lidl at $25.34 then Walmart at $26.14 and Target at $28.90. Of traditional grocers, Food Lion again was the lowest at $29.14, closely followed by Harris Teeter at $29.44. Specialty grocer Trader Joe’s basket cost $36.99.

Florida-based Publix cost $35.08. Asheville-based specialty grocer Earth Fare, which sells many natural and organic items, was the most expensive in our comparison, with our groceries totaling $78.78. That was followed by Fresh Market at $64.36 and Whole Foods at $49.51.

So when we looked at our receipts for the same items, our total was $54.85 higher at Earth Fare than at Aldi.

When we compare meatloaf ingredients and a few staples at all 11 stores, here’s what we found:

▪ Comparing meatloaf-only ingredients of a dozen large eggs, a gallon of skim milk, a loaf of white bread, ketchup at 20 ounces and 1 pound of 80% lean ground beef, Aldi was the cheapest at $10.55, followed by Walmart at $11.75 and Lidl at $12.10. (That’s a decrease from last year’s $12 at Aldi, followed by Lidl at $13 and Harris Teeter at $13.10.)

▪ And on three staples, Lidl was cheapest for eggs, while Aldi and Lidl had the best bread price, and Walmart had the lowest price for milk at $2.54 for a gallon of skim.

Findings from our grocery store survey

Overall, eight items in our shopping cart cost more than last year. Bananas were priced the same as last year, while eggs and lettuce cost less than last year.

But the biggest price jump this year was grains:

▪ The lowest-priced white bread cost $1.29 at Lidl and Aldi this year compared to 50 cents last year at Lidl, up 158%.

▪ The highest price was $5.49 at The Fresh Market this year.

▪ The lowest-priced box of corn flakes this year cost $2.15 at Aldi compared to 95 cents at Walmart last year, an increase of 126%.

▪ The biggest price drop this year was eggs. Last year, a carton of eggs saw the biggest price increase. At Lidl, a dozen large eggs were priced lowest at $1.24 this year compared to last year’s $2.99 at Harris Teeter and Target.

▪ The highest egg price was $6.99 at Earth Fare.

Supermarket price differences in Charlotte

From our survey, here are some of the more significant grocery price differences in our carts:

▪ One gallon of skim milk: $2.54 at Walmart, compared to $9.89 at Earth Fare and Fresh Market.

▪ Ketchup: $1.03 at Aldi and $5 at Whole Foods.

▪ 1 lb. ground beef 80% lean: $3.99 at Harris Teeter, compared to $8.09 at Earth Fare.

▪ Romaine hearts, three-count bag: $2.74 at both Lidl and Walmart, versus $6.98 at Earth Fare.

▪ Vanilla ice cream: Target and Walmart tied at $2.67, compared to $13.89 at Earth Fare.

▪ Shredded mozzarella cheese cost $3.25 at Aldi for a 16-ounce bag, compared to $16.48 at Earth Fare.

Our comparison totals

Here were our grocery cart totals:

Aldi: $23.93

Lidl: $25.34

Walmart: $26.14

Target: $28.90

Food Lion: $29.14

Harris Teeter: $29.44

Trader Joe’s: $36.99

Publix: $45.08

Whole Foods: $49.51

Fresh Market: $64.36

Earth Fare: $78.78

Grocery market competition in Charlotte

Charlotte has steep grocery store competition with over 720 grocery stores — including recent openings and more planned.

Supermarket sales hit nearly $9.5 billion last year, up 10% compared to 2021, according to the latest Chain Store Guide report. Walmart and Matthews-based Harris Teeter dominate by market share for the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.

In March, Publix opened a 48,387-square-foot store at North Creek Village in Huntersville.

Last month, Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market opened its second Charlotte-area store in Steele Creek, in the former Earth Fare spot.

This year, Walmart and Salisbury-based Food Lion both remodeled several stores in the Charlotte region while other grocers expanded.

And Winston-Salem grocer Lowes Foods will open stores at Kellswater Commons in Kannapolis and Christenbury Village shopping center in Concord.

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