Raise your hand if you're one of the many Ontarians looking to save money on groceries. Now raise your other hand if you happen to frequent big grocery stores like Loblaws or Farm Boy on the regular. Both hands up? We figured.
While lots of people turn to budget-friendly stores like No Frills and Food Basics to save money, others still prefer shopping at massive chains that are typically believed to have fresher produce and nicer vibes. But regardless of where you shop, you still probably want to save money while you're at it — because who doesn't?
Loblaws and Farm Boy are similar but quite different in terms of what they offer consumers. Farm Boy is more known for their private-label products and fresh produce compared to Loblaws. But, we've done the work to find out which one is actually cheaper to shop at.
We compiled a grocery list of some common staples you might find in your kitchen, compared the prices, and found out which store had a cheaper basket.
Grocery basket at Farm Boy. Right: Grocery basket at Loblaws.Mira Nabulsi | Narcity
On April 25, we went to both Farm Boy and Loblaws and looked for items with the same weight and the cheapest options to give you a fair analysis. We did not consider sale items in the shop to allow both supermarkets to compete fairly, as those change often.
It's important to note that prices can change at any time and may vary from location to location, but the differences between the two grocery baskets were interesting.
Also, Farm Boy is a supermarket with private label products; many are organic, free-range, and products that generally cost more than the standard options you may find at other big grocery chains, like Loblaws.
Here are some of the products we compared.
2% Milk
2% milk at Farm Boy. Right: Milk at Loblaws.
First on the list of items to compare at Farm Boy and Loblaws is milk. They both hold a wide range of milk brands and cater to different dietary restrictions. However, we compared the price of Nielson 2% 1-litre milk carton because it was available at both locations and was one of the more popular options.
Shockingly, both prices were the exact same at the supermarkets.
- Farm Boy: $3.49
- Loblaws: $3.49
Eggs
Eggs at Farm Boy. Right: Eggs at Loblaws.
To be consistent in both purchases, we looked for a pack of 12 white eggs and compared the cost. However, it's worth noting that Farm Boy only holds organic and free-range eggs, compared to those available at Loblaws.
The organic and free-run eggs at Loblaws were not the cheapest option, nevertheless, they cost $7.69 for the PC brand.
However, the cheapest egg option was Loblaws by far.
- Farm Boy: $5.99
- Loblaws: $4.89
Butter
Gay Lea unsalted butter at Farm Boy. Right: No Name unsalted butter at Loblaws.
We decided to look at unsalted butter as our grocery choice for this. Both, Loblaws and Farm Boy, had a great selection of butter. They both had Gay Lea, the cheapest option at Farm Boy but not at Loblaws. At the latter, it cost $7.49 for 454 grams of unsalted Gay Lea butter, but their most affordable option was the No Name brand.
- Farm Boy: $8.49
- Loblaws: $6.49
Cheese
Old Cheddar from Farm Boy. Right: Old Cheddar from Loblaws.
This was a problematic grocery item to compare because you can only buy cheese by weight at Farm Boy. So the prices vary depending on how much cheese you want and your preferred type. Whereas at Loblaws, even though you can do the same thing at the Deli station, they have prepackaged cheese that is cheaper when bought in bulk.
- Farm Boy: $6.71 for 177 grams
- Loblaws: $4.49 for 200 grams
Yogurt
Astro Original yogurt at Farm Boy. Right: Astro Original yogurt at Loblaws.
Both grocery stores had an overwhelming amount of yogurt options. Still, we found Astro Original at both stores and compared them since they were the cheapest. Keep in mind that Loblaws had a lot of deals in the yogurt department.
We compared the Astro Original Natural Yogurt 750-gram container. They both had the same price.
- Farm Boy: $4.49
- Loblaws: $4.49
Onions
Onions at Farm Boy. Right: Onions at Loblaws.
Next, we decided to head to the produce section and compare the price of onions. Here we grabbed the bags of onions that weighed the same, and interestingly enough, the price was no different either.
Each bag had around seven onions which were 3 pounds in total.
- Farm Boy: $2.99
- Loblaws: $2.99
Bananas
Bananas at Farm Boy. Right: Bananas at Loblaws.
Who doesn't love bananas? This grocery item is definitely a staple. However, each bundle varies in weight depending on the number of bananas in that bunch. So instead, we decided to compare the price of bananas per pound, and there was a 10-cent difference.
- Farm Boy: $0.79
- Loblaws: $0.69
Ground chicken
Ground chicken at Farm Boy. Right: Ground chicken at Loblaws.
According to an employee at Loblaws, ground chicken is quite a popular grocery item and beats ground turkey. But looking for the item wasn't so easy. The only option available at the supermarkets were free from options which are typically more expensive. But both packages we compared were organic, free from, and 454 grams.
- Farm Boy: $11.99
- Loblaws: $14.00
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Farm Boy extra virgin olive oil. Right: 1 litre extra virgin olive oil at Loblaws.
Extra virgin olive oil has been all over the news recently, with its price increase spotted at places like Loblaws. However, both grocery stores had various options but were quite similar.
When we went to Loblaws, many EVOO were on sale and their prices ranged, but they didn't go below the $10 mark for a 1-litre bottle. The cheapest option at Farm Boy was their private-label olive oil.
- Farm Boy: $11.99
- Loblaws: $11.49
Bread
Bread at Farm Boy. Right: Wonder bread at Loblaws.
When we got to the bread section at both supermarkets, the options were endless, and they all looked so delicious, but the aim was to find the cheapest loaf of bread on the shelves with the same weight. So we spotted Wonder at Loblaws and Moelleux at Farm Boy, both weighing 657 grams.
But Farm Boy had the cheaper option only by a few cents.
- Farm Boy: $3.29
- Loblaws: $3.99
Spaghetti
Spaghetti at Farm Boy. Right: Spaghetti at Loblaws.
The pasta section at Farm Boy included many gluten-free options, which were cheaper than the other brands, but we decided to look for regular spaghetti to get a fair comparison. Loblaws had many affordable options, including their No Name option, which beat Farm Boy by just under a dollar for 900 grams of pasta.
- Farm Boy: $3.29
- Loblaws: $2.49
Frozen vegetables
Frozen peas and carrots at Farm Boy. Right: Peas and carrots at Loblaws.
Farm Boy's frozen vegetable section is not too diverse, but both supermarkets had frozen peas and carrots, so we decided to compare the two. Farm Boy's only package weighed 500 grams compared to Loblaws, which weighed 750 grams. But, Loblaws did have a 500-gram version in the organic section and that bag cost $4.99.
So if you were looking to buy the same quality, they both cost the same, but if you wanted the cheaper option, Loblaws is your go-to.
- Farm Boy: $4.99
- Loblaws: $3.49
The winner
Shopping cart at Farm Boy. Right: Shopping cart at Loblaws.
The difference was minimal when we compared the total price of our grocery baskets at Farm Boy and Loblaws. However, it's worth noting that items such as frozen vegetables and cheese offer the shopper more for less. Nevertheless, the totals for both shops were as follows:
- Farm Boy: $68.50
- Loblaws: $62.99
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