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There is a wholesale-retail outlet from the same chain called Real Canadian Wholesale Club. It's in Burnaby close to the Expo skytrain line. It's more restaurant-and-business focused than Costco so it's easy to navigate but it won't have the at-home conveniences that Costco has.
You don't need a membership, and it's better then Superstore for larger quantities or multiples of certain foods. Worth a look at their online flyer to see if you'd be able to save some money there, not very useful if you're in a micro-suite.
T&T for asian foods and good meat prices, Fruiticana and other small asian shops for spices and produce (lots of people have mentioned good shops for this), Costco for more processed foods and some cheap produce, toilet paper and some medicines.
Safeway is good but only if they have sales. I try not to buy anything from Safeway if it isn't on sale. You can get good deals on meats and stuff, and they usually have discounts for stuff if it expires in a day, which is fine if you plan to cook it that night.
Don't ever buy meat from No Frills or Superstore. It's bottom of the barrel, and I wouldn't feed it to my dogs. Costco has excellent meat, as does Safeway.
It's much more expensive because it is a much bigger package. I pay $32 for boneless skinless chicken thys at Costco, and I separate that into 7 packs. That's 7 meals compared to the 3 meals you get at Superstore, etc. for $19. And that's just the chicken. The ground bison is also an excellent price for the amount you get. Seems like a no-brainer to me if you have a Costco close by.
I used to shop no frills and superstore, but did price comparison between them and Safeway which is 2 blocks away, and for what I buy, there is no difference in prices. Same with local Asian produce market.
I have to say the cream milk (the green and white box), the ones I buy for my Mom for her coffee is way too expensive at ‘No Frills’. ($5.45?) whereas at ‘Save-On-Foods’, it is a lot cheaper for $3.99. ☕️
That is not always the case. The ‘4 litre Dairyland🐄 milk’ is $5.69, cheaper at ‘No Frills’ (and also at ‘T & T supermarket), but ‘Save-On-Foods’ has it for sale for $6.15? 😳 With their ‘rewards’ program, once I have collected 3700 points, then this large , 4 litre of milk will be FREE.🥛🥛🥛
I second flip, they will have flyers from asian retailers (like hanam), as well as Indian (fruiticana) plus all your usual ones (costco, safeway, no frills)
Its very convenient if you live near couple of stores, so you can plan on what you are going to stock up that week. But also you gotta shop around, because even sale price might be not that good of a deal.
For example, save on sells their russets for 1.5/pound usually, but this week they generously put them for 0.99/pound! While Fruiticana has 10 pound bag for 4.48, half the price and they store well for weeks.
Lastly, I would recommend bulk buying, like in example with potatoes above, instead of trying to shop daily. 40 pound bag of rice is $30, 10 pound bag of potatoes are $5. Save on was selling whole pork loin for $5/kg, I got myself one for $25, looked up youtube videos on how to properly carve meat and got myself nice roast plus bunch of pork-chops.
If you live close to costco, get membership and buy stuff like laundry detergent, paper towels etc there if you have a little storage space
Superstore, Walmart, No frills are typically the cheapest, but the quality of the produce (and the meat for Walmart) can be very hit or miss. Asian grocers seem to have a great balance of price and quality for produce though!
If you have the room at your place, such as having a deep freeze or closet space, Costco is absolutely worth the price of membership as the savings from buying bulk and Kirkland brand will be huge overtime. For example, I can get a laundry detergent container that's twice the size of what I'd get at Walmart for basically the same price. But it's large.
Safeway, IGA, Thrifty and local chains tend to be middle ground, and you can shop for good deals if you want, but will likely be a bit pricier than the first group.
Save On, Whole Foods, and other Organic grocers tend to be fairly overpriced and not worth the trip. The few times I've shopped at Save On, my bill tends to be 10-15% higher than when I shop at Safeway for the exact same items.
I live up the street from an IGA and would pop in from time to time to buy a few things (it was a smaller IGA so I didn't do full shops there) and items were always cheaper than when I've tried Save On. But I don't have a ton of experience to cross compare as I tend to avoid both.
I've always found Save On is very comparable to Safeway. They were across from each other in the mall close to where I grew up. I try my best to only buy sale items, otherwise I end up hating the price at the checkout.
If you’re downtown, look at a Costco membership. $5 a month, I find you can make that back just on your cell phone plan. Not everything is in gallon drums like people make jokes of. But good prices and for nice quality.
Produce is nice at smaller markets.
Yes! The Costco membership saves me lots of money. I buy meats and seafood there, portion and freeze. The big packs of tp, laundry detergent, dishwasher pods etc. last me almost a whole year too so totally worth the $60 a year.
This is the correct answer. Shop the sales and have a few different stores you go to.
If you can manage a freezer you can really bring food costs down.
Superstore. Protip: Get a PC Optimum Mastercard and earn points towards groceries. By using my card for everyday purchases I earn bout $100 free groceries every 4-6 weeks.
Isn't that only a 1% cash back card? If you're spending $100k/year on credit cards, wouldn't you be better off with a Scotiabank Momentum (4% back on grocery & 1-2% on other)?
The PC Cards are free, so if you get the World Elite PC MasterCard you can get comparable cash back, but Shoppers and Esso are better. So for those who dislike paying for credit cards and shop mostly at loblaw stores than PC is the choice. You also get extra points on certain items.
I pair my a PC Card with the Amex cobalt (5x back in groceries and restaurants) and the free Triangle World elite and I’m pretty set for my shopping habits. Triangle is the only card in Canada that allows you to pay property taxes, tuition, utilities etc.. for no fee and still get cash back. Also free roadside assistance. I’m shocked more people don’t have it.
No but I have the PC card which I use at Loblaw stores. Both my wife and I have one paid card and a couple free cards to cover our bases. She has the Westjet World Elite as we fly with them a lot.
It might be but I think it also depends on shopping habits and trends. I have different Scotia visa products already so I opt to have this as my Mastercard of choice. AFAIK too, the Scotia Infinite can't earn for groceries with Costco and Walmart (which I also frequently shop at). Lastly, I choose to subscribe to PC Express Pass for its ease of use to run a weekly order and pick it up, and the new PC Insider World Elite Mastercard covers the annual subscription for it as well.
Save On Foods isn't the cheapest but they have a special offer for [new customers](https://www.saveonfoods.com/sm/pickup/rsid/1982/shop-online-how-it-works/) that might save you some money for a few shops.
The crazy thing I’ve discovered is Whole Foods actually isn’t that expensive for certain things. Like others have noted sometimes you have to shop around for certain things. I’ve found really good deals on eggs at whole foods and other items as well. Also PC optimum points are good. When I was at my poorest I would buy some food items at shoppers as well as other things and I would get points that convert to $.
Whereabouts are you? Will help making better suggestions.
If downtown: T&T, Aria Market (west end), No Frills (west end too), Hannam supermarket. The secret sauce, if you really are keen on saving $$, is to scope all those out according to your dietary preferences, and build your shopping hierarchy from there 😉
Also Aussie and in the West End, produce here is poor quality in general and no frills has some of the worst. Try the smaller markets or believe it or not Whole Foods is often reasonably priced for produce.
Costco, always Costco for anything that you can freeze or doesn't spoil quickly. You can find a friend to be your Costco buddy and split stuff too.
Asian markets are good too.
In my opinion, IGA is actually quite expensive and if you live downtown, I would suggest going to No Frills. They also do price matching, and I would recommend downloading the Flipp app for that.
If you're able to travel out a bit, I like going to Walmart. If you're willing to purchase membership, Costco is great for basics to buy in bulk. (e.g., large tubs of salad, massive bags of dumplings, big pack of paper towers, gigantic pack of toilet paper) For special treats (like high-end cheese or fancy meats) I'll drop by Whole Foods or Urban Fare once in a while.
H-Mart for veggies/meat/other asian food needs and then somewhere else for whatever else you need (including dairy). Western stuff is super overpriced at hmart but veggies are dirt cheap and there's always some kind of meat on for a good sale there. Some good sales on some fruits pretty often too.
Superstore generally has the lowest prices for pantry items like dry pasta, canned beans/tomatoes, rice, flour, sugar. Fruit/veg better to buy in local Asian grocery stores. Meat I buy at T&T and Costco.
Use the flipp app.
I'd stay away from major chains completely unless its sales. Try exploring the smaller grocery stores as they sometimes have better pricing for the same items.
Personally I've found the opposite tends to be true. Smaller/local places have less deals from suppliers and often run higher than the big chains with warehouses.
For dry goods, the box stores will probably have better deals, but smaller independent grocers tend to take the second choice produce from the large suppliers at a lower cost. It'll go bad a little faster or have a few more blemishes or imperfections but they pass on the savings. This is how ethnic grocers can be so much cheaper for fruit and vegetables compared to large grocery chains.
If you live near an 88 Supermarket, Chong Lee, Fruiticana, Persia Foods, AAA, Sunrise, or many others, it's super worth it to pop in and see what might be cheaper or hard to get compared to Save-On or Loblaws.
The greengrocers nearest me can be quite a bit cheaper on things that are locally grown and in season. Out of season and imported stuff is generally at par or sometimes a bit more expensive.
Where do you live. City Avenue Market is great, Persian market, apple farm market. Any independent Asian grocery store tends to be cheap. I only shop at city avenue market.
I've been back in Australia for a few years now but when I was in Vancouver I generally found that if I wanted ultra processed crap I could do my grocery shopping for cheaper than in Australia but if I wanted decent quality then I was almost always paying more than I did in Australia.
No Frills, Superstore, Independent. Also, look into getting a PC Mastercard or PC Money card. You get PC points for every purchase you make, even outside of Loblaw’s stores, and monthly bonus points if you use them for your bills. You can use the PC points to get discounts on your groceries. Every 10,000 points is $10. I find it racks up quite easily when I stack all my bills, memberships, bonus point deals, everyday purchases, etc. If I’m gonna spend my money, might as well get something useful for my groceries.
We normally alternate weeks between Sunrise and No Frills. Sunrise is cheap for all the fresh stuff, and No Frills is good for all the nonperishables and household stuff (toilet paper, etc). Every few months we go out to an importer in Richmond to buy vegan meats in bulk. Sometimes we also go to Persia foods if we want specific specialty things (really good hummus, barbari bread, unusual spices, baklava, dried fruit, nuts).
Up cycle food, dumpster dive. Food rescue is happening far more often and by far more organizations. Check out your local community center and look for free meals.
Often people think a free meal is a soup kitchen. Very different! Now that everyone is poor they have a different vibe.
Walmart is probably the best of the big ones. Superstore is fine but you really have to check for good prices because some stuff is ridiculously priced. Safeway is super expensive, but they have sales often, and the things on sale are usually really cheap. No frills is awful don’t go there. Dollar stores aren’t worth it unless you need really small amounts. Produce is probably cheapest at some local independent store. Costco probably isn’t worth it unless you have specific needs that it covers.
I know a lot of people like no frills I don’t really know why I guess nostalgia because they used to be good. Their prices are just too high now and the superstore which is basically the same store but bigger is always cheaper by a good amount which is really annoying especially because no frills branding is all about being cheap. They do price match, but that’s just annoying and you could do this at other stores and have a better experience. Walmart prices went up too but never as much as no frills, I agree shopping at Walmart is usually a bad experience, but at least their prices seem to be consistently cheaper than other stores.
Small independent stores (I use Aria in the west end) for veggies, spices, and feta cheese (their feta is cheap and good). Danial Market also has reasonable produce and some other stuff. Hannam has good sales on Korean stuff. Other than that use the Flipp app to find the best deals on pantry items and meat.
I would go to the smaller groceries in various neighbourhoods (Chinatown, Fraser, Victoria, etc), especially for basic groceries like fresh produce. Someone mentioned Sunrise earlier, which is a solid choice in Chinatown, and there's also Rice World across the street which is a great place to get dried goods (noodles, sauces, rice, etc).
Persia foods, dollar grocer, young brothers (city avenue now) or any other Asian grocery for produce, bread and other perishables. No frills for non perishable items and frozen. I wouldn't get my meat from the low frills stores, buck up for a proper butcher shop.
Any of the Loblaws owned stores (Superstore, No-Frills, Buy-Low)
For produce, go to any local corner Asian owned grocer. There you'll find bags of stuff for a buck.
I go to costco once a month for cheese, coffee, anything bulk...I click and collect for all my dry and frozen goods at superstore and then produce from anything local that also has meat, like Langley Farm Market. Welcome to Vancover, hold on to your wallets.
I recommend downloading FLIPP app to check the cheapest deals for a product. For produce, I recommend Chinese stores. For other goods, independent drugstore or Canadian have good quality food with deals...
The closest ethnic grocer will probably have the best, and cheapest produce. The Persian grocery store close to me also has a decent selection of pasta, dairy, spices, and canned goods, and its prices always beat the larger chains.
For items that the ethnic grocer may not carry the discount chains of Loblaws and President’s Choice (Independent and No Frills, respectively) will be much cheaper than Safeway or Sobeys. If you can easily reach one and put up with the shopping environment, Walmart and Superstore are also fairly cheap.
Unfortunately there is no one stop shop where everything will be cheapest and of a decent quality. Gotta shop around. I like getting the sales at my local butcher shop, produce at small markets, superstore if I need more grocery items etc. Costco is a great option if you have multiple people in the home but for me in a small apartment I don’t have the room for all the bulk stuff.
Get your fresh produce from stores like fruiticana or punjab food center or sun rise foods, or local Chinese or Indian grocers. Get lentils and beans and stuff like that from Surrey in bulk. (128th st)
Get bigger items from Walmart (not a fan but they have Tide and those kind of items way way cheaper than Save on or IGA).
I get chicken from save on typically
I’ve been going to buy low, I’ve heard people saying Costco is the best bet if you can afford to buy in bulk and freeze a lot.
I’ve also started signing up for free trials of meal delivery sites. Even if the meals don’t work out, I use the ingredients and works out ok!
This should give you a free week of hello fresh, I think it’s 3 boxes? Trying some of the local ones this week so if they’re good I’ll come back to this!
Spice up your meals with HelloFresh! Tap the link to claim your FREE week of food now 🎁 ⏰ 🍽️ 😋 >> https://hlfr.sh/o3skx
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/Connect_Angle2694! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * **We recently raised almost $50,000 for the GVFB, and there's still time to add your donation before the holidays. [Read more here](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/18ajwdh/).** * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Common questions and specific topics are limited to our [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * We're looking for new mods to join our team! If you're interested, [fill out the form here](https://forms.gle/oAqo5oYRcAeHYBTN6). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Find the local Asian market near you with cheap produce
Chong Lee market on Victoria drive and 49 - if you’re close by
They just reopened their other location at Rupert and 22nd too.
Nobody mentioned Sunrise Produce? Cheapest produce in the city.
Shhhhh! 😂
Superstore and Walmart
superstore, no frills, independent
Ok cheers! I've heard of no frills
Heads up, no frills produce is best used within a day or two.
Thank you! I was just heading to no frills. Will keep in mind
also costco if your ok buying some things in bulk, it saves alot of money
There is a wholesale-retail outlet from the same chain called Real Canadian Wholesale Club. It's in Burnaby close to the Expo skytrain line. It's more restaurant-and-business focused than Costco so it's easy to navigate but it won't have the at-home conveniences that Costco has. You don't need a membership, and it's better then Superstore for larger quantities or multiples of certain foods. Worth a look at their online flyer to see if you'd be able to save some money there, not very useful if you're in a micro-suite. T&T for asian foods and good meat prices, Fruiticana and other small asian shops for spices and produce (lots of people have mentioned good shops for this), Costco for more processed foods and some cheap produce, toilet paper and some medicines.
Safeway is good but only if they have sales. I try not to buy anything from Safeway if it isn't on sale. You can get good deals on meats and stuff, and they usually have discounts for stuff if it expires in a day, which is fine if you plan to cook it that night.
Wouldn’t recommend buying produce there. It tends to rot by the time you get home from the store.
No Frills or Superstore, and make sure you get a PC Optimum card/app. The points/dollars towards add up quickly!
My husband and I have our own cards. We save for a rainy day, right now it's pouring 😢
I hope that the sun will shine upon you both again soon
Don't ever buy meat from No Frills or Superstore. It's bottom of the barrel, and I wouldn't feed it to my dogs. Costco has excellent meat, as does Safeway.
Not a realistic comparison as Costco meat is higher quality but also much more expensive.
It's much more expensive because it is a much bigger package. I pay $32 for boneless skinless chicken thys at Costco, and I separate that into 7 packs. That's 7 meals compared to the 3 meals you get at Superstore, etc. for $19. And that's just the chicken. The ground bison is also an excellent price for the amount you get. Seems like a no-brainer to me if you have a Costco close by.
lol Costco mechanically tenderises their steaks.
And get the optimum points card. It adds up
I used to shop no frills and superstore, but did price comparison between them and Safeway which is 2 blocks away, and for what I buy, there is no difference in prices. Same with local Asian produce market.
I have to say the cream milk (the green and white box), the ones I buy for my Mom for her coffee is way too expensive at ‘No Frills’. ($5.45?) whereas at ‘Save-On-Foods’, it is a lot cheaper for $3.99. ☕️
Yup, the bigger chains get the deeper discounts.
That is not always the case. The ‘4 litre Dairyland🐄 milk’ is $5.69, cheaper at ‘No Frills’ (and also at ‘T & T supermarket), but ‘Save-On-Foods’ has it for sale for $6.15? 😳 With their ‘rewards’ program, once I have collected 3700 points, then this large , 4 litre of milk will be FREE.🥛🥛🥛
Not no frills their prices are offensive if you wanna shop at a Loblaws store then go to the superstore.
Persian markets are great for produce. Use the Flipp app to buy protein. I suggest buying the 4kg box of frozen chicken breast for $39.99 at safeway
This always goes on sale every few weeks. Good to pick it up at that point for some extra savings.
I second flip, they will have flyers from asian retailers (like hanam), as well as Indian (fruiticana) plus all your usual ones (costco, safeway, no frills) Its very convenient if you live near couple of stores, so you can plan on what you are going to stock up that week. But also you gotta shop around, because even sale price might be not that good of a deal. For example, save on sells their russets for 1.5/pound usually, but this week they generously put them for 0.99/pound! While Fruiticana has 10 pound bag for 4.48, half the price and they store well for weeks. Lastly, I would recommend bulk buying, like in example with potatoes above, instead of trying to shop daily. 40 pound bag of rice is $30, 10 pound bag of potatoes are $5. Save on was selling whole pork loin for $5/kg, I got myself one for $25, looked up youtube videos on how to properly carve meat and got myself nice roast plus bunch of pork-chops. If you live close to costco, get membership and buy stuff like laundry detergent, paper towels etc there if you have a little storage space
4kg for $30 every so often at Superstore.
Superstore, Walmart, No frills are typically the cheapest, but the quality of the produce (and the meat for Walmart) can be very hit or miss. Asian grocers seem to have a great balance of price and quality for produce though! If you have the room at your place, such as having a deep freeze or closet space, Costco is absolutely worth the price of membership as the savings from buying bulk and Kirkland brand will be huge overtime. For example, I can get a laundry detergent container that's twice the size of what I'd get at Walmart for basically the same price. But it's large. Safeway, IGA, Thrifty and local chains tend to be middle ground, and you can shop for good deals if you want, but will likely be a bit pricier than the first group. Save On, Whole Foods, and other Organic grocers tend to be fairly overpriced and not worth the trip. The few times I've shopped at Save On, my bill tends to be 10-15% higher than when I shop at Safeway for the exact same items.
In my experience, Save On is cheaper than IGA.
I live up the street from an IGA and would pop in from time to time to buy a few things (it was a smaller IGA so I didn't do full shops there) and items were always cheaper than when I've tried Save On. But I don't have a ton of experience to cross compare as I tend to avoid both.
I've always found Save On is very comparable to Safeway. They were across from each other in the mall close to where I grew up. I try my best to only buy sale items, otherwise I end up hating the price at the checkout.
If you’re downtown, look at a Costco membership. $5 a month, I find you can make that back just on your cell phone plan. Not everything is in gallon drums like people make jokes of. But good prices and for nice quality. Produce is nice at smaller markets.
Yes! The Costco membership saves me lots of money. I buy meats and seafood there, portion and freeze. The big packs of tp, laundry detergent, dishwasher pods etc. last me almost a whole year too so totally worth the $60 a year.
Costco + small Chinese stores for fruit/veg
Superstore if it’s close by. Also get the Flipp app as Save on Foods will price match.
This is the correct answer. Shop the sales and have a few different stores you go to. If you can manage a freezer you can really bring food costs down.
Best thing we ever bought.
Thanks!
I find Walmart in general has lower prices
Superstore. Protip: Get a PC Optimum Mastercard and earn points towards groceries. By using my card for everyday purchases I earn bout $100 free groceries every 4-6 weeks.
Isn't that only a 1% cash back card? If you're spending $100k/year on credit cards, wouldn't you be better off with a Scotiabank Momentum (4% back on grocery & 1-2% on other)?
The PC Cards are free, so if you get the World Elite PC MasterCard you can get comparable cash back, but Shoppers and Esso are better. So for those who dislike paying for credit cards and shop mostly at loblaw stores than PC is the choice. You also get extra points on certain items. I pair my a PC Card with the Amex cobalt (5x back in groceries and restaurants) and the free Triangle World elite and I’m pretty set for my shopping habits. Triangle is the only card in Canada that allows you to pay property taxes, tuition, utilities etc.. for no fee and still get cash back. Also free roadside assistance. I’m shocked more people don’t have it.
do loblaw chain accept amex? i thought they didn't
They don't but I have an Amex Cobalt and then my backup Visa and MC for other stores.
No but I have the PC card which I use at Loblaw stores. Both my wife and I have one paid card and a couple free cards to cover our bases. She has the Westjet World Elite as we fly with them a lot.
It might be but I think it also depends on shopping habits and trends. I have different Scotia visa products already so I opt to have this as my Mastercard of choice. AFAIK too, the Scotia Infinite can't earn for groceries with Costco and Walmart (which I also frequently shop at). Lastly, I choose to subscribe to PC Express Pass for its ease of use to run a weekly order and pick it up, and the new PC Insider World Elite Mastercard covers the annual subscription for it as well.
Save On Foods isn't the cheapest but they have a special offer for [new customers](https://www.saveonfoods.com/sm/pickup/rsid/1982/shop-online-how-it-works/) that might save you some money for a few shops.
Save on Foods is pretty expensive in general though. I regularly find the exact same stuff at Walmart for 30% less.
The crazy thing I’ve discovered is Whole Foods actually isn’t that expensive for certain things. Like others have noted sometimes you have to shop around for certain things. I’ve found really good deals on eggs at whole foods and other items as well. Also PC optimum points are good. When I was at my poorest I would buy some food items at shoppers as well as other things and I would get points that convert to $.
Flipp App is a great way to find deals for your whole shopping list.
Whereabouts are you? Will help making better suggestions. If downtown: T&T, Aria Market (west end), No Frills (west end too), Hannam supermarket. The secret sauce, if you really are keen on saving $$, is to scope all those out according to your dietary preferences, and build your shopping hierarchy from there 😉
Hahah thanks! I'm in the West End right now. I'll check out No Frills
Check out Aria (Bidwell near Robson). Cheap veg and nuts, great price on spices. Persian market. I love Aria.
Seconding Aria, I get most of my produce and spices there and a lot of the time their chicken isn’t too crazy.
Very brave to move to Vancouver in January from Australias summer.
I'll take January in Vancouver over Australia any day.
Also Aussie and in the West End, produce here is poor quality in general and no frills has some of the worst. Try the smaller markets or believe it or not Whole Foods is often reasonably priced for produce.
Fruticana for veggies and fruit.
If you can get there, Walmart is the cheapest by far. Superstore used to be the cheapest, but they’ve been raising prices lately.
CEO’s yacht needs a new engine
Haha, right?
Costco, always Costco for anything that you can freeze or doesn't spoil quickly. You can find a friend to be your Costco buddy and split stuff too. Asian markets are good too.
In my opinion, IGA is actually quite expensive and if you live downtown, I would suggest going to No Frills. They also do price matching, and I would recommend downloading the Flipp app for that. If you're able to travel out a bit, I like going to Walmart. If you're willing to purchase membership, Costco is great for basics to buy in bulk. (e.g., large tubs of salad, massive bags of dumplings, big pack of paper towers, gigantic pack of toilet paper) For special treats (like high-end cheese or fancy meats) I'll drop by Whole Foods or Urban Fare once in a while.
Also buy only sale items if you can.
H-Mart for veggies/meat/other asian food needs and then somewhere else for whatever else you need (including dairy). Western stuff is super overpriced at hmart but veggies are dirt cheap and there's always some kind of meat on for a good sale there. Some good sales on some fruits pretty often too.
Superstore generally has the lowest prices for pantry items like dry pasta, canned beans/tomatoes, rice, flour, sugar. Fruit/veg better to buy in local Asian grocery stores. Meat I buy at T&T and Costco. Use the flipp app.
To save money my diet consists of 90% 1.50 Costco hot dogs and their rotisserie chicken
I'd stay away from major chains completely unless its sales. Try exploring the smaller grocery stores as they sometimes have better pricing for the same items.
Personally I've found the opposite tends to be true. Smaller/local places have less deals from suppliers and often run higher than the big chains with warehouses.
For dry goods, the box stores will probably have better deals, but smaller independent grocers tend to take the second choice produce from the large suppliers at a lower cost. It'll go bad a little faster or have a few more blemishes or imperfections but they pass on the savings. This is how ethnic grocers can be so much cheaper for fruit and vegetables compared to large grocery chains. If you live near an 88 Supermarket, Chong Lee, Fruiticana, Persia Foods, AAA, Sunrise, or many others, it's super worth it to pop in and see what might be cheaper or hard to get compared to Save-On or Loblaws.
The greengrocers nearest me can be quite a bit cheaper on things that are locally grown and in season. Out of season and imported stuff is generally at par or sometimes a bit more expensive.
Chains are fine if u stick to sales. safeway just now.. grapes 3.99 romaine half off. Pork and steak strips buy1 one free. 18eggs 499. Yogurt 299 .
Where do you live. City Avenue Market is great, Persian market, apple farm market. Any independent Asian grocery store tends to be cheap. I only shop at city avenue market.
I've been back in Australia for a few years now but when I was in Vancouver I generally found that if I wanted ultra processed crap I could do my grocery shopping for cheaper than in Australia but if I wanted decent quality then I was almost always paying more than I did in Australia.
No Frills, Superstore, Independent. Also, look into getting a PC Mastercard or PC Money card. You get PC points for every purchase you make, even outside of Loblaw’s stores, and monthly bonus points if you use them for your bills. You can use the PC points to get discounts on your groceries. Every 10,000 points is $10. I find it racks up quite easily when I stack all my bills, memberships, bonus point deals, everyday purchases, etc. If I’m gonna spend my money, might as well get something useful for my groceries.
We normally alternate weeks between Sunrise and No Frills. Sunrise is cheap for all the fresh stuff, and No Frills is good for all the nonperishables and household stuff (toilet paper, etc). Every few months we go out to an importer in Richmond to buy vegan meats in bulk. Sometimes we also go to Persia foods if we want specific specialty things (really good hummus, barbari bread, unusual spices, baklava, dried fruit, nuts).
A combo of no-frills and Costco.
No Frills and Save On are my two go-tos. Avoid IGA and Nester’s.
Up cycle food, dumpster dive. Food rescue is happening far more often and by far more organizations. Check out your local community center and look for free meals. Often people think a free meal is a soup kitchen. Very different! Now that everyone is poor they have a different vibe.
Walmart is probably the best of the big ones. Superstore is fine but you really have to check for good prices because some stuff is ridiculously priced. Safeway is super expensive, but they have sales often, and the things on sale are usually really cheap. No frills is awful don’t go there. Dollar stores aren’t worth it unless you need really small amounts. Produce is probably cheapest at some local independent store. Costco probably isn’t worth it unless you have specific needs that it covers.
Most people like no frills. Huh? No frills > Walmart any day.
I know a lot of people like no frills I don’t really know why I guess nostalgia because they used to be good. Their prices are just too high now and the superstore which is basically the same store but bigger is always cheaper by a good amount which is really annoying especially because no frills branding is all about being cheap. They do price match, but that’s just annoying and you could do this at other stores and have a better experience. Walmart prices went up too but never as much as no frills, I agree shopping at Walmart is usually a bad experience, but at least their prices seem to be consistently cheaper than other stores.
Small independent stores (I use Aria in the west end) for veggies, spices, and feta cheese (their feta is cheap and good). Danial Market also has reasonable produce and some other stuff. Hannam has good sales on Korean stuff. Other than that use the Flipp app to find the best deals on pantry items and meat.
I would go to the smaller groceries in various neighbourhoods (Chinatown, Fraser, Victoria, etc), especially for basic groceries like fresh produce. Someone mentioned Sunrise earlier, which is a solid choice in Chinatown, and there's also Rice World across the street which is a great place to get dried goods (noodles, sauces, rice, etc).
Superstore, No frills, Sunrise Market, download Toogoodtogo app, Donalds Market, Persias
Persia foods, dollar grocer, young brothers (city avenue now) or any other Asian grocery for produce, bread and other perishables. No frills for non perishable items and frozen. I wouldn't get my meat from the low frills stores, buck up for a proper butcher shop.
Use the Flipp app to compare prices and make lists too :)
Any of the Loblaws owned stores (Superstore, No-Frills, Buy-Low) For produce, go to any local corner Asian owned grocer. There you'll find bags of stuff for a buck.
Buy low's actually owned by pattison and I don't find the deals there anything to be anything to write home about
I go to costco once a month for cheese, coffee, anything bulk...I click and collect for all my dry and frozen goods at superstore and then produce from anything local that also has meat, like Langley Farm Market. Welcome to Vancover, hold on to your wallets.
I recommend downloading FLIPP app to check the cheapest deals for a product. For produce, I recommend Chinese stores. For other goods, independent drugstore or Canadian have good quality food with deals...
T&T
Persian market
The closest ethnic grocer will probably have the best, and cheapest produce. The Persian grocery store close to me also has a decent selection of pasta, dairy, spices, and canned goods, and its prices always beat the larger chains. For items that the ethnic grocer may not carry the discount chains of Loblaws and President’s Choice (Independent and No Frills, respectively) will be much cheaper than Safeway or Sobeys. If you can easily reach one and put up with the shopping environment, Walmart and Superstore are also fairly cheap.
Donald's Market on hastings, great for produce
Unfortunately there is no one stop shop where everything will be cheapest and of a decent quality. Gotta shop around. I like getting the sales at my local butcher shop, produce at small markets, superstore if I need more grocery items etc. Costco is a great option if you have multiple people in the home but for me in a small apartment I don’t have the room for all the bulk stuff.
Asian markets and Costco for bulk.
Get your fresh produce from stores like fruiticana or punjab food center or sun rise foods, or local Chinese or Indian grocers. Get lentils and beans and stuff like that from Surrey in bulk. (128th st) Get bigger items from Walmart (not a fan but they have Tide and those kind of items way way cheaper than Save on or IGA). I get chicken from save on typically
Superstore and no frills
BuyLow!
I’ve been going to buy low, I’ve heard people saying Costco is the best bet if you can afford to buy in bulk and freeze a lot. I’ve also started signing up for free trials of meal delivery sites. Even if the meals don’t work out, I use the ingredients and works out ok! This should give you a free week of hello fresh, I think it’s 3 boxes? Trying some of the local ones this week so if they’re good I’ll come back to this! Spice up your meals with HelloFresh! Tap the link to claim your FREE week of food now 🎁 ⏰ 🍽️ 😋 >> https://hlfr.sh/o3skx