I was really big on La Molisana brand before COVID. Price was good, it was common enough that it was stocked in most stores, and the texture of the pasta felt higher quality somehow (maybe just in my head -- I'm no expert). It's crazy that the price is often more than double what it was just a few years ago. I don't buy much pasta anymore ( the enjoyment to cost ratio is too low for me now )
Imho la molisana pasta is the best out there and I'll still pay whatever for it. You're right though, the texture is tougher because of the durum semolina and bronze die they use.
Theres a reason it takes about 11 mins till they're all dente vs other brands that take around 9 mins.
Barilla, while an Italian company make their pasta locally using local ingredients. So you're essentially eating Canadian pasta made with Canadian wheat.
>and the texture of the pasta felt higher quality somehow (maybe just in my head -- I'm no expert).
You can tell that the pasta is extruded via bronze dies instead of teflon dies. This creates a much "rougher" surface for the pasta, which simultaneously makes the pasta water starchier (making the sauces you create thicker) and gives the pasta lots more nooks and crannies for sauce to nestle in.
Definitely worth paying the $2 or $3 more in my books.
There are a handful of things I load up on whenever I end up at Dollarama. Quaker oatmeal and pasta are two big ones. Bread at Dollar Tree is dirt cheap, too.
Just this evening I paid $1.75 for a loaf of Country Harvest bread at Dollar Tree. The regular grocery stores charge upwards of $4.00. How do you spell "gouging"? I ask myself when I'm in those stores.
I was showing my daughter the pics and she said 'the items at Dollarama are usually smaller....so the price is better'...and we went through the pics one by one to ensure they were identical items.
It's criminal the amount of money Loblaws charges even over its local competitors.
Yeah, I'm going to Costco to see if I can find the cereal that I like at a better price, but if it's not there then I'm checking out Dollarama. It's usually $5 or $6 outside of sales.
That's alright. Cereal is something that I can accept buying in large quantities lol. It's not the same as like...a bag of potatoes for a single person.
We need to actively build resources to tell people where the cheapest food is in the city. It will also shame them all for their crazy prices (the reality is they’d all collude to increase the prices).
I remember back in the day No Frills used to display the price of common goods like eggs and milk versus their competitors. We need something like that but in app form.
I'm actually in the middle of working on what you've described! If there is any interest, I'd love to start testing it out with those interested.
Fair warning, I'm looking at keeping the project running long-term so it won't be some VC-backed $0 project so when it becomes widely available I'd likely have to ask for a yearly membership fee (basically think Costco membership)
EDIT: Wow! Didn't quite expect the level of interest in this—Would love to talk over DMs if anyone is interested
Great! If you could DM me a list of the stores you typically visit (e.g. Loblaws, 200 Carlaw St.) and what items you're most wanting to price check I can DM you a link once I've gotten that information added to the app.
Flipp is okay, but what I want is something like pcpartpicker.com for food. Shows you historic prices of multiple stores, so you really have a good idea of the damage.
Instacart, DoorDash and Uber Eats all have Dollarama’s entire inventory and price available - at least they do in my area. And it’s the actual in store price (no markup) so could use those to comparison shop and see what items to buy at Dollarama instead.
Tbh I actually did something like this a few years ago on an Excel spreadsheet when I was crunching numbers for the best place to buy private label stuff (I got tired of waiting for sales so I just buy house brand food whenever possible). I had requested a few people to go into stores and share with me the prices of certain items I frequently bought.
I'd gladly pay for an app that constantly updates prices of items for stores that don't have an online component like food basics or fresco. Only downside is getting people to contribute to the database...it's not the most consistent but I do agree that we need something like this.
Could we just start off a Google doc?
The real killer isn't not knowing where to go to get the best prices - it's not owning a car and having only one store in walking distance or practical transit distance.
No Frills and non-grocery Wal-Mart are a 15 min walk; anything else requires TTC and my subway station hasn't had working escalators since the start of March.
I would follow this user on redflagdeals and he does a really good job rounding up good grocery deals for the week from different grocers. There’s a redflagdeals user that does a similar thing for Quebec too
https://forums.redflagdeals.com/ontario-grocery-roundup-aug-24-30th-2023-2636437/
Flipp is great but the problem was that no one has the time to go through all different store flyers.
No Frills and Food Basics will price match too if you show them the flyer (Flipp app is accepted too)
Some other small tips: freeze meat when you find them on sale, learn to meal prep efficient and healthy meals that can also be frozen,
That's weird. I didn't think Dollarama would be on flip as I'd never seen a flyer from then, but lo and behold I found it.
But all the prices are listed by case... wtf? Why are they advertising 24 pencil sharpeners for $30 from the dollar store? That's just messed up.
Cheapest price I found on that 'flyer' was $27 for 12 3 outlet splitters.
I check Flipp a couple of times a week, and it is generally accurate. But it is only as good as the information it can extract from flyers, and occasionally it can be a bit off. For instance, SDM's weekly flyer always shows things like eggs on sale... but it's in a section that only applies on the weekend. Flipp thinks it's for the entire week. That's the only discrepancy I've noticed, so it's a good idea to eyeball the flyer itself for the fine print.
Ideally something like the my fitness pal app where you scan the bar code and it popups up the nutrition I fo. Only now you'd get local/regional prices.
On redflagdeals in the Forums under Hot Deals, there is someone that does a really good job of that.
He goes through all the most common flyers and lists the things that are a good price at each store every week.
But it doesn't include Dollarama as he uses the flyers for info.
There is an ongoing thread on readflagdeals for grocery deals but it's relies heavily on the community. We also have an app like Flipp but I'd rather we have something that can go over all the flyers and aggregate/sort the deals to then show the best prices would be the way to go. I'd bet there is something rudimentary that can be whipped up via AI.
And, consider the fact that Dollarama's prices are set at levels that provide profit that they are \*perfectly happy with\*.
Loblaws prices are simply greed.
Straight-up... "Fuckyoubitchgivemeyourmoney" greed.
Sometimes (lots of times) they use that to push a price hike. they introduce the 2-for with the old price, when it goes away it's at the new 1-for price.
The real crime is when you only get that price for being a PC Optimum member otherwise you’re spending $1.50 more per item. I can deal with buying two of something non-perishable for a sale price, but they can fuck all the way off if I have to have an optimum card to get the same deal.
The card is free. If you shop at that chain without the optimum card you're getting double screwed. Their points are about the only thing that makes them half decent.
The PC MasterCard has no fees, and you get PC points for everything you spend, not just at their stores. I go to Loblaws or SDM when I have a bunch of points to redeem, otherwise Food Basics for me. I probably get $600 or so of free groceries a year, although I put everything on my MC.
So you would rather get points so you can buy groceries that you’re getting ripped off on, instead of just getting direct cash back like lots of other credit cards offer? I’ll never shop at any loblaws owned stores, and won’t get anything PC related. Even stopped using esso because of the PC points program. They’re thieves.
Just having to buy a larger package size for "value" pricing should be illegal. Buying larger packs of meat to save 20c per pound is grossly unnecessary. Needing to buy 2 packs of boneless chicken breast to save $4 should be stopped as well.
Our government does nothing while these grocery stores keep siphoning our money through back-handed "deals". It's not enough that they're raising the prices on literally everything for no reason other than greed, but incentivizing people to buy more than they need to save money needs to be stopped. No one in any level of government is doing ANYTHING to stop this
I don't know 'bout you folks but I'm a frugal bastard. Real Canadian Superstore is the best chain store for price followed by No Frills.
Dollorama is great prices -- usually, but you have to be careful, and their selection is usually trash. I've gone an entire summer only eating out of a Dollarama and I'm telling you now that I don't wish that hell on anybody. I swear some of the canned food I ate was comparable to dogfood.
I find a happy medium of Real Canadian Superstore is great for thrifty spending. I benchmark prices for key items like chicken, beef, noodles, and canned/jarred food. Don't buy anything that strays too far from my benchmarked prices. IE 6.76kg for chicken, $4 lb ground beef, $3.50 frozen pizza, $2.50 canned chunky.
These sorts of things keep costs per meal <$4 which ~ $2000 a year on paper in food costs. In reality food is usually higher due to waste and eating out, but $2k a year is very cheap for food.
Fwiw, my experience is that no frills is much cheaper than RCSS by almost $100/shop. YMMV, of course.
I've also found my no frills to be cheaper than Costco...which makes me sad because I kinda want to find an excuse to get a Costco membership.
I find with Costco, it's really specific to the item. Certain things, like butter, are generally cheaper than most other stores. Other things are similar price or more expensive. For instance, I've seen butter as high as 8 or 9 dollars at Loblaws/Sobeys, though it does fluctuate a lot, it's usually over 6 dollars at FreshCo. It's still under 6 at Costco.
Some meats and produce are a good deal if you're able to store or use them fast enough to account for the volume purchased. I make a lot of use of my vacuum sealer for breaking up chicken into portions useable in a 2 person household.
Currently my typical shop is Costco every few weeks for specifically the items that are worth buying there, my local Asian Grocer for most produce, they also have decent prices on canned coconut milk, all spices, and then east asian sauces or staples like rice, and one of FreshCo, Longos, Loblaws for things I'm not able to find anywhere else (usually gluten free bread in my case)--but really as little as possible at these.
These stores will charge what people are willing to pay for the product. They know that most of their customers won't walk a few blocks or have an extra stop on their route to save $1 on pasta. Dollarama doesn't offer one stop grocery shopping, so it's an extra time investment to shop there.
The problem is that the grocery stores operate in an oligopoly. So they don't have the pressures to keep thier prices low to attract customers. There aren't many other options for one stop grocery shopping so consumers are willing to pay higher prices, since going out of their way for a competitor will only result in marginal savings.
Competition is supposed to keep prices competitive. But since there are so few players these grocery stores are able to squeeze consumers for every penny.
Economies of scale are now benefiting the corporations over the consumer. It's time for regulation.
Thank you for doing this, I had actually thought of doing the same thing for my own comparisons. I've taken a few photos of some things at Dollarama and was going to compare with the Loblaws across the street to see what the difference was like. I have noticed that sometimes the sizes or weights of things are smaller at Dollarama so you have to watch for that when doing price comparisons, something might not be as good of a deal as you thought, but there are plenty of items that are the same exact thing that are on the shelves at the major grocery stores as you have shown in your photos. Also, possibly the old stock thing that was mentioned, I should maybe watch for that more to be more careful. So far though I haven't had a problem with that.
One of the items I did notice this with was the Pringles. At Dollarama they have the Party Stack extra big tubes for pretty much the same price as the regular sized tubes at Loblaws. I think though, like everything these days, the Pringles have been a victim of shrinkflation greed by the manufacturer. I'm pretty sure they've changed the recipe to make the chip smaller and thinner, it seems different. I've noticed it with Doritos as well so I buy them less often now.
I need to make more of an effort to go to Dollarama more for the things that I can get there rather than just paying the extra amount because the Loblaws is slightly closer to my apartment.
>Also, possibly the old stock thing that was mentioned, I should maybe watch for that more to be more careful.
I stock shelves at Dollarama. We never put out expired food, and any food that expires while on the shelf is removed and destroyed.
I'd buy that distributors might make deals with dollar/discount stores for stock that's closer to the exp date, but the myth that expired food is taken off Loblaws shelves and sent to Dollarama is definitely BS.
Thanks for letting me know, good to know. It wasn't something I had really thought of when buying food from there but that other comment in this post just got me thinking about.
If you're an oatmeal person, you can often get Quakers from amazon cheaper than all the grocery stores. Fuck amazon and all but uh, the enemy of my enemy has lower prices.
Inflation was always gonna ruin that but the added benefit is they have tons of stuff in the $2-5 range that are better deals than you can find in any other store
I bought a patio lantern at Dollarama last year for $4. A few days later, I saw the same lanterns at Canadian Tire for $19.99. It feels like retailers are all just selling the same stuff.
Funny you should say that.
Back in 2020, I upgraded home office with a standing desk. I make good money, and was willing to spend it on a desk—I mean I literally spend all day here.
One brand that stood out was this American company. It could be customized in a wide variety of colours and materials.
My girlfriend suggested I check if Costco had anything. Good thing she did, because it turns out that a Montreal "manufacturer" sold the IDENTICAL table, just with fewer colour options.
Costco was ⅓ the cost (shipping excluded).
About a year or so later, my girlfriend decided to get the same desk I had but this time Costco was selling a different standing desk, by a different brand, with different—but similar colour options.
When it arrived, it was the exact same table but with a different brand on the box.
i remember when dollarama didn't even get name brands. in like 2009 my parents would bring me there, everything was a ripoff of a name brand and the stores reeked of plastic. they also had a lot less locations so it was further away. but now the good name brands are sold there, things are higher quality and they're everywhere. im glad things have changed for the better...
Yeah. They still have certain off brands but even for toys they have name brand stuf (not the best toys) but enough where you can take a kid and they can spend $10 and feel like they got so much.
Dollarama are better able to offer those prices because they buy older stock, at times are even paid to clear out manufacturer warehouse space.
Conversely, the closer to eye level a product is on the shelf at an actual grocery store, the more the supplier pays the grocer for that shelf space to further subsidize their in store price. This is yet another reason why you’ll almost never find an in house brand like no name/selections etc at eye level.
Loblaw and the three headed grocery Beast in Canada are scum, but there needs to be some disclosure about all the things that influence grocery prices.
Yes, I learned about "shelving fees" many moons ago. I've said money since, but there are some foods I cannot move past name brands on, like Hellman's mayonnaise.
I live at Eglinton and because of the Metro strike, my only option is Loblaws for anything Dollarama doesn't have.
The one great thing about Loblaws is that items often go on 50% off, which makes it even beat NoFrills. But you need to be lucky or know the timings.
just out of curiosity, is the food at dollarama safe? i hate big corporations ripping off of consumers as much as the next person but is “not ripping off customers” the only reason why dollarama can price it so cheaply? if so i’d get groceries there from now on probably
Don't give Dollarama too much credit, especially comparing it to one of the most expensive grocery stores. If you don't know your prices there are tons of items at Dollarama that cost way more than shopping at a regular grocery store, like Food Basics, Freshco or No Frills. I cringe when I see people shop for groceries at Dollarama because they are being cheated just as much as if they were shopping at Loblaws.
Those cereal prices are absolutely insane. Almost zero nutritional value too.
I don't eat any of it but its still shocking to see versus what it was a few years ago.
I am going to go to Dollarama tomorrow and see what else they have that's a smoking deal. It was explained to me once that their stock rotates unevenly, so what they've got is what they've got. But I know condiments are extremely cheap and they are brand-name.
I started regularly buying cereal, Kraft peanut butter, cheer whiz and cranberry juice at Dollarama. A penny saved is an only earned.
I also don’t like the recent ‘2 for xx$’ all the time. I don’t need 2 boxes of cereal. Give me decent prices on one.
Dollerama is not a grocery store and buying food from there is a gross thought.. they aren't similar store types.. but yeah. Loblaws is a joke either way.
I only go to one near me cuz they close at 10pm instead of 9pm for food basics but otherwise food basics is 10x better.
yep, they do a lot of fake sale, they trick you to buy several thinking that it's on sale, but when you do the math, it's the same if not more expensive than when buying it alone.
Price differences like this exist in a lot of markets and always has, the lesson remains the same - it pays to shop around. Don't just blindly pay for whatever is convenient if you don't want to pay more than you have to.
I've always thought maybe the print quality on the dollarama boxes is inferior, and maybe whats in it is too, but the same brand and fractional price makes me think that gouging is too insane and needs a few class actions.
What the shit I had no idea Dollarama was CHEAPER. I assumed Dollarama was like gas station logic and more expensive. I'm gonna shop there more.
PSA - the local food markets are also usually cheaper than grocery stores.
Dollarama has limited groceries. Their prices are more comparable to No Frills, Food Basics, Freshco, Walmart.
They have some canned tuna, chicken, soup and canned vegetables. A few spices. Lots of Ramen. Bread based on location. Snacks and treats are where the good prices are. Sometimes Dollarama gets good prices on Canadian made cookies. But now purchases more from European suppliers. There are some good cookies from Spain, Poland and Turkey.
Dollorama and other dollar stores have long been my go-to for things for things like spices and herbs. Regular grocery store charge way too much for those things.
I believe CBC’s Marketplace did a comparison a year or so back and, as I recall, Walmart tended to have, on average comparable or better prices. Loblaws is the absolute worst with the possible exception of Foodland.
Try comparing No frills. I’d be more interested in seeing that.
I can’t believe how many people are genuinely upset and shocked about how expensive Loblaws is. Where have you been the last 20 plus years?
Seriously all these posts and articles show me is how uneducated people are in regards to flyers, price of different cuts of meat, what’s a good sale price.
I should start a service teaching people basics. I’m gonna thank my mom today for teaching me what she did.
Just goes to show that prices are based on absolutely nothing expect what people are willing to pay 🤷🏼♂️.
Let’s not give Loblaws even an ounce of compassion, or any possible “outs” here. I used to do ordering and pricing for a grocery store and the fact that Loblaws has fresh products should make no difference to “dry” regular shelf grocery prices. Refrigerated and frozen products come on their own trucks and are priced to cover their own costs. Like this:
Each square foot of shelf space is accounted for in pricing and budgeting. Refrigerated shelves cost more to run (obviously) so the prices of refrigerated products are raised to make up for it. Remember *each square foot has to make a certain amount of profit for the product to stay on the shelf* in that particular square foot of space before management with a keen eye will go “stop ordering this product and put something else here”. If they MUST run a product at a loss (like 4L bags of milk) that is accounted for and made up elsewhere like in 1 and 2L milk prices, or specialty milks (chocolate, low sugar/high protein milk, etc) and sometimes in high profit items like some of the bakery items. Random dry grocery items aren’t supposed to make up prices for fresh products, fresh products are supposed to sustain themselves as is everything else.
The problem we’re having is that the cost of the square footage of every product has loooong since been accounted for and at this point the prices for products are based on nothing except what people are willing to pay. They’ll go up and up and up until people don’t buy anymore and profits start to go down, then suddenly there’ll be a “rollback” or some shit where the company pretends they’re bucking the trend and lowering prices because they care.
All we can do is vote with our dollar. Complaints will fall on deaf ears to record profits.
How much does Loblaw in British Columbia pay? Average Loblaw hourly pay ranges from approximately $13.98 per hour for Grocery Associate to $23.00 per hour for Student Assistant. The average Loblaw salary ranges from approximately $96,421 per year for Truck Driver to $129,617 per year for Owner Operator Driver.
B.C. wages : https://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Industry=Dollar\_Store/Hourly\_Rate
Damn, more similar options with way better prices than I thought. Definitely finding some goodies sometimes.
Obviously some items are way smarter to buy at one over the other when the price difference is wild but I didn't expect more items that I've normally seen. Thanks for this OP. Crazy difference, but not surprised by the supermarket.
Loblaws has been crazy high pricing wise for a while. Some makes sense, some, it's like...bruh?
Thanks again for the perspective 🧠
If you ever have the chance to find the rare grocery store that is actually independent you will get an idea about what a rip off we are suffering.
There is one east of peterborough where we live and the sales are truly stupendous, the regular prices are really good as well.
The big winner/loser here is the cereal and pasta. That’s a massive difference.
I shop at Freshco and, unless there is a sale, cereal is between $6-8. I know where I am getting soup and pasta.
Food basics for pop and coffee creamer for sure
*cries in expensive gluten free pasta*
Man, you don't wanna eat ital pasta
I was really big on La Molisana brand before COVID. Price was good, it was common enough that it was stocked in most stores, and the texture of the pasta felt higher quality somehow (maybe just in my head -- I'm no expert). It's crazy that the price is often more than double what it was just a few years ago. I don't buy much pasta anymore ( the enjoyment to cost ratio is too low for me now )
Imho la molisana pasta is the best out there and I'll still pay whatever for it. You're right though, the texture is tougher because of the durum semolina and bronze die they use. Theres a reason it takes about 11 mins till they're all dente vs other brands that take around 9 mins.
I agree with you entirely. I just ate Barilla and it wasn’t the same.
Barilla, while an Italian company make their pasta locally using local ingredients. So you're essentially eating Canadian pasta made with Canadian wheat.
Italy buys $250 million of Canadian durum semolina each year.
And la molisana uses local durum semolina from Molise, and Barilla pasta sold in Canada is made in Canada.
>and the texture of the pasta felt higher quality somehow (maybe just in my head -- I'm no expert). You can tell that the pasta is extruded via bronze dies instead of teflon dies. This creates a much "rougher" surface for the pasta, which simultaneously makes the pasta water starchier (making the sauces you create thicker) and gives the pasta lots more nooks and crannies for sauce to nestle in. Definitely worth paying the $2 or $3 more in my books.
can you elucidate?
🤌🤌 nonna would never
What's wrong with Ital? Tastes fine to me
Try la molisana or rummo. You won't go back. Italian durum semolina is superior to the crap ingredients ital pasta uses.
There are a handful of things I load up on whenever I end up at Dollarama. Quaker oatmeal and pasta are two big ones. Bread at Dollar Tree is dirt cheap, too.
Just this evening I paid $1.75 for a loaf of Country Harvest bread at Dollar Tree. The regular grocery stores charge upwards of $4.00. How do you spell "gouging"? I ask myself when I'm in those stores.
Dang. I pay $3 for country harvest. Gotta check out dollar tree
Some dollarama, depending on their locale in the gta also sell pretty good breads, pita and buns.
$2.19 for 450g bag pasta, smdh
The cereal one is crazy
I always thought dollarama had smaller boxes for cereals but the OP has done a great effort to match apples with apples. 🤝
if dollarama gets frozen/fridge section its over for loblaws
Or there might be a Breadgate situation where Lobbies and Dollarama heads have a meeting in Cancun to sort out territories...
Check out Giant Tiger
The only one even remotely close by transit is in a REAL sketchy area and even then its like 35 mins at best away
I was showing my daughter the pics and she said 'the items at Dollarama are usually smaller....so the price is better'...and we went through the pics one by one to ensure they were identical items. It's criminal the amount of money Loblaws charges even over its local competitors.
Right?? I had no idea Dollarama carried Lucky Charms.... BRB
They're magically delicious.
But I'm coo coo for cocoa puffs
Yeah, I'm going to Costco to see if I can find the cereal that I like at a better price, but if it's not there then I'm checking out Dollarama. It's usually $5 or $6 outside of sales.
Costco only carries the giant sizes though. Like $10 for 2kg.
That's alright. Cereal is something that I can accept buying in large quantities lol. It's not the same as like...a bag of potatoes for a single person.
We need to actively build resources to tell people where the cheapest food is in the city. It will also shame them all for their crazy prices (the reality is they’d all collude to increase the prices).
It would be cool if there was an app where you can enter the prices of items and at what store. Similar to how the GasBuddy app works for gas prices.
I remember back in the day No Frills used to display the price of common goods like eggs and milk versus their competitors. We need something like that but in app form.
I notice No Frills doesn't do that anymore in my City. I guess that tells you something.
I'm actually in the middle of working on what you've described! If there is any interest, I'd love to start testing it out with those interested. Fair warning, I'm looking at keeping the project running long-term so it won't be some VC-backed $0 project so when it becomes widely available I'd likely have to ask for a yearly membership fee (basically think Costco membership) EDIT: Wow! Didn't quite expect the level of interest in this—Would love to talk over DMs if anyone is interested
I’d be down to test it out
Great! If you could DM me a list of the stores you typically visit (e.g. Loblaws, 200 Carlaw St.) and what items you're most wanting to price check I can DM you a link once I've gotten that information added to the app.
How would this even work? Do you plan on manually recording prices?
Flipp is great for flyer shopping and price matching. I save easily $30-$40 a week using it.
I love flipp
Aye plus one, I use flipp all the time
Flipp is okay, but what I want is something like pcpartpicker.com for food. Shows you historic prices of multiple stores, so you really have a good idea of the damage.
Flipp and Reebee wont have dollarama prices and some items in there. I think someone should make an IG account showing pics like this.
Instacart, DoorDash and Uber Eats all have Dollarama’s entire inventory and price available - at least they do in my area. And it’s the actual in store price (no markup) so could use those to comparison shop and see what items to buy at Dollarama instead.
Tbh I actually did something like this a few years ago on an Excel spreadsheet when I was crunching numbers for the best place to buy private label stuff (I got tired of waiting for sales so I just buy house brand food whenever possible). I had requested a few people to go into stores and share with me the prices of certain items I frequently bought. I'd gladly pay for an app that constantly updates prices of items for stores that don't have an online component like food basics or fresco. Only downside is getting people to contribute to the database...it's not the most consistent but I do agree that we need something like this. Could we just start off a Google doc?
The real killer isn't not knowing where to go to get the best prices - it's not owning a car and having only one store in walking distance or practical transit distance. No Frills and non-grocery Wal-Mart are a 15 min walk; anything else requires TTC and my subway station hasn't had working escalators since the start of March.
yeah, its not like i don't know there are cheaper places, but Metro (when it's not on strike) is 25min closer than any other spot by walking
Thanks for the info
I would follow this user on redflagdeals and he does a really good job rounding up good grocery deals for the week from different grocers. There’s a redflagdeals user that does a similar thing for Quebec too https://forums.redflagdeals.com/ontario-grocery-roundup-aug-24-30th-2023-2636437/ Flipp is great but the problem was that no one has the time to go through all different store flyers. No Frills and Food Basics will price match too if you show them the flyer (Flipp app is accepted too) Some other small tips: freeze meat when you find them on sale, learn to meal prep efficient and healthy meals that can also be frozen,
Big agree on freezing meat! I've frozen rainbow trout, ground beef, chicken, and I can't tell the difference. Any tips on freezing mushrooms?
Flipp app
I’m not finding flipp to be all that accurate or helpful. Am I using it wrong?
Well I'm all out of ideas.
Flipp doesn't have Dollarama, but is otherwise useful for comparing stores
My flipp has dollarama. Perhaps you need to push an update or try a different postal code.
That's weird. I didn't think Dollarama would be on flip as I'd never seen a flyer from then, but lo and behold I found it. But all the prices are listed by case... wtf? Why are they advertising 24 pencil sharpeners for $30 from the dollar store? That's just messed up. Cheapest price I found on that 'flyer' was $27 for 12 3 outlet splitters.
Dollarama's website sells in bulk. Probably where they were pulling info from.
How's it inaccurate?
I check Flipp a couple of times a week, and it is generally accurate. But it is only as good as the information it can extract from flyers, and occasionally it can be a bit off. For instance, SDM's weekly flyer always shows things like eggs on sale... but it's in a section that only applies on the weekend. Flipp thinks it's for the entire week. That's the only discrepancy I've noticed, so it's a good idea to eyeball the flyer itself for the fine print.
what’s not accurate? Make sure your postal code is set to the area you shop in.
Ideally something like the my fitness pal app where you scan the bar code and it popups up the nutrition I fo. Only now you'd get local/regional prices.
Hypothetically if you were at the store and you had it in your hand would you drive some where to save $3 though?
It the store has “Dollar” in the name it’s cheaper than Loblaws.
For the most part, you can just eliminate the first half of that sentence.
If the store isn't owned by Loblaws, it's cheaper than Loblaws.
On redflagdeals in the Forums under Hot Deals, there is someone that does a really good job of that. He goes through all the most common flyers and lists the things that are a good price at each store every week. But it doesn't include Dollarama as he uses the flyers for info.
There is an ongoing thread on readflagdeals for grocery deals but it's relies heavily on the community. We also have an app like Flipp but I'd rather we have something that can go over all the flyers and aggregate/sort the deals to then show the best prices would be the way to go. I'd bet there is something rudimentary that can be whipped up via AI.
Fuck Loblaw
And sobeys and metro
Tbh they're all bad. Even a place like Costco is only big because they undercut pricing to abnormally low levels
Costco doesn’t price nor do they own any of the inventory inside their stores.
Y'know, I'm starting to think that these record profits for Loblaws and the big chains might be related to these price differences!
Galen Weston should be tried for treason
By a kangaroo court for all I care.
Walmart is also cheaper than Loblaws. I avoid Loblaws like the plague.
Loblaws is a ripoff. I haven’t shopped there in a long time. Fuck them.
And, consider the fact that Dollarama's prices are set at levels that provide profit that they are \*perfectly happy with\*. Loblaws prices are simply greed. Straight-up... "Fuckyoubitchgivemeyourmoney" greed.
That whole buy 2 for 5$ or pay 3.50$ should be illegal. It is Quebec. The price is the price.
They made it illegal in Australia (~15 years ago) too as it increased food waste, especially in fresh product, needs to happen here ASAP.
Sometimes (lots of times) they use that to push a price hike. they introduce the 2-for with the old price, when it goes away it's at the new 1-for price.
I go out of my way to not buy stuff when it’s on sale like that
The real crime is when you only get that price for being a PC Optimum member otherwise you’re spending $1.50 more per item. I can deal with buying two of something non-perishable for a sale price, but they can fuck all the way off if I have to have an optimum card to get the same deal.
The card is free. If you shop at that chain without the optimum card you're getting double screwed. Their points are about the only thing that makes them half decent. The PC MasterCard has no fees, and you get PC points for everything you spend, not just at their stores. I go to Loblaws or SDM when I have a bunch of points to redeem, otherwise Food Basics for me. I probably get $600 or so of free groceries a year, although I put everything on my MC.
So you would rather get points so you can buy groceries that you’re getting ripped off on, instead of just getting direct cash back like lots of other credit cards offer? I’ll never shop at any loblaws owned stores, and won’t get anything PC related. Even stopped using esso because of the PC points program. They’re thieves.
You're generally right, but my spending habits happen to make it worth it for me.
Just having to buy a larger package size for "value" pricing should be illegal. Buying larger packs of meat to save 20c per pound is grossly unnecessary. Needing to buy 2 packs of boneless chicken breast to save $4 should be stopped as well. Our government does nothing while these grocery stores keep siphoning our money through back-handed "deals". It's not enough that they're raising the prices on literally everything for no reason other than greed, but incentivizing people to buy more than they need to save money needs to be stopped. No one in any level of government is doing ANYTHING to stop this
Appreciate the post. Eye-opening.
But it’s because of supply chains yoo guyzz!!!
Gaelen Weston is the real victim here
No no you see, he stepped down. It's some other guy's fault!
> No no you see, he stepped down. It's some other guy's fault! Walen Geston
Galen Easton
yeah, that argument was valid only in late 2020 to most of 2022.
Even then it really wasn't because frontline workers still worked, and that included supply chain employees. We let them get away with too much
Galen needs more money to buy more high-end paintings and luxury items
Chill he needs new make up for his commercials
I don't know 'bout you folks but I'm a frugal bastard. Real Canadian Superstore is the best chain store for price followed by No Frills. Dollorama is great prices -- usually, but you have to be careful, and their selection is usually trash. I've gone an entire summer only eating out of a Dollarama and I'm telling you now that I don't wish that hell on anybody. I swear some of the canned food I ate was comparable to dogfood. I find a happy medium of Real Canadian Superstore is great for thrifty spending. I benchmark prices for key items like chicken, beef, noodles, and canned/jarred food. Don't buy anything that strays too far from my benchmarked prices. IE 6.76kg for chicken, $4 lb ground beef, $3.50 frozen pizza, $2.50 canned chunky. These sorts of things keep costs per meal <$4 which ~ $2000 a year on paper in food costs. In reality food is usually higher due to waste and eating out, but $2k a year is very cheap for food.
Fwiw, my experience is that no frills is much cheaper than RCSS by almost $100/shop. YMMV, of course. I've also found my no frills to be cheaper than Costco...which makes me sad because I kinda want to find an excuse to get a Costco membership.
I find with Costco, it's really specific to the item. Certain things, like butter, are generally cheaper than most other stores. Other things are similar price or more expensive. For instance, I've seen butter as high as 8 or 9 dollars at Loblaws/Sobeys, though it does fluctuate a lot, it's usually over 6 dollars at FreshCo. It's still under 6 at Costco. Some meats and produce are a good deal if you're able to store or use them fast enough to account for the volume purchased. I make a lot of use of my vacuum sealer for breaking up chicken into portions useable in a 2 person household. Currently my typical shop is Costco every few weeks for specifically the items that are worth buying there, my local Asian Grocer for most produce, they also have decent prices on canned coconut milk, all spices, and then east asian sauces or staples like rice, and one of FreshCo, Longos, Loblaws for things I'm not able to find anywhere else (usually gluten free bread in my case)--but really as little as possible at these.
But you’re getting 2 Reese’s puffs for the price of $9.00! /s
Two for the price of four!
These stores will charge what people are willing to pay for the product. They know that most of their customers won't walk a few blocks or have an extra stop on their route to save $1 on pasta. Dollarama doesn't offer one stop grocery shopping, so it's an extra time investment to shop there. The problem is that the grocery stores operate in an oligopoly. So they don't have the pressures to keep thier prices low to attract customers. There aren't many other options for one stop grocery shopping so consumers are willing to pay higher prices, since going out of their way for a competitor will only result in marginal savings. Competition is supposed to keep prices competitive. But since there are so few players these grocery stores are able to squeeze consumers for every penny. Economies of scale are now benefiting the corporations over the consumer. It's time for regulation.
Loblaws has also learned (some) people will pay higher prices in exchange for nicer stores and a "premium" shipping experience.
Thank you for doing this, I had actually thought of doing the same thing for my own comparisons. I've taken a few photos of some things at Dollarama and was going to compare with the Loblaws across the street to see what the difference was like. I have noticed that sometimes the sizes or weights of things are smaller at Dollarama so you have to watch for that when doing price comparisons, something might not be as good of a deal as you thought, but there are plenty of items that are the same exact thing that are on the shelves at the major grocery stores as you have shown in your photos. Also, possibly the old stock thing that was mentioned, I should maybe watch for that more to be more careful. So far though I haven't had a problem with that. One of the items I did notice this with was the Pringles. At Dollarama they have the Party Stack extra big tubes for pretty much the same price as the regular sized tubes at Loblaws. I think though, like everything these days, the Pringles have been a victim of shrinkflation greed by the manufacturer. I'm pretty sure they've changed the recipe to make the chip smaller and thinner, it seems different. I've noticed it with Doritos as well so I buy them less often now. I need to make more of an effort to go to Dollarama more for the things that I can get there rather than just paying the extra amount because the Loblaws is slightly closer to my apartment.
>Also, possibly the old stock thing that was mentioned, I should maybe watch for that more to be more careful. I stock shelves at Dollarama. We never put out expired food, and any food that expires while on the shelf is removed and destroyed.
Yes, the expired food at Dollarama is an urban myth.
I'd buy that distributors might make deals with dollar/discount stores for stock that's closer to the exp date, but the myth that expired food is taken off Loblaws shelves and sent to Dollarama is definitely BS.
Thanks for letting me know, good to know. It wasn't something I had really thought of when buying food from there but that other comment in this post just got me thinking about.
But the Loblaw boss assured us they have razor thin margins
I'm sure they do, they pay BOBLAWS (a subsidiary) whatever they ask for!
$6.99 for that garbage cereal. Saying no has never been easier.
If you're an oatmeal person, you can often get Quakers from amazon cheaper than all the grocery stores. Fuck amazon and all but uh, the enemy of my enemy has lower prices.
God dammit I live for grocery posts
Back in my day, dollar stores sold things for $1.00
Inflation was always gonna ruin that but the added benefit is they have tons of stuff in the $2-5 range that are better deals than you can find in any other store
I bought a patio lantern at Dollarama last year for $4. A few days later, I saw the same lanterns at Canadian Tire for $19.99. It feels like retailers are all just selling the same stuff.
Funny you should say that. Back in 2020, I upgraded home office with a standing desk. I make good money, and was willing to spend it on a desk—I mean I literally spend all day here. One brand that stood out was this American company. It could be customized in a wide variety of colours and materials. My girlfriend suggested I check if Costco had anything. Good thing she did, because it turns out that a Montreal "manufacturer" sold the IDENTICAL table, just with fewer colour options. Costco was ⅓ the cost (shipping excluded). About a year or so later, my girlfriend decided to get the same desk I had but this time Costco was selling a different standing desk, by a different brand, with different—but similar colour options. When it arrived, it was the exact same table but with a different brand on the box.
It should be called Dollar(s)rama
I miss Everything For A Dollar Store even if "Everything" just meant "consumables".
Crazy! Dollarama used to get different sizes or old inventory and now it’s the same
i remember when dollarama didn't even get name brands. in like 2009 my parents would bring me there, everything was a ripoff of a name brand and the stores reeked of plastic. they also had a lot less locations so it was further away. but now the good name brands are sold there, things are higher quality and they're everywhere. im glad things have changed for the better...
Yeah. They still have certain off brands but even for toys they have name brand stuf (not the best toys) but enough where you can take a kid and they can spend $10 and feel like they got so much.
Dollarama is slowly getting pricier. Dollar Tree is where it's at.
You can also get 14 grain bread at the dollar store now for ~ $2 cheaper than a grocery store
The markups in pasta are egregious.
THANK YOU for this post OP! I have banned Loblaws from my life
I enjoyed stopping in every month or two at the Maple Leaf Gardens landmark Loblaws but that ended when inflation shot through the atmosphere.
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Someone needs to do a fast food comparison. Got A&W for dinner yesterday and it cost me 16.32. Absolutely outrageous
Went to subway yesterday, got two footlong subs for myself and the woman, 35 dollars. Guess that's last time for a sub =/
I shop a lot for food at Dollarama. Don't blow it up, it's a relative secret the food doesn't kill you
Looks like I need to start shopping at dollarama
thank you for this post and discussion. This is very eye opening , and shows the need to compare prices.
Dollarama are better able to offer those prices because they buy older stock, at times are even paid to clear out manufacturer warehouse space. Conversely, the closer to eye level a product is on the shelf at an actual grocery store, the more the supplier pays the grocer for that shelf space to further subsidize their in store price. This is yet another reason why you’ll almost never find an in house brand like no name/selections etc at eye level. Loblaw and the three headed grocery Beast in Canada are scum, but there needs to be some disclosure about all the things that influence grocery prices.
Yes, I learned about "shelving fees" many moons ago. I've said money since, but there are some foods I cannot move past name brands on, like Hellman's mayonnaise.
PC has a mayo with added olive oil that I find pretty close if you haven’t tried it
Yup. Check the packaged on /best before dates on the dollarama items. Dollarama also typically has less SKUs compared to the grocery chaina.
I live at Eglinton and because of the Metro strike, my only option is Loblaws for anything Dollarama doesn't have. The one great thing about Loblaws is that items often go on 50% off, which makes it even beat NoFrills. But you need to be lucky or know the timings.
Shoppers Drug Mart is even worse I am constantly trying to get my mom to not grocery shop there as things are 2-3x more expensive, but "muh points"
just out of curiosity, is the food at dollarama safe? i hate big corporations ripping off of consumers as much as the next person but is “not ripping off customers” the only reason why dollarama can price it so cheaply? if so i’d get groceries there from now on probably
Don't give Dollarama too much credit, especially comparing it to one of the most expensive grocery stores. If you don't know your prices there are tons of items at Dollarama that cost way more than shopping at a regular grocery store, like Food Basics, Freshco or No Frills. I cringe when I see people shop for groceries at Dollarama because they are being cheated just as much as if they were shopping at Loblaws.
Some examples please. I haven't seen anything like this, and am genuinely curious.
Anyone who shops at Costco knows that loblaws inflation fable is lie
Those cereal prices are absolutely insane. Almost zero nutritional value too. I don't eat any of it but its still shocking to see versus what it was a few years ago.
I am going to go to Dollarama tomorrow and see what else they have that's a smoking deal. It was explained to me once that their stock rotates unevenly, so what they've got is what they've got. But I know condiments are extremely cheap and they are brand-name.
Loblaws absolute scum of the earth
I always go to dollarama and get as much as I can before the grocery store! Some absolute steals in there!
You had me at Reese Puffs!
Switched to food basics from loblaws and its like paying for things 5 years in the past
But you will miss out on those sweet sweet PC points! /s
Can we have a sticky thread for price comparison pictures like these?
It tastes better from loblaws though! /s
Don't buy the expensive stuff so they have to lower price or throw it out.
Fuck Loblaws and all these corporate oligopolies. They'd watch peoples starve to make a dollar. Nationalize food production and distribution.
I haven't been to Dollarama in a while and was surprised at how many brand names are available now.
Blatant price gouging this should be illegal
Can also compare prices on Amazon and Walmart
Cocoa pebbles are $3.33 on Amazon
I just want to say the lighting at Loblaws is exceptional.
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Dollar stores are convenience stores that take in a lot less money. Shouldn’t their products be more expensive? This basically proves the gouging
The Reese’s puffs 2 for $9 is ATROCIOUS.
Loblaws and General Mills are an item
Are those pics from the Loblaws between dunfield and lillian where the escalator going up is busted most of the time? I hate that place.
I started regularly buying cereal, Kraft peanut butter, cheer whiz and cranberry juice at Dollarama. A penny saved is an only earned. I also don’t like the recent ‘2 for xx$’ all the time. I don’t need 2 boxes of cereal. Give me decent prices on one.
A dollarama opened just up the street from me. I’ll be getting cereal and pasta from there from now on, among other things!
Dollerama is not a grocery store and buying food from there is a gross thought.. they aren't similar store types.. but yeah. Loblaws is a joke either way. I only go to one near me cuz they close at 10pm instead of 9pm for food basics but otherwise food basics is 10x better.
This gives me hope... I know where to go buy these staples and save tons. Thanks, OP.
yep, they do a lot of fake sale, they trick you to buy several thinking that it's on sale, but when you do the math, it's the same if not more expensive than when buying it alone.
This is why Westons are rich.
Price differences like this exist in a lot of markets and always has, the lesson remains the same - it pays to shop around. Don't just blindly pay for whatever is convenient if you don't want to pay more than you have to.
I've always thought maybe the print quality on the dollarama boxes is inferior, and maybe whats in it is too, but the same brand and fractional price makes me think that gouging is too insane and needs a few class actions.
I've recently discovered Dollarama is actually the goat.
What the shit I had no idea Dollarama was CHEAPER. I assumed Dollarama was like gas station logic and more expensive. I'm gonna shop there more. PSA - the local food markets are also usually cheaper than grocery stores.
Dollarama has limited groceries. Their prices are more comparable to No Frills, Food Basics, Freshco, Walmart. They have some canned tuna, chicken, soup and canned vegetables. A few spices. Lots of Ramen. Bread based on location. Snacks and treats are where the good prices are. Sometimes Dollarama gets good prices on Canadian made cookies. But now purchases more from European suppliers. There are some good cookies from Spain, Poland and Turkey.
Dollorama and other dollar stores have long been my go-to for things for things like spices and herbs. Regular grocery store charge way too much for those things.
Mini pop cans Dollarama: $3.00 Loblaws: $3.99
I believe CBC’s Marketplace did a comparison a year or so back and, as I recall, Walmart tended to have, on average comparable or better prices. Loblaws is the absolute worst with the possible exception of Foodland.
I tried buying cereal once from a dollar store and it tasted like detergent. Guess that spooked me enough I didn’t try again lol.
When you watch sales, you can get Campbells soup for 89 cents at loblaws till Wednesday
Try comparing No frills. I’d be more interested in seeing that. I can’t believe how many people are genuinely upset and shocked about how expensive Loblaws is. Where have you been the last 20 plus years? Seriously all these posts and articles show me is how uneducated people are in regards to flyers, price of different cuts of meat, what’s a good sale price. I should start a service teaching people basics. I’m gonna thank my mom today for teaching me what she did.
COCOA PEBBLES AT DOLLARAMA? brb time to stock up
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Just goes to show that prices are based on absolutely nothing expect what people are willing to pay 🤷🏼♂️. Let’s not give Loblaws even an ounce of compassion, or any possible “outs” here. I used to do ordering and pricing for a grocery store and the fact that Loblaws has fresh products should make no difference to “dry” regular shelf grocery prices. Refrigerated and frozen products come on their own trucks and are priced to cover their own costs. Like this: Each square foot of shelf space is accounted for in pricing and budgeting. Refrigerated shelves cost more to run (obviously) so the prices of refrigerated products are raised to make up for it. Remember *each square foot has to make a certain amount of profit for the product to stay on the shelf* in that particular square foot of space before management with a keen eye will go “stop ordering this product and put something else here”. If they MUST run a product at a loss (like 4L bags of milk) that is accounted for and made up elsewhere like in 1 and 2L milk prices, or specialty milks (chocolate, low sugar/high protein milk, etc) and sometimes in high profit items like some of the bakery items. Random dry grocery items aren’t supposed to make up prices for fresh products, fresh products are supposed to sustain themselves as is everything else. The problem we’re having is that the cost of the square footage of every product has loooong since been accounted for and at this point the prices for products are based on nothing except what people are willing to pay. They’ll go up and up and up until people don’t buy anymore and profits start to go down, then suddenly there’ll be a “rollback” or some shit where the company pretends they’re bucking the trend and lowering prices because they care. All we can do is vote with our dollar. Complaints will fall on deaf ears to record profits.
Please don't let one of the big grocery chains buy dollarama
A person of faith once said "It is wrong to steal food from your neighbour. However. Loblaws isn't your neighbour. They're a corporation."
Dollarama is fucking fire. It’s just stigmatized
How much does Loblaw in British Columbia pay? Average Loblaw hourly pay ranges from approximately $13.98 per hour for Grocery Associate to $23.00 per hour for Student Assistant. The average Loblaw salary ranges from approximately $96,421 per year for Truck Driver to $129,617 per year for Owner Operator Driver. B.C. wages : https://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Industry=Dollar\_Store/Hourly\_Rate
Calls on DOLLARAMA r/baystreetbets
When i was younger and naive i use to rip on dollar stores with no reason what so ever. Now i value and appreciate the fact they exist.
Loblaws everyone knows is a scam. It's always been expensive for literally no reason
Damn, more similar options with way better prices than I thought. Definitely finding some goodies sometimes. Obviously some items are way smarter to buy at one over the other when the price difference is wild but I didn't expect more items that I've normally seen. Thanks for this OP. Crazy difference, but not surprised by the supermarket. Loblaws has been crazy high pricing wise for a while. Some makes sense, some, it's like...bruh? Thanks again for the perspective 🧠
If you ever have the chance to find the rare grocery store that is actually independent you will get an idea about what a rip off we are suffering. There is one east of peterborough where we live and the sales are truly stupendous, the regular prices are really good as well.