I live in Toronto and after recently buying groceries from an independent store and realizing how much I saved in comparison to Loblaws, I was excited to try out other stores to see just how much I could be knocking off my weekly food bill.
When doing research on how to save money on groceries, I found a Reddit thread where people shared which Toronto independent stores have the best prices and armed with that knowledge, I started planning my journey to Nations Fresh Foods at Stockyards, which is around Keele and St. Clair (they also have locations in Vaughn, Hamilton and Mississauga).
Loblaws and No Frills are the two closest grocery stores to my apartment in the west end of the city and are both within walking distance whereas for Nations I needed to drive about 10 minutes north (also easily accessible by bus) so I was interested to see if it was worth the extra time I’d need to spend getting there.
Here’s how my grocery experience went down and just how much I saved.
Nations
Pork from Nations.
My partner and I alternate weekly on who does the meal planning, groceries and the majority of the cooking, and for my week I decided to make gochujang chicken with broccoli, potato salad, hoisin pork with bok choy, mac and cheese and chilli shrimp with rice noodles.
Some of the ingredients like pasta and cheese I already had on hand, but the meat, produce and some of the condiments were the main things I needed for this week’s meals.
While I was there I also found my favourite spicy instant noodles, and although I tried to resist, I ended up splurging and paying the $8.99 for five packs because they’re just so firey and delicious.
- Sugarbee apples, 1.74 lb = $2.94
- Clementines, 3.06 lb = $6.09
- Bok choy, 1.54 lb = $1.79
- Green onion, 1 bunch = $0.89
- Cilantro, 1 bunch = $2.99
- Broccoli (stem removed), 1.26 lb = $3.01
- Extra-lean ground pork, 1.8 lb = $4.77
- Chicken thighs, 1.8 lb = $7.38
- Peeled and cooked frozen shrimp, 300 g = $6.99
- Samyang Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Stir-Fried Noodle = $8.99
- Kewpie mayonnaise, 517 mL = $7.99
- Lao Gan Ma spicy chilli crisp = $3.99
- Total before tax = $57.82
Loblaws
The exterior of Loblaws.
Here’s how much it costs for almost the same groceries at Loblaws:
- Honeycrisp apples, 1.74 lb = $5.20 (on sale, regularly $6.07)
- Mandarin oranges, 3.06 lb = $6.11
- Bok choy, 1.54 lb = $4.60
- Green onion, 1 bunch = $1.99
- Cilantro, 1 bunch = $1.69
- Broccoli crowns, 1.26 lb = $4.40
- Lean ground pork, 1.8 lb = $8.98
- Chicken thighs, 1.8 lb = $10.78
- Peeled and cooked frozen shrimp, 300 g = $9.49
- Samyang Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Stir-Fried Noodle = $6.99 (on sale, regularly $8.49)
- Kewpie mayonnaise, 517 mL = $6.49 (on sale, regularly $6.99)
- Lao Gan Ma spicy chilli crisp, 340 g = $2.99 (on sale, regularly $3.49)
- Total before tax = $69.71
It’s important to note that I bought Sugarbee apples and clementines from Nations but since Loblaws didn’t have those, I used the price for their Honeycrisp apples and mandarin oranges as they’re similar products. As well, the pork that I got from Nations was extra lean but Loblaws didn’t have that, so I used the price for lean.
The verdict
Sarah’s groceries from Nations.
Nations was the definite winner in terms of price in comparison to shopping at Loblaws as I saved about $12, which worked out to be savings of about 20 per cent.
Loblaws is much closer to my apartment, but only by about a 5-minute difference in terms of driving, so from a cost analysis perspective, it just makes sense for me to drive a little further and do my shopping at Nations.
Nations has a truly wide variety of ingredients and markets itself as a multi-cultural grocery store chain which is perfect for me as I love to try out different recipes that occasionally call for specialty items like Szechuan peppercorns, ox tail, shirataki noodles and other products that can be hard to get your hands on.
As well, they have a truly giant selection of different kinds of meats and seafood, some of which I didn’t know existed and that I’m excited to look up and incorporate into my cooking.
“Although we are a new comer in the grocery and prepared food industry, we provide a wide variety of grocery items from all over the world to serve our customers,” says Nations. “We have the belief of ‘daily fresh, daily affordable’. We aim to keep the price low while bringing more customers to our stores.”
The main downside to Nations is that it can be quite hectic — the parking situation at Stockyards is always annoying, and in Nations itself, there are usually a lot of people so maneuvering around can be difficult (particularly with a grocery cart), which is not a problem I generally have at Loblaws.
During a previous experience while trying to get cheaper groceries, I visited Nosso Talho on Bloor between Lansdowne and Dovercourt based on Reddit recommendations on where people shop to save money.
While the selection and prices on meat were incredible (I got 1.2 pounds of chicken legs for $7.00!) they didn’t have a wide variety of produce, and what they did have was fairly comparable to Loblaws.
That being said, I also saved about $12 off my grocery bill by shopping at Nosso Talho instead of Loblaws.
On Reddit, people often share lists of independent grocery stores in Toronto that people may be interested in trying out, particularly with the ongoing boycott of Loblaws and Loblaw-owned companies that some may currently be following.
Some of the recommendations included: Tavora, Sweet Potato (but only their items on sale), Carload, P.A.T., Kai Wei, Moberley, Fresh 1 Market, Plank Road Market, Royal Beef, Dragon Supermarket, Daily Goods, Galaxy Fresh Foods, Highland Farms and Coppas.
If it’s at all possible for you to check out these locations or independent stores, it might be worth it, if only for the sake of your wallet.
Good look out there, folks, and may the savings be ever in your favour!
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.
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