CONSUMERS CAN make massive savings by doing their food shopping in discount stores such as Lidl and Aldi, but have to make their own judgments about quality and convenience, according to a major new food price survey.
A basket of 28 own-brand goods was more than 50 per cent cheaper in Lidl than in Dunnes Stores or Tesco, the survey by the National Consumer Agency (NCA) found, and individual items were often several times cheaper in Lidl.
Own-brand yoghurt was 47 cent in Lidl, for example, but €1.99 in Tesco; ice-cream was 64 cent in Lidl but €2.32 in Tesco. A pizza cost €1.16 in Lidl but €2.94 in Dunnes, and wheat biscuits cost 57 cent in Lidl and €1.39 in Dunnes.
Meanwhile, prices in the main supermarket chains - Tesco, Dunnes Stores and Superquinn - were uniform across a wide range of branded and own-brand products, leading the NCA to conclude the multiples are not competing against each other on price.
"There is virtually no price difference between Dunnes and Tesco, with only 35 cent separating them for a basket of 61 branded goods," said NCA chief executive Ann Fitzgerald. "It's clear there is no competition among the multiples on branded goods."
Small butchers and other food stores were often far cheaper than the supermarkets for fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, the survey also found. However, because prices varied more within this sector, independent stores could also be dearer than their big rivals.
This is the second price survey by the NCA and the first time it has looked at own-brand goods, fresh food and smaller retailers. Own-brand products are difficult to compare because of different product ranges and sizes but the agency focused on mid-range products and adjusted weights to ensure they were comparable.
There was little difference in price on own-brand products between the multiples - just 1.1 per cent between Dunnes and Tesco for a 32-product basket.
Among the discounters, Lidl came off best against Aldi: it was almost 17 per cent cheaper than its German rival for a basket of 48 goods. It was 56 per cent cheaper than Dunnes, 52 per cent cheaper than Tesco and up to 45 per cent cheaper than Supervalu on comparable items.
Ms Fitzgerald said there were clearly substantial differences between the prices charged by Lidl and Aldi and other retailers.
Asked about the quality of the goods sold by the two discount chains, she said: "Just because they're called discounters doesn't mean their goods are of low quality. It's up to the customer to make up their own mind about quality, price and value."
Meat varied 30 per cent in price for a basket of six items, with the cheapest and dearest prices found in independent butchers. The price differential for loose fruit and vegetables, at 66 per cent, was even greater, and again independent shops supplied the cheapest and dearest prices.
For branded products, a basket of 61 products cost €187.04 in Dunnes, €187.39 in Tesco and €188.95 in Superquinn. The 1 per cent price differential between the cheapest and the dearest is even lower than in the last survey carried out in 2007.
Supervalu is only marginally more expensive than Tesco and Dunnes and slightly cheaper than Superquinn, the survey found.
Ms Fitzgerald welcomed Supervalu's emergence as a "real competitor" to the multiples.
Eurospar, which is also positioning itself as a full-service supermarket, was more than 5 per cent dearer than Dunnes on a basket of 31 products.
"As grocery prices go up due to international factors, price and value for money become even more important and our strong advice to consumers is to split their shopping basket if possible and to seek value in the range of shops available to them," said Ms Fitzgerald.