Inflation has been one of the biggest concerns among investors this holiday season, particularly when it comes to rising grocery prices.
Bank of America recently conducted a food retailer pricing study in the city of Nashville to identify which food retailers are hiking prices the most and determine where consumers can still find the lowest prices.
Analyst Robert Ohmes compared grocery prices at conventional supermarkets Kroger Co. and Publix to prices at specialty grocers Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. subsidiary Whole Foods, as well as mass retailers Walmart Inc. and Target Corporation.
In addition, Ohmes conducted a dollar store price comparison that included Kroger, Walmart, Target, Dollar General Corp., and Dollar Tree Inc. subsidiary Family Dollar. Ohmes also assessed pricing at private label deep discounter Aldi.
Grocery Comparison
The grocery study included a basket of 43 grocery items, including 15 produce items, three meat items, 12 dairy items, and 13 center store items.Ohmes found the lowest price on the 43 grocery items was $104 at Walmart. Surprisingly, Walmart’s total basket price on the same 43 items was up just 69 cents from 2019, a two-year price increase of just 0.66 percent.
Kroger had the next lowest prices among the grocery retailers at $117.24, about 13 percent higher than Walmart. Walmart has widened its Kroger pricing gap from just 7 percent in 2019. Target was a close third at a 14 percent premium to Walmart, followed by Sprouts Farmers Market (+35 percent), Publix (+37 percent), and Whole Foods (+42 percent). Walmart has expanded its pricing discounts compared to all five grocery competitors.
