How much cheaper is a regular grocery run at Super C compared to IGA? We did the math

I’m lucky enough to live within walking distance of two grocery stores: a Super C and an IGA.

Depending on what’s on my list that week, I often find myself bouncing between the two. Super C is usually where I go for the big, practical runs, when the pantry is looking a little bleak, and I need to restock the basics. IGA tends to get my business when I want fresh organic produce, a good cut of meat or simply a break from Super C’s blinding fluorescent lights (does it have to be so bright in there?).

And if you’ve lived in Quebec for any amount of time, you probably know about the different reputations each store carries. Super C is widely seen as one of the cheapest grocery chains in the province, serving as a place to go when you’re trying to stretch your budget. IGA, on the other hand, has a reputation as the more upscale option. It’s the kind of store your friend who “only buys the good olive oil” swears by.

For context, I am that friend.

Anyway, I’ve always wondered just how big that gap really is. If I bought the exact same groceries at both stores, how much more would I end up paying at IGA?

So I decided to find out.

For the sake of making this experiment fair, I put together a pretty typical grocery run with items both stores regularly carry:

• One rotisserie chicken
• A dozen extra-large white eggs
• Lean ground beef (450 g)
• Oasis orange juice (960 ml)
• Fresh Attitude Spring Mix Salad (312 g)
• Bananas (1kg)
• Russet potatoes (2.27 kg)
• Marble cheddar cheese (400 g)
• Dr. Oetker Ristorante Thin Crust Spinach Pizza (390 g)
• One English seedless cucumber
• Kraft Smooth Peanut Butter (1 kg)
• A can of chickpeas (540 ml)
• Bartlett pears (500 g)

How I did it

I priced out all 13 items (before tax) on each chain’s website, matching the same products and sizes as closely as possible.

Where a store’s house brand was the obvious everyday pick, I went with it. That means Compliments eggs and potatoes at IGA, and Sélection eggs and cheese at Super C. For items sold by weight, like bananas, ground beef and pears, I calculated the price based on each store’s listed rate.

I also included sale prices, since that’s what you’d actually pay at the till if you went shopping today. Only four items in total were on sale across both stores, so it didn’t change the outcome much. More on that below.

Super C: $65.60

No big surprise here. Super C came out on top, with a total of $65.60 for the full cart.

The biggest win was the rotisserie chicken, which cost $10.99, a full $2 less than at IGA. A sale on English cucumbers, down to just $0.88 from $1.79, also helped. And the chickpeas were a steal at $1.34 a can.

Super C was cheaper on nine of the 13 items in my cart.

IGA: $71.79

The same cart came out to $71.79 at IGA, which is $6.19 more than at Super C.

That said, IGA didn’t lose on everything. Its Compliments russet potatoes were a whole dollar cheaper than Super C’s at $3.99, and it narrowly won on the orange juice (thanks to a sale) and the ground beef (by a single cent, which hardly counts, but a win is a win).

The Fresh Attitude spring mix was the same price at both stores, at $6.99.

Where IGA really got me was the chickpeas. The same 540 ml can cost $2.19, about 63% more than at Super C. It’s one can of chickpeas, sure. But it’s also the kind of thing that adds up when you’re not paying attention.

The full breakdown

Here’s how every item compared:

Rotisserie chicken: Super C $10.99 | IGA $12.99
Extra large white eggs (12): Super C $4.75 | IGA $5.19
Lean ground beef (450 g): Super C $9.91 | IGA $9.90
Oasis orange juice (960 ml): Super C $2.25 | IGA $2.19 (on sale)
Fresh Attitude spring mix (312 g): Super C $6.99 | IGA $6.99
Bananas (1 kg): Super C $1.74 | IGA $2.10
Russet potatoes (2.27 kg): Super C $4.99 | IGA $3.99
Marble cheddar (400 g): Super C $6.19 | IGA $6.99
Dr. Oetker spinach pizza (390 g): Super C $5.99 | IGA $6.49 (on sale)
English cucumber: Super C $0.88 (on sale) | IGA $2.49
Kraft smooth peanut butter (1 kg): Super C $6.49 | IGA $6.99
Chickpeas (540 ml): Super C $1.34 | IGA $2.19
Bartlett pears (500 g): Super C $3.09 | IGA $3.29
Total: Super C $65.60 | IGA $71.79

So, how much cheaper is Super C?

For this particular cart, shopping at IGA cost me about 9% more than shopping at Super C.

And if you’re wondering whether the sales tipped the scales, they didn’t really. At regular prices, the totals would have been $66.51 at Super C and $72.79 at IGA, a gap of $6.28.

Six bucks might not sound like much on its own. But if you did this exact grocery run every week, you’d be paying roughly $322 more a year at IGA. That number gets way higher if you’re shopping for a family.

Will this stop me from walking into IGA? Probably not. I still like the produce and, frankly, the entire shopping experience. But the next time I’m in dire need of canned goods, I know which direction I’m heading.