Choppies emerged as the supermarket with the most affordable basket of standardised groceries for the month of January.
This is according to The Brief’s monthly grocery basket comparison conducted every month since May 2023. The survey aims to provide consumers with valuable insights into the price of a basket of 20 standardised grocery products across eight supermarkets.
Our grocery basket comprises:
Loaf of bread
2-litre Nola Sunflower Oil
5kg Top Score maize meal
2.5kg Marathon sugar (white sugar)
1.5kg Real Good Chicken
1kg Beef stew
2kg Mamas rice
3kg Pasta Polana Macaroni
1-litre Nammilk full cream milk
9 Twinsaver toilet paper (350 sheets)
700ml Wellington tomato sauce
1kg Sunlight Washing powder
750ml Sunlight dishwashing liquid
500g Rama Butter
18 Waldschmidt eggs (medium)
150g Protex bar soap
100ml Colgate toothpaste
1kg Onions
1kg Potatoes
1kg Tomatoes
Choppies maintains its commitment to offering a cost-effective basket, securing its position as the most affordable supermarket in Windhoek for the month of December 2023.
The advantage is evident in items like Beef Stew per kilogramme and the combined vegetables (Onions, Tomatoes, and Potatoes) per kilogramme.
In January 2024, Choppies retained its status as the cheapest supermarket, with a basket costing N$923.07. Despite its affordability, there was a slight increase of 0.61%.
Notable contributors to this increase were the following items: Bread rising from N$13.99 to N$14.49, Tomato per kilogramme increasing from N$29.99 to N$34.95, and Onions per kilogramme increasing from N$9.95 to N$12.95.
On the other hand, Pick ‘n Pay experienced a significant increase of 13.93%, resulting in a higher-priced basket at N$1,071.81. This increase was notable in items like Cooking oil (Nola), which rose from N$72.99 to N$122.00, Beef Stew increasing from N$84.99 to N$102.99, and Macaroni Pasta rising from N$78.99 to N$89.99.
Other supermarkets such as Food Lover’s Market, Shoprite, Woermann Brock, OK Foods, Spar, and Checkers had basket costs of N$1,002.36, N$1,015.8, N$1,019.8, N$982.8, N$988.31, and N$992.8, respectively.
The supermarket landscape continues to demonstrate fluctuating prices month-on-month.
Note: We do not take specials or loyalty card discounts into consideration. When we find certain goods on special, for example, “Get N$10.00 off when buying 18 (medium) eggs and pay N$55.00”, we will log the price as N$65.00 to exclude the special.
January’s 2024 alternatives
Food Lover’s Market 2kg Nice Rice, 1.5kg chicken (an average was calculated because they do not stock 1.5kg of chicken), 9s toilet paper (Baby soft)
Spar – 2L oil (Spar brand), Nice Rice,
OK Foods: Nice Rice
Pick ‘n Pay: Nice Rice
Choppies – 2kg rice (Nice Rice), Store Brand Cooking Oil
Commodity Spotlight: Toilet Roll (Twinsaver) 350 Sheets
Each month, The Brief conducts a survey of 20 standardised items in eight supermarkets in Windhoek. The Brief will now spotlight a commodity from the basket of items to assess the price movement and average on the data collected over the months. The commodity to be chosen will be done randomly.
For January 2024, the Toilet Paper Roll (Twinsaver) 350 9s sheets item is chosen.
For the Toilet Paper Roll 350 sheets product, Woermann Brock and Pick ‘n Pay emerged as the most cost-effective options, with average prices for the Twinsaver brand at N$83.48 and N$83.62, respectively.
The pricing trend at Woermann Brock for Toilet Paper Roll indicated an increase. Starting at N$74.99 in June 2023, the price rose to N$77.99 in July 2023 and experienced a significant hike in August 2023, reaching N$90.99. There was a decrease to N$76.99 in December 2023, followed by a slight increase in January 2024 to N$86.99.
Shoprite positioned itself on the higher end of the price spectrum, with an average cost of N$93.4 during the survey period. The initial price was relatively high at N$98.99 in June 2023 and July 2023, gradually declining to N$89.99 from August 2023 to December 2023, and then rising again to N$98.99 in January 2024.
Choppies, Spar, and Food Lover’s Market provided more economical alternatives, with average prices of N$85.62, N$88.24, and N$89.37, respectively. In contrast, Checkers and OK Foods were positioned on the higher side of the price spectrum for Toilet Paper Roll, with prices at N$92.99 and N$90.99.
It’s worth noting that the Toilet Paper Roll market in Windhoek demonstrates a high level of substitution. Food Lover’s Market primarily offers the Baby Soft brand, while the other stores feature the Twin Saver brand.
