The Outlier’s grocery basket: November 2022
Gemma Gatticchi
Thursday, November 24 2022Every month we take a look at the in-store prices of the same basket of goods across five major retailers – Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Spar and Woolworths.
Shopping list
Our grocery basket is made up of nine basic goods most people are likely to have in their homes and use every day. The list looks like this
- 700g loaf of Albany Superior Sliced White Bread, or store brand
- 2-litre store brand sunflower oil
- 2.5kg Iwisa maize meal
- 2.5kg Selati white sugar
- 2-litre milk
- 2kg Tastic rice
- 2.5kg Snowflake cake flour
- 175g bar of Dettol Herbal Soap
- 9-pack of two-ply Baby Soft toilet paper, or store brand
If some brands aren’t available, alternatives are used but our aim is to keep the products as consistent as possible every month. For a breakdown of our methodology, click here.
November’s basket
Since September, Spar’s basket has been the most expensive option. This month our nine staples will set you back more than R431 at Spar – that’s R39 more expensive than the same basket of goods at Woolworths, our cheapest option this month.
At Spar, Checkers and Shoprite prices have increased in the past two months, whereas Pick n Pay and Woolworths have seen a dip, as of November. Only Spar has surpassed the August-high prices seen across all the stores.
*Note: In June and July we used the prices of the 18-pack of two-ply toilet paper. We have since switched over to the 9-pack.
A CPI perspective
We have also been keeping track of grocery prices using Stats SA‘s Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports, which are released every month. These numbers are calculated as average prices from retailers that are collected by StatSA through different mediums – fieldwork and online.
The prices of some staple goods, including sunflower oil, tomatoes and salt, have increased tremendously in the past five years. In September 2017, the CPI was 5.1%. In September 2022, it was 2.4 percentage points higher at 7.5%.
Alcohol saw a similar increase with vodka prices more than doubling in five years.
Notebook
- For our methodology, a full set of prices, collection notes and republication guidelines, please go here: The Outlier grocery basket: Our methodology
This story was edited on 26 June 2023 to update editorial style. No material changes were made.
