Regardless of your income level, Grocery shopping is usually one of the most significant expenses in everyone’s monthly budget.
The worst part is that the price of groceries and other items keep skyrocketing in Calgary and all over Canada due to inflation.
With the rise in the price of groceries, there is no reason why anyone shouldn’t be interested in saving money on groceries at such a time like this.
If you have been looking for the cheapest grocery stores in Calgary, this article has all the information that you need.
Continue reading to learn more about some of the cheapest grocery stores in Calgary!
Table of Contents
Top 7 Cheapest Grocery Stores in Calgary
After doing some research, I found about seven stores in Calgary that many shoppers consider to be good places for getting cheap groceries.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at each of the cheapest grocery stores in Calgary.
1. Giant Tiger
Key benefits for grocery shoppers:
- Guaranteed Ad match
- A loyalty program that offers weekly deals
- Regular clearance markdown
- Low-priced deals are often showcased in Weekly flyers
Giant Tiger is one of the top discount retailers offering groceries and household items in Calgary.
One good thing about Giant Tiger is that they offer an Ad match guarantee for items you might find cheaper at any competitor’s store.
Aside from the Ad match, there are already so many grocery items with very low prices available at Giant Tiger stores.
Another cool thing about Giant Tiger stores is that they use advertised “Smart Choice” and “Hot Buys” to help their customers save some cash.
2. No Frills
Key benefits for grocery shoppers:
- “Won’t Be Beat” price matching program
- Weekly flyers and deals
- Basic marketing and limited brand name items in stock
- PC Optimum points
With eight locations all over Calgary, No Frills is one the most accessible discount retailers in the city.
No Frills is known for mostly having a limited selection of products and it rarely keeps overpriced brand-name items in stock.
By doing so, No Frills is able to maintain less inventory and fewer workers to track them. These huge savings on the cost of doing business is then passed on to customers.
No Frills also allows its customers to earn points with their reward cards in addition to the weekly flyers and deals.
And, there is a catchy “Won’t Be Beat” price-matching program that No Frills usually features at its stores.
3. Fresh Routes
Key benefits for grocery shoppers:
- Low prices on food
- Accessible at different locations across Calgary
Fresh Routes is a good proof that big chain grocery stores aren’t the only source of saving on food.
Due to the fact that Fresh Routes is able to buy food at wholesale prices, they often help their customers save money by offering lower prices than regular grocery stores.
It’s even more exciting that Fresh Routes is a pop-up store that is also a non-profit organization.
This simply means that Fresh Routes is more committed to helping low-income earners and everyone else to access cheaper groceries.
You can always visit any Fresh Routes pop-up store at seven different spots spread across Calgary to buy food at cheaper prices.
4. Real Canadian Superstore
Key benefits for grocery shoppers:
- Save more by going for club-sized items
- Guaranteed Ad match
- Store flyers
- Cheaper no-brand-name products
Real Canadian Superstore allows grocery shoppers to enjoy lower prices and save money in several ways.
You can always save money with Real Canadian Superstore by using the Ad match guarantee when you find a cheaper grocery item at a competitor’s store.
Real Canadian Superstore also allows customers to save money by offering lower prices on club-sized items which are mostly everyday grocery products that are cheaper in bulk.
Another great thing about Real Canadian Superstore is that they offer hundreds of lower-priced no-brand-name products that often save shoppers a lot of money.
You can also get set prices on some everyday items like Frozen vegetables, and Yoghurt at Real Canadian Superstore
5. Save-On-Foods
Key benefits for grocery shoppers:
- Price matches cheaper deals
- More Rewards card to helps customers earn points
- Weekly flyers
Like the name says, Save-On-Foods helps its customers to save money on food and other grocery items.
The good thing about Save-On-Foods is that it price-matches cheaper deals offered by its competitors.
Also, grocery shoppers can save money by taking advantage of the weekly flyers offered by Save-On-Foods.
Additionally, when customers make purchases with the More Rewards card, Save-On-Foods rewards them with redeemable points.
6. CultivatR
Key benefits for grocery shoppers:
- Cuts excessive cost of supply and shipping by working with local vendors
- Time-saving doorstep delivery of food
- Transportation issues and inflation are often ignored by local producers when setting their prices
CultivatR is an online farmers market that offers a unique way of shopping for food and supporting the local farmers at the same time.
Farmers on CultivatR use a predictive farming model that helps them understand how to efficiently produce the best amount of food products without wastage.
With this approach, CultivatR is able to keep costs consistent while delivering fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and other local food products to the doorstep of customers.
Since CultivatR only supplies local food products, it is able to remove excessive supply costs and transportation fees that usually cause grocery items to be overpriced.
7. FreshCo
Key benefits for grocery shoppers:
- Item replacement and reimbursement for unhappy customers
- Guaranteed lowest price with the price matching option
FreshCo is another discount grocer that offers fresh food at very low prices to its customers.
At the moment, FreshCo has about six different stores opened all over Alberta and they all offer lower-priced food groceries.
Aside from their everyday savings, FreshCo also guarantees to match the price of any item you find cheaper at other retailers’ stores.
What this means for grocery shoppers is that FreshCo is always guaranteed to give you the lowest possible price for most items.
Aside from all these benefits, FreshCo also allows unsatisfied customers to return items within 14 days of purchase to get a replacement and a refund.
Other Grocery Stores to Check Out for a Good Deal in Calgary
While the top seven stores mentioned already are sure places to get the cheapest groceries in Calgary, you can also check out these other stores.
- Calgary Farmers’ Market
- Costco
- Walmart
- T & T Supermarket (Asian Grocery store)
- Sunterra Market
- The Grocery People
How to Save Money at Grocery Stores in Calgary
Besides knowing the cheapest stores to visit, there are also a few other things that can help you save money at grocery stores in Calgary.
Below are some tips and ideas that you can try out for your next grocery shopping:
- Focus on Price matching: Try finding a grocery store that allows price matching and that will save you the stress of driving around many stores to get the best deals.
- Have a grocery list and stick to it: Always take time out to plan your meals and make a grocery list before you hit the store. Also, don’t add random “extra” items while shopping if you don’t want to get unnecessarily high bills during checkout.
- Watch out for weekly ads: While planning out your grocery list, you should also watch out for the sales items in the weekly ads so as to include them in your menu plan.
- Reduce your meat: With the skyrocketing meat prices today, you can save some money if you begin to try out more dinners with less meat or none at all.
Every dollar you save on each grocery item will eventually add up to a bigger amount at the end of the year and you will have yourself to thank for that.
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Conclusion
There are several different cheapest grocery stores in Calgary that can help you save money when shopping for groceries.
However, picking the best one among them may be confusing because they offer similar benefits and features.
To make things easier for you, this article has provided you with some of the top cheapest grocery stores in the province.
Hopefully, you can now save more on your next grocery shopping.
FAQs
How can I get cheap groceries in calgary?
Here are some of the common ways to get the cheapest grocery items in Calgary.
- Redeeming coupons
- Price matching
- Using of coupon and cashback apps
- Taking advantage of the reward programs
- Using selected credit cards that gives reward points or cash back
What’s the best way to make a grocery budget?
Here are some of the easiest ways to make a grocery budget.
- Using a pen and paper (the simplest and easiest)
- Using popular budgeting softwares like Mint and Quicken
- Using grocery shopping list mobile apps like Anylist and Food Costs
While making a grocery budget or list, ensure that planning out your meals for the month is the first thing that you always do.
What is the cheapest day to grocery shop in Calgary?
There are certains days in a week that are good for saving on some specific grocery items.
However, shopping experts claim that Wednesdays and Thursdays are generally the cheapest days to grocery shop.
