Which supermarket is the cheapest? Picnic vs AH and Jumbo

As you probably know, recently we have tried the grocery shopping from the online supermarket Picnic (here you can find my review). Just based on feeling, I could not say Picnic was ‘way more/less expensive’ and yet I was very curious to see.
How cheap (or expensive) is actually Picnic compared to Albert Heijn or Jumbo?
I have therefore taken my shopping basket and compared prices in the table below.

Our grocery shopping from Picnic, delivered at home

Recently I have found a comparison online, but it was dated 2017, and I have thus thought it would be nice to have an updated version.
Products are quite representative of our weekly grocery shopping, and all prices are taken from the online websites at their full rate (excluding bonuses), for the same amount of product, for sake of comparison.
The choice of the supermarkets is based on the offer they have, which is rather comparable. At least, all what we got from Picnic is available in similar versions both at AH and Jumbo.

Product prices

In the table below we display the product with the type, brand and organic choice (where applicable) and the price for the same product in the three supermarkets. When not available, the chosen alternative is specified between brackets.
Furthermore, when the packages contain different amounts, we have recalculated the costs based on the quantity specified on the column on the left. These cases are marked with an *.

PicnicAHJumbo
Potatoes (kruimige), 5kg3.793.795.99
Carrots (organic), 1kg1.491.491.49
Conference peers, 1kg2.092.092.09
Bananas (organic), 51.891.891.59
Janagold apples, 1.5kg2.892.792.79
Zespri green kiwis, 1kg3.993.99 (AH)3.99
Arla vanilla (organic), 1lt1.381.491.45
Eggs (organic), 10 3.193.853.81
Bio+ milk (organic) 1lt1.091.191.08
Bio+ boiled beets (organic), 0.5kg1.091.091.09
Broccoli (organic), 11.791.791.79
Courgette (organic), 10.990.990.99
White champignons, 250gr0.990.990.95
Onions, 2kg2.192.192.19
Witlof, 0.5kg0.991.890.99
Paksoi, 11.091.091.09
Mozzarella0.570.570.57
Ground beef (organic), 350gr3.723.72*3.72*
Spruiten, 500gr1.591.291.49
Leek0.550.590.55
Pizza mozzarella1.850.90*1.85
Pizza Hawaii1.911.991.89
Peas, frozen (organic), 450gr1.351.491.67
Milk, preservable, 1lt0.950.990.98
Milk preservable (organic), 1lt1.041.051.04
Whole grain wheat flour1.091.090.86
Dr. Oetker yeast0.550.67*(il Molino)0.64
Oats (organic), 400gr0.880.84*0.75*
Muesli nuts and fruit (organic), 400gr1.491.771.70*
Knackerbrod, wholemeal, 250gr0.460.66 (AH)0.46
Cane sugar, 750gr1.391.391.39
Oatcookies, 300gr1.181.191.18
Digestive biscuits, 400gr0.690.690.69
Zaanse maionnaise0.790.990.98
Mineral water0.450.650.39
TOTAL53.4355.1356.17
Comparison of prices: Picnic vs AH vs Jumbo

*price is displayed for different amount on the website, here computed for the same amount for sake of comparison

Delivery costs

For a complete comparison, I would have included also the delivery costs in the table. However, that’s not possible because AH and Jumbo offer different prices in different days and timeslots, subscriptions and free delivery upon purchasing specific products every week.
Picnic’s delivery is free, thus even when the competitors can offer free delivery, it remains the most convenient for the grocery shopping considered here. And, not to be forgotten, Picnic requires a minimum expense of 35 euros which is much lower than the minimum required by the other two supermarkets.

Conclusions

Overall, products’ prices seem quite comparable although there are few products for which the difference is substantial.
For example, the frozen pizza mozzarella from AH is half the price of the same pizza at Picnic or Jumbo (and I believe the quality to be rather similar), while potatoes at Jumbo are much more expensive than the same potatoes in the other two supermarkets.
For the grocery shopping considered here, Picnic sums up to a lower total, followed by AH and Jumbo. Also when adding the delivery costs, Picnic remains the most convenient (for a modest 35 euro of total grocery shopping).

Disclaimer

Note that all what is in here is taken from official websites/apps (updated on 08/10/2020), and depends on our choice of products. It does thus not have a general validity. Given the variability in prices, it’s possible that for some combination of products you get to a different conclusion.
Furthermore, it’s strictly considering the prices and not comparing quality or range of choice.
I hope you will understand the purpose!

Do you have experience with it? Do you share my view?
In case you like reading these posts, sharing is caring and that’s a way to support me in keeping writing!

Doei!
Marta

2 Comments

  1. By Sarah 12th January 2021
    • By MartaR 12th January 2021

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