The Portugal News compared the prices of four Portuguese supermarkets: Continente, Auchan, Pingo Doce, and Mini Preço. Focusing on certain products, the ones that people buy most, as they are some of the most needed. All the prices are available on the online shops of the mentioned supermarkets, although the prices may vary according to the city, or place people are living when buying at the local store.


According to Deco Proteste, prices are rising every week, for reasons such as the Ukraine and Russia conflict, which contributes to inflation, which is raising the price of production and transportation of products. The entity points out that the cost of essential food items has increased by 19.48 percent when compared to February 2022.



Which is the cheapest supermarket?


For the comparison, The Portugal News, focused on the prices of supermarkets’ own brand goods, meaning that the prices were compared focusing on the cheapest products of the shop. Milk, eggs, chicken, beans, spaghetti, olive oil, oil, rice, plain flour, sugar, tuna, toothpaste, shower gel, a small bread and toilet paper, were the products, perceived as essential, that were compared.


By consulting the online shops of the supermarkets already mentioned, it is possible to conclude that Auchan is the cheapest supermarket in Portugal, having a difference of €2.85 when compared to the most expensive supermarket, Mini Preço. However, the prices vary only by a few cents, for every product in every supermarket.


Where are the cheapest groceries?


Some of the stores have the same price for certain products. For example, 1 kg of carolino rice and sugar cost the same in everyone, €1.29 and €1.39, respectively. The 500-gram package of spaghetti costs 80 cents in every supermarket but Auchan, where it is one cent cheaper. The same goes with the price of a “carcaça”, it costs 21 cents in every supermarket but Mini Preço, which is a cent more expensive.


Credits: TPN; Author: Bruno G. Santos;

The chicken and the toothpaste (herbal, 75 ml) are the products where the difference in prices between stores is bigger. A kilo of chicken breast costs €7.49 in Mini Preço, being the supermarket with the most expensive chicken, contrary to Auchan, where it costs €6.49, one euro in difference. In Continente, a kilo of chicken breast costs €6.79, and €6.99 in Pingo Doce. Concerning toothpaste prices, every supermarket has a different price, which may be seen on the table designed by The Portugal News.


One kilogram of plain flour and 500 grams of dry red beans cost the same in every supermarket but Mini Preço. Continente, Auchan, and Pingo Doce, all have those products costing 85 cents and 99 cents, respectively, however, Mini Preço has the highest price asking, 99 cents for a kilo of all-purpose flour and €1.15 for 500 grams of red beans.


Will the prices ever go down?


Everybody is expecting the prices to stop raising, but that may not be close to happening. Inflation does not seem to stop rising, therefore the prices may continue to rise, while the salaries remain the same.

Author

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos