Think Costco Has the Cheapest Produce? Think Again

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While Costco’s produce prices are certainly competitive, you might spend less elsewhere. 

My family eats a lot of fruits and vegetables. That’s a good thing from a nutritional standpoint, but from a cost perspective, it can be tricky. That’s because produce tends to be expensive.

Now, I’ve always made a point to shop at Costco for the majority of my produce. Doing so often results in a lower credit card tab than what I’d end up with at the supermarket.

But recently, I decided to stop into Aldi to see what its selection of produce and prices looked like. And I can honestly say that my mind was a bit blown. Not only did Aldi have a nice selection, but I found multiple items at a lower price point than what Costco had to offer.

It pays to look outside of Costco

The tricky thing about shopping at Aldi is that its selection isn’t always consistent. A friend of mine who shops there often recently told me that while Aldi is her go-to supermarket, she sometimes needs to look elsewhere for produce because they don’t always have everything in stock at once. Still, if you’re looking to grow your savings account balance this year, you may want to head to Aldi over Costco the next time you need to buy fruits and vegetables.

My family eats a lot of cucumbers. Aldi had large seedless ones for $1.25 apiece. At Costco, I was looking at $2 per cucumber ($5.99 for a three-pack). Now to be fair, Costco’s were organic, which likely drove up the price. But that was also the only option for cucumbers there.

Meanwhile, my daughter is constantly asking for pineapple, and even though I’m more apt to buy it during the summer, I try to indulge her when the price is cheap enough. Recently, my local Aldi had pineapples for $1.99. At Costco, they were $2.69.

Finally, Aldi had a three-pound bag of mandarins for $2.69, or $0.90 a pound. Costco, meanwhile, had an eight-pound bag of oranges for $8.79, or $1.09 per pound. And while oranges and mandarins aren’t the exact same product, they’re pretty close.

Compare your choices if you’re looking to save on produce

Clearly, it’s possible to find cheaper produce at Aldi than at Costco. But will this be the case for every item, and in every area? Not necessarily.

I want to make it very clear that Costco prices vary by store and region, so while my local warehouse club may have had oranges for $1.09 a pound recently, another Costco might have had them for $0.89. And also, the selection at Costco as well as Aldi can vary depending on where you’re located.

That’s why you can’t assume that Aldi will be your cheapest bet for produce. But if you’re willing to put in the time to comparison-shop, you should get your answer.

In my case, that was pretty easy, since I have an Aldi and a Costco right next to each other. If these two stores are across town from one another in your area, then you may not have the luxury to pop into one and then the other, review prices, and make your purchases.

But either way, food is probably a large expense in your budget, as it is in mine. So it pays to compare your choices when it’s reasonable to do so.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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