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Dec 29, 2023

Massachusetts, New England grocery stores ranked by consumer nonprofit

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For the first time in four years, Boston Consumers' Checkbook is out with its grocery store rankings, and once again, the nonprofit watchdog group says there's a clear New England winner.

A pound of Land O Lakes salted butter looks the same no matter what grocery store you're in, until you see the price tag. A quick NewsCenter 5 survey found it ranging from $4.49 on sale to $5.29 to $6.69 - a markup of nearly 50 percent. Price swings like that are why Consumers' Checkbook checks in on grocery stores every few years.

"Competition is good. I think having all these options is good for the marketplace," said executive editor Kevin Brasler. "Ultimately, that benefits consumers."

Consumer's Checkbook shopped a list of 154 standard items across more than a dozen New England chains ranging from local favorites to national big box players. Brasler says there was a clear frontrunner, and it's the same as it was back in 2018.

"I think in terms of quality and price, the combination of those things, Market Basket was the clear winner. It had very low prices," he said. "It hasn't changed. This has been the case since we started looking at supermarkets here in the Boston area 20-plus years ago."

Price is where Market Basket excels. Consumers' Checkbook says $100 worth of groceries would only cost $82 on average at Market Basket, a savings of 18 percent. That bags the store second place in the price category, behind Walmart by only one dollar ($81) and ahead of Hannaford ($89) and Target ($92).

But what pushes Market Basket to the front of the line is the high marks for quality the chain also gets from its customers. It was rated superior by 71 percent of its shoppers.

"While it doesn't get the really high ratings for things like quality of fresh produce that some stores do, it's ratings were markedly above average," said Brasler. "Market Basket is the rare exception to the rule really when it comes to supermarkets around the country that if you want to save money you [usually] have to compromise in terms of quality."

If you're shopping strictly on quality, be ready to pay more.

Consumers' Checkbook says Whole Foods Market, Roche Brothers and Wegmans all easily topped the New England quality list, which covers fresh produce, meats and overall satisfaction from customers. But all three come with higher prices.

The same $100 worth of groceries would cost $111 at Roche Brothers, $112 at Wegmans and $113 at Whole Foods. Consumers' Checkbook says that's a big jump in pricing for Wegmans, which seemed to feature lower prices when it entered the Greater Boston market a decade ago.

"We were so surprised that we actually shopped Wegmans twice just to make sure we didn't catch it on a bad week or something like that," Brasler said. "We pretty much found the same result the second time we shopped it: that its prices relative to other stores in the area are far more expensive now than they were four years ago."

So where does all this leave the traditional New England supermarket chains: Shaw's/Star Market and Stop and Shop?

"The main players here, the traditional supermarket chains, are still being squeezed," Brasler said.

Consumers' Checkbook says the two chains feature the lowest overall customer ratings by far, ranging from 27-30 percent, yet come with above average prices. The organization found Shaw's prices are similar from store to store, but says Stop and Shop featured better deals at its North Shore locations.

"I don't think that's a mistake," Brasler said. Stop and Shop "prices were lower generally at stores where there was competition from Market Basket."

NewsCenter 5 reached out to Wegmans, Shaw's and Stop and Shop for comment on Consumers' Checkbook's findings. Only Stop and Shop responded. The company issued a statement saying it "stands by its commitment to fresh, high-quality products across its 400-plus stores." Stop and Shop said it reintroduced its "Freshness Guarantee last year, which ensures that if a perishable product purchased in Stop & Shop's meat, seafood, produce, dairy, bakery, floral or deli department does not meet a customer's standards for freshness and quality, they can return the item and receive double their money back."