Cost comparisons – May 2016

This was the fourth of four quarterly surveys. For a summary of the results of all four surveys, click here. For the February 2016 survey, click here. For the November 2015 survey, click here. For the August 2015 survey, click here.

The survey took place in May 2016 (i.e. late Autumn) and all the shops surveyed were in Eltham. It focussed on veggies and fruit, but also covered other staples (eggs, bread, etc). Because they are not considered to be at all comparable, condiments etc were not included and, for similar reasons, meat was not covered. Certified Organic veggies were covered but, because they were often priced differently than non-organics (e.g. per bunch), they are not included in the analysis below.

Obviously there are caveats about the precise comparability (e.g. one seller’s bunch will be a different size than another’s; varieties; etc). For this reason, the results are presented in the aggregate only.

Summary of results (from a cost perspective only)

1. For veggies on average, the farmers’ market was around 5% cheaper than the supermarket and 5% more expensive than the greengrocer.

2. For fruit on average (only 4 types of fruit), the farmers’ market was around 30% cheaper than the supermarket and 40% cheaper than the greengrocer.

3. For other staples, the comparisons were a bit all over the place, with the farmers’ market prices being competitive for some items (e.g. cheese and free range eggs) but more expensive for others.

Veggies

In terms of scope:

• Around 40 different veggies were for sale at the market.¹ This is a similar number to that in the summer survey.²
• For more than half of these, there were multiple sellers. Almost half were also available from a Certified Organic stall.
• All 40 veggies were also available from the greengrocer and most (all bar garlic and leeks) were available from the supermarket.
• For some veggies, no cost comparisons are possible, mostly because of the differing units used for the pricing (e.g. per Kg vs per bunch).

Comparing non-organic market costs vs supermarket costs (29 veggies):

• Supermarket cheaper³ for 6 of the veggies.
• Market cheaper for 12 of the veggies.
• Prices the same for 11 of the veggies.
• On ‘average’, the market was 5% cheaper than the supermarket.⁴

Comparing non-organic market costs vs greengrocer costs (30 veggies):

• Greengrocer cheaper for 11 of the veggies.
• Market cheaper for 9 of the veggies.
• Prices the same for 10 of the veggies.
• On ‘average’, the market was 5% more expensive than the greengrocer.

Fruit

In terms of scope:

• 4 fresh fruit were for sale at the market.⁵ This is substantially less than in the spring or summer surveys.
• There were multiple sellers of the fruit.

Comparing non-organic market costs vs supermarket costs (4 fruit):

• Market cheaper for 3 fruit.
• Prices the same for 1 fruit.
• On ‘average’, the market was 25% cheaper than the supermarket.

Comparing non-organic market costs vs greengrocer costs (4 fruit):

• Market cheaper for 3 fruit.
• Greengrocer cheaper for 1 fruit.
• On ‘average’, the market was 30% cheaper than the greengrocer.

Other staples

In terms of scope:

• The items compared were eggs, milk, bread (*2) and cheese (*4).

Comparing non-organic market costs vs supermarket costs (8 items):

• Market cheaper for 2 items (brie and fetta).
• Prices the same for 2 items (cheddar and free range eggs).
• Market more expensive for the other 4 items.
• On ‘average’, the market was 30% more expensive than the supermarket.

Comparing non-organic market costs vs small shop costs (8 items):

• Market cheaper for 1 item (brie).
• Prices the same for 1 item (camembert).
• Market more expensive for 6 items.
• On ‘average’, the market was 40% more expensive than the small shop.

Footnotes

1. Basil, beans, beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, capsicum, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chilli, chives, coriander, eggplant, fennel, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mint, mushrooms, onions, pak choy, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb, rocket, sage, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, tomato, watercress and zucchini.

2. The veggies that were available at the autumn market but not at the summer market comprised: brussel sprouts, chilli, fennel and parsnips. The veggies that were not available at the autumn market, although they had been at the summer market, comprised: cucumber, rockmelon and sweetcorn.

3. For the purposes of this analysis, ‘cheaper’ means that the cost is at least 10% less and ‘more expensive’ means that the cost is at least 10% more.

4. The purpose of these ‘averages’ is to give a feel for the scale of the differences, not to provide arithmetically accurate quantifications. Let’s say that, for 3 items, the costs at place X were 3% more expensive, 10% cheaper and 20% cheaper respectively than the costs at place Y. Then the ‘average’ difference would be 9% ((10 + 20 – 3)/3).

5. Apples, lemons, limes and pears.