{"id":86080,"date":"2022-07-31T13:23:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-31T13:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/?p=86080"},"modified":"2025-11-17T17:43:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:43:03","slug":"the-outliers-grocery-basket-july-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2022\/07\/31\/the-outliers-grocery-basket-july-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"The Outlier\u2019s Grocery Basket: July 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The average cost for our basket of 12 staple items in July was R480, which is slightly cheaper than last month<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Based on our basket, there\u2019s a price difference of R84 between the most expensive and the cheapest retailers<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The price of sunflower oil is one of the main reasons for this<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s normal for grocery prices to fluctuate from month to month \u2013 and some months reflect wider changes than others. For example, the average price of our July grocery basket is slightly lower than it was in June \u2013 R480.81 versus R483.20 \u2013 but there is also a much bigger difference between the cheapest and most expensive baskets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on our basket of 12 basic items, Woolworths was the most expensive retailer in July 2023 at R510.88. All the other retailers in our survey came in at under R500.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/07\/Group-25-600x600.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86128\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>This chart was updated on 2 August 2023. An earlier version of this chart had a truncated x-axis which gave an exaggerated view of the price differences. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ups and downs <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In July there was an R84 difference between the cheapest and most expensive baskets, whereas in June the difference was R54.89. We take a look at what\u2019s behind that R30 difference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First off, Makro\u2019s basket price decreased by a substantial R24.09 and Spar\u2019s increased by R14. Those were the two biggest fluctuations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turns out, this is all thanks to the price of oil at Makro, where sunflower oil in July was R15 cheaper than it was in June. At Woolworths, sunflower oil increased by R7, which accounts for the R8 increase in the overall basket price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/08\/Sunflower-oil-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86117\" srcset=\"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Sunflower-oil-3.png 500w, https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Sunflower-oil-3-300x223.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At Spar, cake flour was the cause of its basket price increase. In June flour was R39.99 and in July it had risen to R49.99.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"410\" height=\"312\" src=\"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/08\/unnamed.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86114\" srcset=\"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/unnamed.png 410w, https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/unnamed-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Since June 2023, we\u2019ve been tracking the prices of 12 basic items across eight of South Africa\u2019s biggest retailers. This is up from the 9 items from four retailers that we started with a year ago. We made the changes in response to feedback from shoppers, retailers and other experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Resources<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theoutlier.co.za\/outlier-grocery-basket\">Previous reports, methodology and a full price-comparison table<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Branded basics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The price difference across brands of two other basic items \u2013 sugar and maize meal \u2013 also tell their own story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cheapest 2.5kg packet of white sugar we found was Food Lover&#8217;s Market&#8217;s store brand, which cost R44.99. This was followed by a packet of Hullets-branded sugar at Woolworths for R53.99.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"429\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/08\/Sugar-price.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Sugar-price.png 429w, https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Sugar-price-300x260.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A 2.5kg packet of Shibobo maize meal at Boxer was R31.99. That was the cheapest brand we could find at the eight stores we looked at. Pick n Pay&#8217;s Pride maize meal was the priciest at R49.99, which was R18 more expensive than Boxer&#8217;s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-02-at-07.24.51-800x436.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86126\" width=\"598\" height=\"326\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Notebook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theoutlier.co.za\/outlier-grocery-basket\">Grocery Basket Survey page<\/a> for a detailed breakdown of our methodology,<br \/>insight into the changes we&#8217;ve made \u2013 and why, as well as a full set of monthly prices in table format<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you wish to reproduce or quote any part of this project and data please contact us at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:groceries@theoutlier.co.za\">groceries@theoutlier.co.za<\/a>. The scope of this project is limited so while we are happy for others to reference it, we do want to be sure that the intention and results are not misrepresented in any way that suggests it is more than it is<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Additional data collection by Gemma Ritchie, Mamaili Mamaila and Laura Grant<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An update on our in-store survey of the same basket of basic goods at eight of South Africa&#8217;s major retailers, including, Checkers, Shoprite, Spar, Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Food Lover\u2019s Market, Boxer Superstores and Makro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":86082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,5,1318,446,15,1387],"tags":[166,90,162,92,222,168,93,163,94,95,223,167,96,97,99,224,100,169,170,101],"newsletter-post":[],"site":[],"class_list":["post-86080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cost-of-living","category-economy","category-grocery-basket","category-news","category-surprise-me","category-the-outlier","tag-boxer","tag-checkers","tag-cost-of-living","tag-economy","tag-flour","tag-food","tag-food-lovers-market","tag-groceries","tag-grocery-basket","tag-inflation","tag-maize-meal","tag-makro","tag-pick-n-pay","tag-retailers","tag-shoprite","tag-spaghetti","tag-spar","tag-sugar","tag-sunflower-oil","tag-woolworths"],"acf":{"big_number":null,"big_number_caption":null,"big_number_link":null,"big_number_background":null,"big_number_text_colour":null,"big_number_icon":null,"big_number_wide":null,"featured_chart":null,"flourish_chart_id":null,"flourish_sub_title":null,"flourish_chart_width":null,"is_newsletter_post":null,"post_style":null,"show_on_front":null,"link_through":null,"chart_url":null,"background_colour":null,"text_colour":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86608,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86080\/revisions\/86608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86080"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter-post?post=86080"},{"taxonomy":"site","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/site?post=86080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}