Top 5 Grocery Chains Offering the Most Budget-Friendly Store Brands

Many of us have experienced the frustration of overspending on groceries. Opting for store-brand products instead of name-brand items can help alleviate this issue. But which grocery chains offer the most economical private-label options? The discount code platform Coupons4Real conducted a study to find out.

For their analysis, researchers examined the prices of 225,317 items across 253 grocery subcategories. They focused on meat and seafood, dairy and eggs, beverages, baked goods, and frozen produce in 173 supermarkets across 49 major U.S. cities. The team compiled a list of 118 store-brand items and compared their prices at Aldi, Costco, Kroger, Target, and Walmart. Using a zero to 100 scale, with 100 representing the highest cost, they ranked the affordability of each chain.

Among its competitors in the discount grocery sector, Walmart emerged as the leader in affordable store brands. Its private-label products—such as Great Value, Freshness Guaranteed, and Sam’s Choice—ranked in the lowest 20 percent for cost compared to other major stores in the study.

Aldi is not just famous for its annual advent calendars—it also ranks second for offering some of the most affordable store-brand groceries. With private labels like Happy Farms, Season’s Choice, and Kirkwood, its prices fall within the lowest 35 percent of all store-brand products.

Costco secures the third spot, with prices approximately 5 percent higher than Aldi. Known for its bulk offerings, the store’s Kirkland Signature brand places it in the bottom 40 percent of all store-brand prices in this study.

Check out the full ranking below: