Supermarkets Survey 2015

Madrid, October 27, 2015. OCU has conducted its annual survey of supermarkets. Its aim is to determine the price level of the various commercial establishments so that consumers can compare prices easily and, in this way, save money. The results of the survey are published in the November issue of OCU-Compra Maestra.

In putting together this survey, OCU obtained the prices of more than 155,000 different commodities in the areas of food, personal hygiene and cleaning products, grouped into two baskets representing what a typical family might buy. OCU visited 1,190 establishments throughout Spain, in 63 towns and cities as well as online.

The "typical shopping basket" consists of 150 products. It includes fresh products (meat, fish, fruit and vegetables), packaged goods, personal hygiene and cleaning products. The products are the leading brands in their segment (excluding fresh products which correspond to the same commercial category). The weight of the different products in the basket is in accord with the Household Budget Survey compiled by the INE (the National Statistics Institute). With this basket the consumer can accurately compare the price of the same products in all stores.

The "Economy basket" aims to give information to consumers who choose the cheapest products regardless of the brand. In most shops these usually coincide with the shop’s own-label brand. This basket is composed of 80 consumer products, defined by content, packaging and volume (for example, a litre of extra virgin olive oil) but not by their brand. With this shopping basket the consumer can see the trend of the store towards offering cheap prices.

For the second consecutive year the cheapest place to shop in Spain is the ALCAMPO hypermarket in Vigo. This is followed by two DANI supermarkets in Jaen and Granada and the CASH FRESH supermarket in Córdoba. The most expensive shops are, once again, the SÁNCHEZ

ROMERO supermarkets in Madrid, followed by a COVIRÁN in Pamplona and a PROXIM supermarket in Barcelona.

By supermarket chain, DANI is the cheapest supermarket for the typical shopping basket, followed by CASH FRESH and FAMILIA. The most expensive chains are HIPERDIRECT, APROP and, above all, SÁNCHEZ ROMERO.

The cheapest cities to do your shopping in 2015 are, for the branded products basket, Vigo, Cordoba, Murcia, the Corredor del Henares in Madrid, Palencia and Granada. The most expensive are Getxo, Barcelona, ​​Pamplona, ​​Gerona, Bilbao, the internet (considered as a town) and San Sebastian.

One of the most important conclusions that can be drawn from the OCU supermarket survey is that you can save an average of € 822.8 in your shopping basket. This year the savings, unlike what happened in 2014, have fallen by 11.4%. The basic cause is that most major chains, especially ALCAMPO have increased their prices, rather than reduced them as in the previous year, which has reduced the differences between shops. Even so, it is still a significant amount especially when the number of families still struggling remains very high.

The maximum saving at national level is still in Madrid, where this year it is possible to save up to € 2,712. This represents 48% of annual expenditure. This saving means that a family could, with the same annual budget, do their shopping in the cheapest shop until the end of June the following year.

After Madrid the cities where the most money can be saved are Pamplona with € 1,389, Vigo with € 1,373, Barcelona with € 1,353 and Jaen with € 1,250.  Conversely, the cities
where you can save the least are Puertollano with € 326, Pontevedra with € 355, Ciudad Real with € 379 and Teruel with € 383.

In 2015 the cost of the typical shopping basket has fallen in the different chains 0.2% on average. Not all stores have followed the same policy. In general the major chains have raised their prices, breaking with the widespread policy of price cuts last year. The chains
that have lowered their prices the most are EL ÁRBOL, SPAR and SIMPLY MARKET. At the other end of the scale, HIPERCOR and ALCAMPO have raised their prices the most. In the economy shopping basket, lower costs were much more generalised (-2.6% on average). CARREFOUR EXPRESS stands out as the shop where prices have fallen the most and ALCAMPO once again as the place they have risen the most.

The OCU study highlights the following conclusions:
· This year family spending on food has remained at practically the same level as in 2014. The trend towards reduced spending caused by the crisis has slowed down.
· A family can save an average of € 823 in their shopping basket depending on where they shop.
· The savings are even greater in the economy basket, which includes own-label products: € 2,906.62 in Madrid and € 2,024.07 in Barcelona.
· Murcia and Galicia are the cheapest autonomous regions, while Navarra, Catalonia, the Basque Country and the Balearic Islands are the most expensive.
· The cheapest chains are DANI, CASH FRESH and FAMILIA.
· While many large retail chains have increased the cost of the typical shopping basket compared with last year, most chains have chosen to lower the prices of their own-brand goods, ALCAMPO being the important exception.

For more information (media) Eva Jimenez Tel. 917 226 061 prensa@ocu.org