BasketBrainresearch archive

Essential 30 basket — downtown Toronto

Frozen snapshot dated 2026-04-01. 9 priced storefronts, 7 retailers, 76 total storefronts on the map.

Best vs worst — 5 headline items

🥛Milk 2% (4L)

Cheapest

Longo's

$5.99

Priciest

Loblaws

$6.97

Gap: $0.98

🥚Large Eggs (1 dozen)

Cheapest

No Frills

$4.50

Priciest

Metro

$7.59

Gap: $3.09

🍞White Bread (675g loaf)

Cheapest

Food Basics

$3.00

Priciest

Loblaws

$4.49

Gap: $1.49

🍗Chicken Breast (per kg)

Cheapest

Loblaws

$9.70

Priciest

No Frills

$13.00

Gap: $3.30

🧀Cheddar Cheese (400g)

Cheapest

Food Basics

$5.48

Priciest

Your Independent Grocer

$7.00

Gap: $1.52

Essential 30 — full basket comparison

30 items tracked. Coverage varies by retailer — 10 items are carried by every retailer in this snapshot.

You save $78.98 shopping at Your Independent Grocer vs Loblaws for the 30-item basket.

1stYour Independent GrocerCheapest
$92.92
17/30⚠︎
Save $78.98 (46%)
2ndNo Frills
$95.21
18/30⚠︎
Save $76.69 (45%)
3rdLongo's
$117.78
23/30⚠︎
Save $54.12 (31%)
Food Basics
$129.88
28/30
Save $42.02 (24%)
Real Canadian Superstore
$131.14
20/30⚠︎
Save $40.76 (24%)
Metro
$159.07
29/30
Save $12.83 (7%)
LoblawsMost exp.
$171.90
30/30
Mixed baskettheoretical minimum
$120.39

Cheapest price per item across all stores. Would require shopping at multiple stores — not a realistic single trip.

30/30

Cheapest single-store basket

Your Independent Grocer$92.92

17 of 30 Essential 30 items in stock. Mixed-basket minimum across all retailers: $120.39 (30 items).

Map of tracked stores

green pins are stores whose prices feed the comparison · gray pins are nearby storefronts we know about but whose prices aren’t in this snapshot.

Frozen snapshot of Canadian grocery prices observed at or before 2026-04-01. The map layer (`display_stores[]`) shows every real geocoded storefront within 10.0 km of the M5V 2T6 postal centroid in downtown Toronto. The price comparison (`stores[]` + `prices[]`) normally resolves to a real storefront per retailer (the nearest geocoded location to the postal centroid). Price provenance is carried on each row via the `source` field: `flipp` = weekly flyer price (banner-wide across Ontario); `metro_online` / `voila_longos` = online catalog price (Ontario-wide); `pcexpress` = shelf price from the PC Express Toronto catalog; so a `flipp` price attached to `Bo's NOFRILLS Toronto Richmond` reflects the Toronto-area flyer, not an in-store scan of that specific storefront. Prices are representative, not minima — we pick the median-adjacent observation per (item, retailer) to avoid loss-leader distortion. Not a live shopping tool.