Where to find the best prices for school lunch ingredients?
Ahead of the new school year, family grocery expenses tend to rise. We analyzed the cost of a basket of essential school lunch items across various supermarket chains to determine where shoppers can save the most.
Ahead of the return to school, it is not just school supplies that enter families' shopping lists. The products that make up the mid-morning snack and household shopping also become a cumulative expense: from rolls and cheeses to fruits and vegetables. We checked a basket of products suitable for family consumption during the back-to-school period and compared food chains to see where you will pay less.
We performed the price comparison using the Pricez website, and the gaps between the chains were significant. The cheapest basket was found at the Rami Levy chain, where its cost totaled 409 shekels. In contrast, the most expensive basket was found at the Universe chain, with a cost of 463.65 shekels. This is a gap of 54.65 shekels, meaning about 13.4% more for the same basket of products.
One of the most prominent gaps was found in the price of oranges, which were sold at Rami Levy and Yohananof for 5.90 shekels compared to 7.90 shekels in the other chains checked—a gap of 2 shekels for the same product.
Another significant gap was found in the price of Shokolit powder (500 grams) by Elite. At Rami Levy, the product was sold for 10.90 shekels, while at Universe its price reached 15.90 shekels. This is a gap of 5 shekels, or about 46% more in the expensive chain compared to the low price.
In the fruit sector, a large gap was also recorded: black or red grapes were sold at Rami Levy for 14.90 shekels, compared to 24.90 shekels at Victory. Here, the gap is 10 shekels, meaning about 67% more than the price at the cheaper chain.
The comparison illustrates how much choosing a chain can affect family expenses, especially in a period when the shopping basket grows due to the return to routine and studies. Even when it comes to daily products that seem cheap on their own, a gap of a few shekels on each item can accumulate to tens of shekels in a single purchase. Therefore, before going shopping, it is worth comparing prices and not assuming that the lowest price is always found in the same chain.
