Grocery shoppers could face substantial differences in what they pay depending on which supermarket they choose, with the latest V.I. Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs survey finding a gap of $112.85 between the lowest and highest comparable market baskets on St. Thomas.
DLCA’s Supermarket Comparative Study for the week of September 21 compared identical items available at surveyed stores on each island. Pueblo La Reine recorded the lowest overall basket on St. Croix, Pueblo Subbase led on St. Thomas, and Pine Peace Mini Mart remained the least expensive of the three St. John stores surveyed.
The number of products included differed by island because DLCA only counts identical items that were available at every participating supermarket on that island. As a result, the total basket prices should not be used to directly compare the overall cost of groceries between St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John.
On St. Croix, DLCA compared 97 items across five supermarkets. Pueblo La Reine recorded the lowest basket at $435.71, followed by The Market at $453.92, Pueblo Golden Rock at $460.79, Stop and Shop Supermarket at $484.03, and Plaza Extra at $488.56.
That created a $52.85 difference between the least and most expensive baskets, meaning Plaza Extra’s comparable basket cost about 12 percent more than the same group of products at Pueblo La Reine.
The individual prices demonstrate why the store with the lowest overall basket is not necessarily the least expensive place to purchase every product.
The Market, for example, offered the lowest surveyed price for five pounds of white rice at $4.49, while Pueblo La Reine charged $4.99. Stop and Shop listed five pounds of all-purpose flour at $6.97, slightly below The Market’s $6.98 and substantially below the $8.39 charged at both Pueblo locations.
Stop and Shop also had the lowest price for a 24-ounce bottle of ketchup at 99 cents, compared with $2.49 at The Market, $2.59 at Plaza Extra and $3.29 at both Pueblo locations.
Some of the larger price differences involved everyday household and food products. A dozen Grade A large eggs cost $2.39 at The Market, compared with $7.99 at Stop and Shop. A 16-ounce package of bacon ranged from $9.49 at Stop and Shop to $17.49 at Pueblo La Reine.
On St. Thomas, the survey compared 91 identical products at four supermarkets.
Pueblo Subbase recorded the lowest total at $483.98, followed by Pueblo Long Bay at $505.28, The Market at $512.60, and Food Center at $596.83.
The $112.85 difference between Pueblo Subbase and Food Center was the largest dollar spread among the three island surveys. Food Center’s comparable basket was approximately 23 percent more expensive than Pueblo Subbase’s.
Again, however, individual items sometimes told a different story.
Food Center offered the lowest surveyed price for New York strip steak at $18.99 per pound, compared with $19.99 at The Market and $20.39 at both Pueblo locations. It also listed tea bags at $3.30, below The Market’s $3.49 and both Pueblo stores.
Pueblo Subbase, meanwhile, offered a gallon of fresh 2 percent milk for $6.93, while The Market listed the same quantity at $6.37 and Food Center at $9.
Some especially large differences appeared among household products. An 84-ounce container of liquid laundry detergent ranged from $16.09 at Pueblo Subbase to $31.29 at Pueblo Long Bay, while a four-pack of toilet paper ranged from $2.39 at The Market to $9 at Food Center.
On St. John, DLCA was able to compare 46 identical products across St. John Market, Pine Peace Mini Mart and Starfish Market.
Pine Peace had the lowest basket at $240.60, followed by St. John Market at $258.15 and Starfish Market at $290.25.
The difference between Pine Peace and Starfish was $49.65, with the highest basket costing roughly 21 percent more than the lowest.
Pine Peace posted particularly low prices on several produce items. Red and green apples and oranges were each priced at $1, while lemons and limes were 50 cents each. It also had the lowest price for five pounds of all-purpose flour at $9.99 among the St. John stores.
Starfish, despite having the highest overall basket, had the lowest price for several individual products, including bacon at $11.29, tea bags at $4.99, fresh 2 percent milk at $4.59 per half-gallon, and salted butter at $5.49.
DLCA also produced a separate territory-wide comparison of 37 products available at every supermarket surveyed across all three islands, allowing a more consistent look at individual prices around the Virgin Islands.
That comparison illustrates some of the geographic differences consumers encounter.
Five pounds of white rice could be found for as little as $4.49 on St. Croix, compared with a lowest price of $7.59 on St. Thomas and $7.95 on St. John.
A 16-ounce bottle of olive oil was available for as little as $7.99 on both St. Croix and St. Thomas, while the lowest St. John price was $19.99.
All-purpose flour showed a similar difference. The lowest five-pound price was $6.97 on St. Croix and $4.29 on St. Thomas, compared with $9.99 on St. John.
St. John was not consistently the most expensive, however. Pine Peace listed red and green apples at $1 each, while the lowest green-apple prices were $1.99 on St. Croix and $2.89 on St. Thomas. Oranges were also lowest at $1 on St. John, compared with $1.09 on both St. Croix and St. Thomas.
The newest results also show that shoppers cannot assume the same supermarket will remain the lowest-cost option from one survey to another.
In DLCA’s previous comparison for the week of September 7, Pueblo La Reine also recorded the lowest St. Croix basket and Pine Peace led on St. John. On St. Thomas, however, Pueblo Long Bay had the lowest basket in that earlier survey, while Pueblo Subbase moved into the lowest position in the September 21 comparison.
Because the number of identical products available for comparison changed between surveys, the overall basket totals cannot be used to measure inflation or determine precisely how much prices rose or fell over the two-week period.
DLCA encouraged consumers to compare prices and shop based on the products they regularly purchase rather than relying solely on a supermarket’s overall basket ranking.
