GROCERY and household shopping habits tend to be subjective – a peek into anyone's basket is said to tell the viewer a lot about the consumer's lifestyle – although, in Spain, one's choice of supermarket does not tend to reflect income or social class in the same way as in the UK.
For that reason, it's easy to believe each and every store is similar in terms of choice, range, quality and price – although national consumer organisation OCU has revealed this is not always the case. Whilst those of a certain typology tend to try to compete on price – and, more recently, social responsibility, looking at ways of beating their 'rivals' in cutting down on disposable plastic above and beyond what the law dictates – and certain stores are attempting to maximise their own brands, creating products which are at least as effective as those retailing elsewhere, it turns out the differences between supermarkets in Spain are greater than we thought.
Many shoppers will already tell you they have to visit several stores to get everything they need, or want, meaning customers tend less to have a particular favourite; otherwise, most will admit they merely go to their nearest one.
But the OCU's detailed study has revealed we can save hundreds, if not thousands, of euros by shopping around – and that sometimes, how much we shell out on our groceries is a postcode lottery.
Naturally, price isn't everything. Even knowing that we can cut our annual shopping bill by switching stores, we're not necessarily going to do so. Some have products we specifically need whilst others don't, or some have goods we prefer, and some are simply closer to home – there's little point in saving a few euros at the till if you're going to spend them all, and more, in petrol. Also, as anyone who owns – or is owned by – cats, dogs or other animals knows, however cheap a given brand of pet food is, you can't always persuade them to eat it. Most pets aren't going to let you shop around for their own groceries just so you can afford more stuff for yourself. But if saving money on human food is one of your priorities, the OCU's findings are helpful to bear in mind.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com