In an era where inflation has become routine, millions of households have no other choice than to rely on “low-cost” products to survive on a daily basis. But are these products, namely pasta, rice, sugar, ham, eggs and even laundry detergent, really interesting?
At the time of writing, a shopping basket has increased by 15.5% on average. If in the past the rise in prices was mainly felt on niche products, all products are now affected by a considerable increase during checkout. Add to this the rise in gas and electricity prices and the rise in fuel prices, the end of the month has become more than complicated for millions of households in France. Enough to push us even more to fall back on so-called “low price” products.
Faced with this unprecedented phenomenon, the magazine 60 Million consumers conducted the survey and analyzed more than 110 of the most emblematic products found in homes to try to find out if these famous low-cost products are really interesting.
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These “first price” products that are worth it
First alarming observation, the enthusiasm for purchasing “low price” products increased by 20% between January and August 2023. As the magazine points out, low-cost products are usually “40 to 50% cheaper than the big brands”. In this long analysis, 60 Million consumers first studied the price of raw products, unprocessed or minimally processed grocery products, such as pasta, grated gruyere, flour, salt, sardines, hamburger steaks, eggs between the first prices and those iconic brands like Panzani, Francine, President…in stores Leclerc, Lidl, Carrefour, Intermarché, Super U, Auchan, Aldi and Casino.
For half of the products, buying first prices is advantageous. “This is the case for grated gruyere, flour, sugar, shells, salt…” assures the magazine, in particular for these “low-tech” products, the big brands are not really able to make a difference : same type of ingredients and European origin. The most telling example remains that of flour because all the low-cost wheat flours studied are worth the equivalent brand flour. There is therefore no point in betting on a much more expensive branded product.
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Less interesting “first price” products
In front, there are other products for which it is better to pay the price. We are talking about eggs, chicken, beef and sardines in particular because by purchasing the model from a major brand, we have more guarantees on animal breeding and therefore the certification of eating good and healthy food.
Same observation for the first-price hazelnut spread but also the beef lasagna, the pain au chocolat or the breaded fish which, despite their attractive price, contain far too many additives.