These Twin Cities grocery stores offer the best price and quality

In the past five years, American grocery costs have soared.

In 2022, prices for food prepared at home jumped by a historic 11.8% from the year before, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index. While prices didn’t drop in 2025, the rate of inflation for groceries has, for the most part, slowed. In July, costs for groceries were 2.2% higher than the prior year.

Nonprofit Consumers’ Checkbook’s latest evaluations of Twin Cities-area grocery stores found most shoppers can save by shopping low-cost stores. Checkbook researchers shopped stores using an 150-item list to compare prices. To evaluate stores on quality of products and service, Checkbook surveyed its members. Here are the findings:

The Germany-based discounter focuses on low costs, and the survey found Aldi quite inexpensive: Based on the shopping list, Aldi’s prices were 41% lower than the all-store average. Aldi’s per-unit prices were even lower than Costco and Sam’s Club.

Aldi’s smaller-format stores partly explain the savings, since the company has much lower overhead costs than conventional supermarkets.

Aldi also benefits from different expectations. Shoppers at Cub, Hy-Vee, Walmart, etc., expect to always find their favorite brands on the shelves. Aldi carries mostly house brands, not national-brand products. Aldi’s shoppers trade that quirkiness for comparable very low-priced products

Walmart offered prices about 21% lower than the average at all other stores Checkbook surveyed. Minneapolis-based Target had prices about 13% lower than the all-store average.

Eighty-two percent of survey respondents rated the funky-and-fun chain “superior” for “overall quality.” It’s also now a price leader in the area: TJ’s prices were about 17% lower than the all-store average.

Checkbook members rated both local chains quite favorably overall and for their produce and meat quality. But Kowalski’s prices were the highest among surveyed stores at 19% higher than the all-store average, and Lunds & Byerlys’ prices were about 11% higher than average.

Hy-Vee’s prices averaged about 8% lower than Cub’s, and 56% of its surveyed customers rated it “superior” overall, compared to only 38% for Cub.

In our previous price survey, Fresh Thyme had prices that were, overall, nearly as low as Walmart. But in our latest round of shopping, its prices were about 4% higher than the all-store average. Fresh Thyme did have low prices for produce (18% lower than the all-store average) and meat (8% lower) but charged very high prices for the brand-name nonperishable items on our shopping list.

Fresh Thyme continues to receive generally favorable ratings for quality, with 73% of its surveyed customers rating it “superior” overall.

Only 14% of surveyed customers rated Walmart “superior” for “overall quality.” Target was 36%, and Cub was 38%.

Within the largest chains, there is relatively little store-to-store price variation. Prices at the surveyed Cub, Hy-Vee, and Target locations were about the same from store to store.

Along with Kowalski’s and Lunds & Byerlys, Almsted’s Fresh Market and several local co-ops ranked best for quality. Ninety percent or more of the co-ops’ customers rated them “superior” for fresh produce.

Costco’s prices were about 35% lower than Cub; Sam’s Club’s prices were 34% lower. And compared to Walmart, the savings were about 17% at Costco and 15% at Sam’s Club.

In addition to having low prices, Costco received very high customer ratings for the quality of its meat and better-than-average ratings for produce quality and overall quality. (Sam’s Club’s ratings were considerably lower than Costco’s.)