Comparing the Can Can Sale to Costco's prices

A 2013 Can Can Sale! display at the ShopRite in Englewood.

I expected a bigger crowd at the ShopRite in Englewood today, the start of the 2013 Can Can Sale! 

Or as the sales flier wrapped around the front page of my daily newspaper called it: "The Greatest Sale Ever!"

All those exclamation marks can't hide the sad realization that the first of this year's Can Can Sales is a mere shadow of past discounts.

And when I compared ShopRite's Can Can Sale  prices to the everyday low prices at Costco Wholesale, I saw the supermarket chain has an edge only in variety. 

A couple of items I regard as staples aren't as big a buy as they were in the past at ShopRite:

ShopRite's 100% Italian Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, which was cut to $5.99 per liter, compared to $4.99 in the past; and 12 packs of Adirondack Seltzer, which were $2.50 each, not the $1.99 I paid last July at the Summer Can Can Sale.  

  

ShopRite's imported Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.

I could find only a few 12 packs of Adirondack Seltzer.

 

I had to buy 10 cans of low-sodium Progresso Soup to get the Can Can Sale price of under $1.19 each.

I came across boxes of 40 Melita No. 2 Coffee Filters (brown) for 99 cents each or half price, even cheaper than ShopRite's white filters.

Five 15.5-ounce cans of low-sodium Goya Beans were 5 for $3, but green pigeon peas weren't included for some reason.

I also bought uncured, antibiotic-free Applegate Naturals Black Forest Ham, which wasn't on sale, because the Englewood ShopRite is one of the few that carries that brand.  

Similarly, there was a barnyard full of low-quality chicken on sale, but none of Readington Farms' antibiotic-free poultry or the chicken parts from Coleman Organics. 

Naturally raised, uncured ham wasn't on sale in Englewood.

  

The Can Can Sale price for Florida's Natural Premium Orange Juice is $5 for 2 cartons (59 ounces each), compared to 4 full half-gallons of Tropicana Premium Orange Juice for $11.19.

That works out to .043 cents at Costco and .042 cents at ShopRite.

Poland Spring Water is 13.4 cents a bottle at Costco and 13.8 cents a bottle at ShopRite, but you have to buy 72 bottles to get that price at the supermarket, compared to only 35 at the warehouse store.

A 40-ounce jar of Victoria Marinara Sauce, which uses Italian tomatoes, is $3.99 at ShopRite.

I couldn't find the same pasta sauce at Costco, although I've bought it at the Hackensack warehouse store before. 

Costco has an annoying habit of moving products around -- to create a treasure-hunt atmosphere -- or my store may have run out of it.  

Food treasure at Costco: hand-made pasta from Italy.

   


To get Can Can Sale prices, you have to present the ShopRite Price Plus Card.

To get the biggest bang for you buck, search for coupons in sales fliers that will get you an even better buy when combined with Can Can Sale discounts.

I also use an American Express Blue Cash credit card, which gives a 3% rebate on groceries. 

What does that sales flier say?

Image by the justified sinner via Flickr

Take those supermarket sales fliers with a grain of salt.

Does "USA caught" mean the seafood is wild-caught? 


Does "We source the salmon and smoke it to perfection" mean the fish was wild-caught or farmed and raised with harmful additives, including artificial color?


Those questions are raised by the latest sales flier from Fairway Market in Paramus.


On the cover, Fairway urges shoppers: "Catch spectacular savings!"


Just below that, "USA CAUGHT JUMBO WHITE SHRIMP" are offered for $7.99 a pound.


I called the fish department in Paramus and was told the shrimp are indeed wild-caught in the Gulf of Mexico.


The Fairway smoked salmon is $6.99 for one-quarter pound or about $28 a pound -- compared to $15 and change for a pound of smoked wild salmon from Costco Wholesale.


Fairway's smoked salmon must be farmed or the store would say otherwise. It's too bad the New York-based chain -- unlike Whole Foods Market -- doesn't tell us more about its farmed fish.


The Fairway sale on wild-caught shrimp is a much better deal than the smoked salmon -- about $2 a pound under what Costco charges for farmed shrimp from Vietnam.


But Fairway's sale on conventionally raised whole beef filet mignon at $6.99 a pound is at least $2 over ShopRite's sales price for free-range, grass-fed filet mignon from Australia.


Unfortunately, Fairway also has a sale on mercury laden swordfish steaks caught off Montauk, L.I., at $9.99 a pound


Fairway's sale starts Friday and runs until Sept. 1, but the shrimp and filet mignon are discounted through Sept. 5.


The flier is available online at www.fairwaymarket.com. The store is in the Fashion Center Mall.


Food warehouse


The sale at the International Food Wine and Liquor Warehouse runs through Sept. 6.


The Lodi store is offering two 16.9-ounce bottles of organic extra-virgin olive oil from Chile for $4. That works out to $4 a liter, an excellent price for organic olive oil.


The store is at 370 Essex St. You can submit your e-mail address to receive coupons and special offers at internationalfoodwarehouse.com


Corrado's Family Affair


Corrado's in Clifton, Wayne and Fairfield is offering whole watermelons at 19 cents a pound. The sale starts today and runs through Sept. 21.


Web site: www.corradosmarket.com


Greek yogurt


On Aug. 10, I bought two 32-ounce containers of thick, creamy non-fat Greek-yogurt at Costco in Hackensack for $6.49, or about $3.25 each, compared to $4.99 for a 32-ounce container at Trader Joe's.


When I returned to Costco for more on Wednesday, the price was two containers for $6.99 -- about $3.50 each.