They tell us they are the “Fresh Food People”, or that prices are “down, down, prices are down”.

Who knew an ad starring aging rockers pointing big red hands down would work so well!

There are many places you can go to buy your groceries, but the grocery store landscape is dominated by the big supermarket chains.

The question is, do large supermarket chains offer better value than smaller, independent grocery stores?

Convenience is king

If you prefer to shop in your trackies and Ugg boots, then the convenience of the supermarket is for you.

Often grocery shopping habits are driven more by convenience than value, and that’s where large chains trump the little guy.

They are everywhere, they have huge car parks and they are a one stop shop. You don’t have to visit the greengrocer, then the butcher and then the baker.

Prime pricing

Specials keep us coming back – we have all pushed our cart down the aisle looking for that yellow sticker.

Supermarket chains bulk buy and then pass the savings onto you, that is their great strength.

But, soon everything starts to look and taste the same. There are lots of generic and mass-produced products that are not always of a high or even a consistent quality.

If you want something a bit different you are better off going to your greengrocer or butcher.

So the choice is yours, a pair of trackies for convenience and price or seeing a variety of specialists in quality and freshness. Ultimately, it’s up to you, the customer, to decide what is of most value to you.