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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 15 June 2007

Researcher Emma Dixon goes shopping

Neighbourhood shops ‘beat the supermarkets’

Survey reveals it’s cheaper to shop locally

IF you want to save money you would be better popping round the corner to the shops than making a car trip to the supermarket, research commissioned by Islington Green Party has revealed.
The research compared the price of a typical basket of goods bought at four neighbourhood shops in Highbury against the equivalent items purchased from a major supermarket chain.
The supermarket cost was £64.30 compared with only £51.25 for the same items bought locally – a saving of £13.05.
“Supermarkets have always claimed they win on price and they spend millions of pounds a year on advertising to convince people this is true,” said Islington Green Party spokesman James Humphreys.
“But this research shows our local shops save people money. In fact, the supermarket in our survey was charging a 25 per cent mark-up overall for the same goods.”
Items bought by the researchers ranged from baked beans, bread and fish fingers to organic pasta and cherry tomatoes. Household essentials such as toilet rolls and washing-up liquid were included.
Highbury shops surveyed were Fiveboys health food store and pharmacy in Highbury Barn, White Bros greengrocers, Highbury Butchers, in Blackstock Road, and Handy Mini-Mart, in Mountgrove Road.
Mr Humphreys said: “We knew local shops would be good value for money, but even we were surprised by just how expensive supermarkets were by comparison.
“They have a few cheap items to catch the eye, but even on basic goods like potatoes the supermarkets could be four times more expensive than buying locally”
Although Sainsbury’s was the supermarket used for comparison, the research suggested broadly similar results for Tesco and Asda.

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