Price comparison: Mercadona vs Carrefour in Spain

Mercadona and branded goods: the 10% everyone is talking about

A regular Mercadona customer walks into a Carrefour, opens the Mercadona website on their phone and compares. The result, according to their own account, is that every branded product they checked cost at least 10% more at Mercadona. The scene sums up a suspicion that has been circulating among consumers for years: the supermarket that built its empire on own-brand products as a hook has become, according to some shoppers, one of the most expensive for anything that isn't Hacendado.

The comparison this shopper put on the table comes with its own fine print. In their case, the box of Artiach Dinosaurus biscuits (330 g) came to €1.99 at Mercadona versus €2.39 at Carrefour for 411 g, which worked out at €6.03 per kilo versus €5.82. Puleva Peques growing-up milk cost €1.55 at Mercadona and €1.42 at Carrefour. The detail matters: the comparison was made between websites, and several shoppers warn that online prices don't always match in-store prices.

The bait tactic: cheap own brands, pricey name brands

The most common diagnosis is that of own brands as bait. Hacendado would act as a magnet, drawing customers in with aggressive prices on basic products, while the margin soars on the familiar name brands. One shopper sums it up with an image: the police raid a premises for illegal gambling and drugs, and searching the basement they find the real incivil activity — a supermarket. The irony is aimed at the entire business model.

Defenders of the model respond with data. They argue that some products have been frozen or falling in price for years: the pack of three baguettes dropped from €1.20 to €1.10, the 820-gram loaf of sandwich bread went from €1.15 to €0.99 in 2008 and has stayed there, milk has fallen by about ten cents per litre since 2008, and the two-kilo cat food has always been €1.99. The rebuttal comes quickly: bread, milk and water are loss-leader products, sold almost at cost to attract customers, and their prices are similar across nearly every chain. The debate stalls exactly there — on whether those frozen prices are a pricing policy or a shop window.

The real cost of the shop: the bill rises without changing the list

The argument that carries the most weight isn't about a single product, but the whole trolley. A customer with fixed habits calculates that five years ago they filled their trolley for between €90 and €100, and now it never comes to less than €120 to €150. Same family, same products, same city. The rise can't be explained by a change in habits.

Against that, the most loyal Mercadona shoppers reply that the own brand is still the cheapest and that anyone who wants commercial brands should shop elsewhere. The problem is that most households don't buy only own-brand products, and that's where the gap shows. In Asturias, according to the studies cited, Mercadona comes out as the most expensive supermarket, and not by a little.

Proximity as a silent tax

There's a factor that no price comparison captures: distance. Carrefour and Alcampo are cheaper, but they require a car. Mercadona, Día and neighbourhood supermarkets are within walking distance. The saving of four or five euros on the bill gets eaten up by petrol. The practical conclusion more than one person draws is that you can't do all your shopping at a single supermarket without overpaying for something: either in price, or in travel.

The format is also misleading. A Carrefour Market is not a big Carrefour: the range, promotions and even card acceptance change. An Express is something else again. The name is the same; the experience and the prices are not.

In the end, the question that remains unanswered is the usual one: if Mercadona is more expensive for everything it doesn't make itself, why is it still packed?