Price comparison when shopping

Supermarkets in Iceland

I wanted to get an idea for myself as to how the well-known Icelandic supermarket chains compare in price here. To do this, I chose four “staple foods” and went to various supermarkets here in Reykjavík and looked at the prices. It's not necessarily representative, just a personal snapshot of my stay in Reykjavík now in March 2019.

I was at the "Bónus Fiskislóð" at the old harbor of the city, ...

... also at the old harbor at the "Krónan Granda", ...

… then at “Tíu-Ellefu”, the “10-11” shop on Austurstræti…

...and at the "Hagkaup" in the Kringlan shopping center.

The next day I was at “Nettó Granda”, also in the commercial area at the old harbor in Reykjavík.

The products I chose for my personal comparison were a liter of fresh milk, a piece of toast (770 g each), a pack of cheese (330 g) and a cup of Skyr (200 g).

In comparison, I can now say that Bónus and Krónan hardly differed in price, Netto was a little more expensive and Hagkaup was a little more expensive - and, unsurprisingly, the "10-11" store was by far the most expensive supermarket.

Of course, you can only compare the shops to a limited extent in terms of their orientation, their location, their offerings and, above all, their opening times. It is obvious that a store that is located in the middle of the city center and is always open day and night has different costs for store rent and staff than a supermarket in an industrial area or in a shopping center. In addition, the range of products on offer, the selection, the layout of the store, etc., differ. Ultimately, it is up to the consumer to think about when and where they want to buy or what alternative they have - or don't have.

The " Bónus Fiskislóð " opens at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m., on Sundays at 12 p.m., and usually closes at 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m., on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

The " Krónan Granda " is open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Sunday.

The " Tíu-Ellefu " in Austurstræti, in the middle of downtown Reykjavík, is open 24 hours every day, so it is a little different than the classic supermarkets on the "outskirts" or in the shopping center.

The " Hagkaup " in the Kringlan is (at the moment) open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Sundays it only opens at 1 p.m., but on Thursdays it is open until 9 p.m.

Like the 10-11 store in the city center, the " Nettó Granda " is also open 24 hours a day.

(Just a note - other stores in the different chains often have different opening times.)

Here is an overview of the prices that I wrote down:

	Bonus	Kronan	10-11	Hagkaup	Net
1 piece of toast	409 ISK	410 ISK	699 ISK	445 ISK	449 ISK
1 liter of milk	178 ISK	154 ISK	369 ISK	189 ISK	155 ISK
1 pack of cheese	725 ISK	729 ISK	1,119 ISK	879 ISK	789 ISK
1 cup of skyr	175 ISK	178 ISK	309 ISK	209 ISK	189 ISK
	1,487 ISK	1,471 ISK	2,496 ISK	1,722 ISK	1,582 ISK

Converted, my “shopping cart” cost around €10.90 at Bónus, around €10.80 at Krónan and around €11.60 at Nettó. At Hagkaup it cost a good €12.60 and at 10-11 it cost a good €18.30.

As a point of comparison - in Germany I pay around €4.20 at my usual supermarket for a roughly comparable shopping basket with milk, cheese, skyr and toast.

[Translated from here.]