In this economy, every dime counts. And smart food shopping is one way to save money.

“Price is always a concern,” said pre-law student Brianna Swanson, 20, who lives in Clayton with her parents. “I do go to Safeway, the reasons being it’s closest to my house and using the discount card.”

The Inquirer took a look at three local grocery stores to compare prices – Concord Produce, Safeway and FoodMaxx.

Each store had reasons to shop there, some more than others.

When it came to produce, Concord Produce and FoodMaxx were close in price and much cheaper than Safeway. But Concord Produce was far superior in both quality and variety than either FoodMaxx or Safeway.

“In the summer, pretty much everything is local,” said Roberto Cortez, who manages Concord Produce. “I’m the one in charge of buying the produce.”

Concord Produce’s advantage is that he personally chooses what is bought, Cortez said.

“For a big corporation, it’s harder to control, quality-wise,” he said.

Although his store does not sell meat, it has an excellent selection of fresh seafood and a small but complete selection of groceries.

When it came to meat, FoodMaxx was by far the cheapest, although shoppers had to be willing to buy larger portions.
   
FoodMaxx was also the cheapest for most goods, such as alcohol, cleaning supplies and staples like rice and beans. Often times, however, the products were off-brands and tended to come in jumbo size.

One of the more interesting items was “horse carrots” – 25 pounds for $6. While intended for horses because of their poor physical appearance, they would have been fine for a slaw salad or a stew.

Assistant grocery manager Theresa Bellyomini said FoodMaxx is able to cut prices because it has its own trucks and keeps half of its inventory on the shelves, which cuts down transit and storage costs.

“It’s easier for us to keep [items] on sale longer,” she said.

Safeway was the most expensive, even with its discount card, but it also had the greatest variety of name-brand products, as well as its house brand.

“We try to stay competitive with our prices,” said head clerk Marie Molina. “Our No. 1 thing is customer service.”