A few years ago Target expanded its stores to include relatively robust grocery sections. You can now get most, if not all, of your staple grocery shopping done at Target. However, just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Target’s grocery section is a potential minefield for frugal shoppers because despite some incredible deals, there are also a few lousy prices mixed in.
Here is our breakdown to help you shop most effectively for groceries at Target.
Whether it’s strawberries, tangerines, spinach, carrots or some other fruit or veggie; Target occasionally has spectacular prices on produce. The key word there is occasionally. When Target discounts produce, it typically does so because the store is either overstocked or the produce is nearing expiration. As long as the discounted produce appears good upon a solid inspection, then you are likely to get a steal.
Conversely, if the produce is not on sale, then your best bet is to avoid it entirely. Target’s regular prices on produce are often far worse than those of local supermarkets, and it usually doesn’t have as robust a selection. Those who prefer to buy only organic or locally grown produce are probably better off skipping the Target produce section considering its high prices and minimal selection for those items.
Target’s store brand for groceries is called “Market Pantry”. A wide variety of products fall under the Market Pantry brand and they are almost always discounted more than the mainstream name brands. In many cases, Market Pantry’s version of a product is virtually identical to the name brand, and in some cases it might even be superior.
Target loves to mark down candy and snacks. While not all candy or snacks is discounted at the same time, you can usually find at least a couple of exceptional deals among those products. One week it might be Snickers and the next week it might be Doritos, but rest assured that there will be a noteworthy bargain on at least a couple of popular items.
If there’s one particular item that you would be wise to stay away from at Target it is milk. Other than the local liquor store, you can probably find better prices for milk at just about any supermarket or neighborhood pharmacy.
In fact, Target has a tough time competing when it comes to deals for most dairy products. The prices on butter, ice cream and yogurt are typically better than that of milk; but you can still often find better deals at traditional grocery stores. Cheese is the one dairy product where Target does sometimes have solid discounts.
Though not all frozen foods are a bargain at Target, you can find some outstanding prices if you shop carefully. Another thing to remember is that the more flexible you are in terms of frozen food brands, the more bargains you’ll find. Target goes through cycles and will offer steep discounts on certain brands of frozen foods, but it might be a while before you see another discount on that same brand, so if you shop with just the price in mind, you’ll do pretty well on frozen foods at Target.
Target certainly doesn’t have the worst prices on baby foods, but it doesn’t have the best either. Target is roughly in line with most supermarkets, but generally trails Babies R’ Us and low-cost stores like Big Lots in terms of deals. Making matters worse is that Target rarely seems to have major sales on its baby foods, unless its a closeout item, in which case Target does offer huge price drops.
Don’t even bother shopping at Target if you want a meat that is more exotic or are seeking a non-traditional cut. If you adhere to strict standards on knowing where your meat comes from exactly or how the animal was raised, then you can also ignore Target. For those in search of basic meat items like ground beef, chicken breast or pork chops, however, Target can offer decent value, particularly when the store runs a sale promotion.
