Both Safeway and Albertsons are two of the most well-known supermarkets in the United States. Both sell similar items to similar demographics of customers. But when you compare the two, which one is better?
To help you answer this question, I compare these two stores based on three major decision making factors:
- Price
- Quality
- Variety
By the end of this article, you should have a much better idea as to which store is right for you based on your shopping needs.
Which is Better: Albertsons or Safeway? Albertsons is anywhere from 8% to 35% cheaper than Safeway For most common store brand items. Albertsons also has higher quality products compared to Safeway, according to the FDA. Safeway does however offer more product variety in their stores compared to Albertsons.
Is Albertsons Cheaper Than Safeway?
Price point is a major consideration when it comes to deciding which supermarket is right for you. In other words, most customers prefer to shop at the store that’s going to give them the best deal or the most value for their money.
To figure out which store is cheaper between Albertsons and Safeway, I collected the prices of a variety of common storebrand items. I then put each item into a group and categorized them and averaged their prices. Below is a table that shows which store has the cheapest shopping categories.
| Category | Albertsons Brand | Safeway Brand |
| Beverages | ✓ | |
| Baking Goods | ✓ | |
| Canned Goods | ✓ | |
| Dairy | ✓ | |
| Dry Goods | ✓ | |
| Frozen Foods | ✓ | |
| Personal Care | ✓ | |
| Cleaners | ✓ | |
Albertsons is anywhere from 8% to 35% cheaper than Safeway for a majority of common store brand items.
In other words, in every category, with the exception of the beverages category, Albertsons is the cheaper store to go with. So, you are likely going to save more money on a majority of your products if you shop at Albertsons than if you shop at Safeway.
To give you a better idea of the price differences between the two stores, I created this bar graph above. For most instances, Safeway is substantially higher in price compared to Albertsons, especially in the bread and dairy categories.
So, if you are a shopper who prioritizes savings, then Albertsons is a much better choice for you.
Product Quality: Albertsons vs Safeway
The quality products is also important to most shoppers when they are looking at which store to go to. Most customers want to know that the store they are shopping at has safe products. In other words, they want to know which store has higher quality products.
To figure out which store has higher quality products, I took a look at the FDA’s product recall database. This database allows you to see how many product recalls a store has had in recent years. By looking at this we will be able to see which store has the lower quality items. The higher number of product recalls, the lower the quality.
| Category | Albertsons Recalls | Safeway Recalls |
| Animal & Veterinary | 0 | 0 |
| Biologics | 0 | 0 |
| Cosmetics | 0 | 0 |
| Dietary Supplements | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | 0 | 0 |
| Food and Beverages | 8 | 12 |
| Medical Devices | 0 | 0 |
| Radiation Emitting Products | 0 | 0 |
| Tobacco | 0 | 0 |
After checking the FDA’s database, it is clear that Albertson’s has less product recalls, thus meaning they have higher quality products. More specifically, Albertson’s has 8 product recalls whereas Safeway has 12.
For reference, the average range of product recalls that supermarkets have is anywhere from 10 to 22. So Albertsons falls below the average, and Safeway is within the average.
Product Variety: Albertsons vs Safeway
Product variety is yet another factor that shoppers look at before they go to a store. Although it may not be as important as price or quality, it still plays an intricate role in the decision making process.
So, which store has more product variety. In other words, which store has more options to pick from?
| Total Albertsons Products | Total Safeway Products |
| 12,000 | 33,000 |
Safeway has significantly more products to pick from than Albertsons. In fact, Safeway has almost 3 times the amount of products in their stores in comparison to Albertsons.
For reference, the average supermarket carries around 31,000 products. While Safeway holds a bit more than the average, Albertsons has less than half of the average. This is a clear indicator that Albertsons has less product variety than Safeway. You are more likely to find everything you need at Safeway in comparison to Albertsons.
So if you consider yourself a shopper that likes having many options to pick from, then Safeway is the better option.
What Does Each Store Sell?
Each store sells both Big brand names, and they each have their own private label products. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding the typical larger brands in each store. For the most part, each store sells different consumable items as well as fresh produce. You will also be able to find a variety of basic household items.
Which One Should You Shop At: Albertsons vs Safeway?
When to shop at Albertsons: if you like cheap items that are also of higher quality, then Albertsons is right for you. Well they may not have as many options as Safeway, you are guaranteed to save a substantial amount of money.
When to shop at Safeway: if you don’t mind paying a little bit extra, or potentially having lower quality items than Safeway is for you. They offer substantially more products than Albertsons, which means you’ll be able to find everything that you need when you shop at Safeway.
How Do Albertsons & Safeway Compare To Other Stores?
I’ve written a bunch more articles comparing both Safeway and Albertsons to other stores, check out the list below to find out more.