If you are trying to pick between grocery stores like Fred Meyer or Kroger, then you have your hands full. Comparing grocery stores can be tough especially given all of the things to consider.
To help make this process easier, I compared these stores based on three major decision making factors that most Shoppers consider before they choose a grocery store.
3 Major Decision Making Factors
- Price
- Quality
- Variety
By the end of this article, you should have a much easier time deciding on which grocery store is right for you based on your needs.
Which is Better: Fred Meyer or Kroger? Kroger is anywhere from 6% to 20% cheaper than Fred Meyer. Kroger also has more options to pick from. However, Fred Meyer does have higher quality goods compared to Kroger, according to the FDA.
Is Fred Meyer Cheaper Than Kroger?
The cost of shopping somewhere is a primary concern for most customers. In other words, most customers care deeply about how much they’re going to pay at each grocery store. Traditionally, most customers would want to go to the store with the most affordable prices.
So, between Fred Meyer and Kroger, which one has cheaper prices? To figure this out, I recorded each individual store’s prices on commonly purchased store brand items. I then averaged the prices out and grouped them into comment shopping categories. This allowed me to see which store has cheaper prices on average.
| Category | Kroger Brand | Fred Meyer Brand |
| Beverages | ✓ | |
| Baking Goods | ✓ | |
| Canned Goods | ✓ | |
| Dairy | ✓ | |
| Dry Goods | ✓ | |
| Frozen Foods | ✓ | ✓ |
| Personal Care | ✓ | |
| Cleaners | ✓ | |
Kroger is slightly cheaper than Fred Meyer in a majority of common shopping categories by a range of 6% to 20%.
Kroger and Fred Meyer are quite close in terms of their pricing. However Kroger is cheaper in a majority of common shopping categories on average. More specifically, Kroger is cheaper in 4 out of the 8 total shopping categories and Fred Meyer is cheaper in 3 out of the 8shopping categories.
To give you a better idea of what this price difference looks like, I created this comparison bar chart. As you can see both stores are quite close in their average price. There are very few categories where one store is clearly cheaper than the other.
Even though you’re likely to get savings at both stores, there are more situations where you will save more Kroger than you will at Fred Meyer. So, if you consider yourself a price conscious shopper, then Kroger is the better option for you.
Product Quality: Fred Meyer vs Kroger
The quality of products at a store is also very important to customers. Customers like knowing that they are purchasing high-quality items. So when it comes to Fred Meyer and Kroger, which one has better quality products?
To figure this out, I looked at the FDA’s product recall database. This database documents the amount of recalls that each store has had in recent years. Through this, it will be easier to see which store has higher quality products.
| Category | Fred Meyer Recalls | Kroger Recalls |
| Animal & Veterinary | 0 | 2 |
| Biologics | 0 | 0 |
| Cosmetics | 0 | 1 |
| Dietary Supplements | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | 1 | 2 |
| Food and Beverages | 15 | 46 |
| Medical Devices | 0 | 0 |
| Radiation Emitting Products | 0 | 0 |
| Tobacco | 0 | 0 |
After looking through the FDA’s database, it is clear that Kroger has significantly more product recalls than Fred Meyer. More specifically, Fred Meyer has had about 16 product recalls and Kroger has had 51.
It is safe to assume that you are likely to find higher quality products at Fred Meyer. For reference, the average amount of product recalls that most grocery stores have range anywhere between 10 – 22. So, Kroger has significantly more than most other grocery stores in the industry.
If you consider yourself a customer who prefers buying higher quality products, then you are better off shopping at Fred Meyer.
Product Variety: Fred Meyer vs Kroger
The amount of options that a customer has to choose from also ways into the decision making process. Product variety is essentially how many items that a store has on their shelves. The more product variety a store has, the more options a customer has to pick from.
Set between these two stores, which one has more options to pick from?
| Total Fred Meyer Products | Total Kroger Products |
| 10,000 | 70,000 |
Fred Meyer has significantly less product options than Kroger. You are much more likely to find what you’re looking for if you shop at Kroger than if you shop at Fred Meyer.
More specifically, Kroger has 7 times the amount of products that Fred Meyer has. For reference, the average grocery store has around 31,000 products. While Kroger totally beat this average, Fred Meyer is significantly below it.
So if you are the type of shopper that likes to have many options at your disposal, then Kroger is a much better shopping center for you.
What Does Each Store Sell?
Generally speaking, both stores carry the same types of items. More specifically, each store carries Big brand names as well as their own private label goods.
You will also be able to find a small assortment of specialty items like organic foods, gluten-free foods and other similar products. Although these stores don’t necessarily specialize in these items, they still do have options.
Which One Should You Shop At: Fred Meyer vs Kroger?
When to shop at Fred Meyer: Despite not having the cheapest prices, Fred Meyer does offer significantly better product quality. So if you don’t mind paying a little bit more for higher quality products, then you should shop at Fred Meyer..
When to shop at Kroger: for most of the items that you will shop for, Kroger will give you the best deal. Although they are only slightly cheaper than Fred Meyer, you are most likely going to save the most money if you shop at Kroger.
Final Thoughts: Fred Meyer vs Kroger
After this analysis, both of these stores are worthy contenders in the grocery industry. While both of them have their advantages, they both are outstanding grocery stores. While Kroger does offer better deals, Fred Meyer still does have cheap prices compared to the industry standard.
So no matter which one you pick, you will be shopping at a very high-quality store that will give you great value for the products you purchase.