In our ongoing Geoarbitrage adventures, we will explore grocery prices in the US verses Brazil by comparing 31 common items.
For this study I used HEB as the grocery store in the US. HEB is a fantastic low-to-mid level priced grocery store. I used to use HEB every week when I lived in the US.
The grocery store I used to present prices in Brazil is Carrefour, however I do not personally use Carrefour. I found their prices to be high in some cases. I choose it because I recognized the name and I wanted a grocer in the Sao Paulo area. I want to emphasize that often better grocery deals can be found.
I chose to compare a variety of products that I thought of off the top of my head. I would like to do this as an annual series, so over time it will become more scientific, but for now, that was the selection process.
All products in the chart below have their prices standardized for weight and currency. For instance, if the amount we’re comparing is 1 pound, then I find the price per pound in the US, and the price per kilo in Brazil. I divide the price per kilo in Brazil by 2.2, in order to convert it to the price per pound. Then the Brazil price is converted to USD at the current exchange rate (5.06 as of the time of writing, which is April 10, 2024). Then the Brazil price converted to 1 pound of the item, and the BRL price converted to dollars is compare to the US price which is already priced in USD/lb.
In the table below, you can click the links of the prices to see the product on the grocery store website. Depending on when you click you may see a different price than I recorded at the time of writing. Sometimes the item is not sold by kilo or lb but the grocer listed the price per KB or LB in smaller print on the product page. In such cases I used that. In other cases I converted to the standard unit listed in the “quantity being compared” column.
Note, the only product price link missing is Brazil Filet Mignon. It was a promotion shown on the grocer’s home page, but they were out of stock so the product page didn’t exist. I linked to a screen shot of the pricing.
Table of grocery prices in US verses Brazil
| Item | Quantity being compared | US price in USD | Brazil price in BRL | Brazil price USD equivalent | Price difference buying item in Brazil |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filet Mignon | 1 pound | $20.79 / lb | R$69.99 / kg | $6.29 / lb | -69.76% |
| Frozen Ground Beef | 1 pound | $4.46 / lb | R$19.98 / kg | $1.79 / lb | -59.76% |
| 12 White Eggs* | 12 eggs | $2.14 / dozen | R$13.99 / dozen | $2.76 / dozen | 29.20% |
| Orange Juice 1.5L | 1.5 liters | $3.93 / 52oz | R$12.99 / 1.5L | $2.57 / 1.5L | -34.68% |
| Milk | 1 gallon | $3.70 / gallon | R$3.99 / liter | $3.00 / gallon | -19.02% |
| Garlic | 1 clove | $0.71 / 1 clove | R$5.57 / 5 cloves | $0.22 / 1 clove | -68.99% |
| Yellow Bell Peppers | 1 pepper | $1.54 / 1 pepper | R$11.94 / 2 peppers | $1.18 / 1 pepper | -23.39% |
| Carrots | 1 pound | $0.98 / lb | R$6.99 / kg | $0.63 / lb | -35.93% |
| Domestic Pilsner Beer | 1 350ml beer | $1.13 / 1 beer | R$3.39 / 1 beer | $0.67 / 1 beer | -40.48% |
| White rice | 1 pound | $0.96 / lb | R$6.29 / kg | $0.57 / lb | -41.14% |
| Pinto Beans | 1 pound | $1.04 | R$8.79 / kg | $0.79 / lb | -24.08% |
| Coffee | 1 pound | $8.16 / lb | R$17.20 / lb | $3.40 / lb | -58.33% |
| Toilet Paper | 12 rolls | $8.30 / 12 | R$14.99 / 12 | $2.96 / 12 | -64.31% |
| Chicken breast | 1 pound | $3.94 / lb | R$15.99 / kg | $1.44 / lb | -63.54% |
| Chicken wings | 1 pound | $4.76 / lb | R$20.39 / kg | $1.83 / lb | -61.52% |
| Pork Loin | 1 pound | $2.80 / lb | R$26.99 / kg | $2.42 / lb | -13.41% |
| Salmon | 1 pound | $12.24 / lb | R$112.90 / kg | $10.14 / lb | -17.14% |
| Frozen Pizza | 1 pizza approxomitly 1 pound | $5.01 / pizza | R$13.27 / pizza | $2.62 / pizza | -47.67% |
| Sugar | 1 pound | $2.58 / lb | R$4.39 / kg | $0.39 / lb | -84.71% |
| Salt | 1 pound | $0.67 / lb | R$2.29 / kg | $0.21 / lb | -69.30% |
| Butter** | 200 grams | $1.68 / 200gr | R$13.39 / 200gr | $2.65 / 200gr | 57.51% |
| Olive Oil | 500 ml | $8.30 / 500ml | R$31.99 / 500ml | $6.32 / 500ml | -23.83% |
| Flour | 1 pound | $0.77 / lb | R$1.86 / kg | $0.37 / 500ml | -52.04% |
| Bread | 500 grams | $3.34 / 500gr | R$8.99 / 500gr | $1.78 / 500gr | -46.84% |
| Tilapia | 1 pound | $6.73 / lb | R$67.89 / kg | $6.10 / lb | -9.38% |
| Onion | 1 pound | $1.44 / lb | R$7.99 / kg | $0.72 / lb | -50.16% |
| Tomatoes | 1 pound | $1.85 / lb | R$14.89 / kg | $1.34 / lb | -27.70% |
| Potatoes | 1 pound | $1.54 / lb | R$4.73 / kg | $0.42 / lb | -72.41% |
| Coca Cola | 2 Liters | $2.87 / 2l | R$10.49 / 2l | $2.07 / 2l | -27.77% |
| Ruffles chips | 13oz | $6.18 / 13oz | R$30.04 / 13oz | $5.94 / 13oz | -3.94% |
| Milk Chocolate bar | 1.55oz | $1.22 / 1.55oz | R$2.60 / 1.55oz | $0.51 / 1.55oz | -57.94% |
- * The price of eggs in Brazil is not properly represented. I have found eggs much cheaper. I think this is unique to Carrefour and their selection available at the time of writing. Normally there are 30 egg packs which are very cheap, but not available on the site at the time of writing.
- ** The quality of butter is much different. The US butter I chose is super cheap, and doesn’t even appear yellow based on my past experience. The Brazil butter is of very high quality is more comparable to a brand such as Kerrygold in the US, which is grass fed butter.
In most cases the prices in Brazil are much lower for an equivalent quantity of an item. Averaging the price difference of all the items shows there is a -38.14 average difference in cost of a grocery item in Brazil across the items compared. There are some extremes, such as:
- Sugar (84.71% lower in Brazil)
- Potatoes (72.41% lower in Brazil)
- Filet Mignon (69.76% lower in Brazil)
- Salt (69.30% lower in Brazil)
- Garlic (68.99% lower in Brazil)
Let me know what you think in the comments. What items should I add to the comparison in later years?
Download the raw data as a CSV file here.
-Sirsandals
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