How to compare a grocery basket in Malta

Compare the same products before comparing totals

The starting basket contains Benna 2.5% fresh milk, Barilla spaghetti no. 5, Tilda easy-cook long-grain rice, Mutti peeled tomatoes and Lurpak unsalted spreadable. Each row names its pack size. Quantities count cartons, packs, tins or tubs, so two 400 g tins means two purchases, not two kilograms.

Keep the brand, variant and pack size unchanged across shops. Salted and unsalted spreads are different products; plain rice and easy-cook rice are different variants. If you prefer another brand, use prices for that same replacement throughout your comparison. The example quantities are a starting list, not a recommendation for what your household should eat.

Use the price per kilogram or litre to check pack sizes

A smaller price on the shelf can simply mean a smaller pack. Divide the pack price by its weight in kilograms, or volume in litres, to compare quantities. A 400 g pack contains 0.4 kg. A 500 ml bottle contains 0.5 litres.

On 3 November 2026, Welbee’s listed Mutti peeled tomatoes at €1.69 for 400 g. That is €1.69 ÷ 0.4 = €4.225 per kilogram, or about €4.23/kg. Two tins still cost €3.38. Use the unrounded pack price for the basket total, and check that a larger pack will be used before choosing it on unit price alone.

Sources: Welbee’s: Mutti peeled tomatoes, 400 g.

Keep the catalogue location and date visible

The price observations were checked on 3 November 2026. Greens prices refer specifically to its Gozo online location. The PAVI / PAMA figures come from their shared public catalogue without a branch selected. Welbee’s and SPAR observations also come from public online listings without a delivery address or specific outlet selected.

Those boundaries matter when you shop elsewhere or revisit an old result. A price observed online is not a promise about every branch, your checkout price or whether the item remains in stock. Keep the observation date with any saved comparison, and refresh the numbers from the retailer or your receipt before relying on them for a new shop.

Sources: Greens Gozo: Benna milk 2.5% fat, 1 L, and selected shop location; PAVI / PAMA public catalogue: Barilla spaghetti no. 5, 1 kg, and promotion dates; Welbee’s public catalogue: Barilla prices and RRP comparisons; SPAR Malta public catalogue: Barilla prices and pack sizes.

Read the offer, not just the crossed-out price

The PAVI / PAMA catalogue recorded a guest-eligible price of €1.39 for Barilla spaghetti no. 5, 1 kg, against a regular €1.45. Its recorded promotion ends on 30 November 2026. That is a dated offer, so check it again after the end date.

Welbee’s labelled the higher comparison price for the same pasta as RRP, or recommended retail price. SPAR displayed a current price alongside a higher reference amount. Neither presentation, on its own, establishes how long a promotion lasts.

Greens Gozo advertised Lurpak unsalted spreadable, 250 g, at €3.49 for a valued customer, against €4.99 regular. We could not establish eligibility or validity. The calculator therefore starts with €4.99 and explains the conditional offer. Replace it with €3.49 if you confirm that the offer applies to your purchase.

Sources: PAVI / PAMA public catalogue: Barilla spaghetti no. 5, 1 kg, and promotion dates; Welbee’s public catalogue: Barilla prices and RRP comparisons; SPAR Malta public catalogue: Barilla prices and pack sizes; Greens Gozo: Lurpak unsalted spreadable, 250 g, regular and conditional prices.

Build Lidl and Eurospin baskets from their actual products

Choose the Lidl & Eurospin offers view to select either retailer. These lists preserve the actual brand, product and pack size. A 2 kg bag of jasmine or Arborio rice is not the same purchase as a 1 kg bag of easy-cook long-grain rice, and salted block butter is not unsalted spreadable butter. The separate totals are planning tools for the products selected, rather than a direct ranking against the same-brand sample.

At the 3 November 2026 review, Lidl advertised Milbona British salted butter, 250 g, at €2.49 with Lidl Plus for 29 October to 4 November. Its Vitasia jasmine rice offer was a 2 kg pack for €4.99 from 2 to 4 November. Lidl observations use the website default Burmarrad region; stock and other branches were not independently checked.

Eurospin was advertising its next Malta offer period, 5 to 15 November 2026. Examples included Tre Mulini penne rigate, 1 kg, at €0.79, and Delizie Dal Sole Arborio rice, 2 kg, at €3.69. Those advertised prices do not become a 3 November price just because the next leaflet is already online.

Select your planned shopping date. The calculator applies an observed offer only inside its date window and after any required membership confirmation. Use the next-period button to plan a future shop. You can enter receipt prices when an offer does not apply, and add other groceries as your own separate amount. Unknown selected prices still keep the full total incomplete.

Sources: Lidl Malta: Milbona British Salted Butter; Lidl Malta: Vitasia Jasmine Rice; Eurospin Malta: advertised promotions.

A missing price is not a free product

Optional Tate & Lyle Demerara sugar, 500 g, has verified prices for three catalogues, but no matched Greens Gozo price was established. That does not mean Greens never stocks it. It means the calculator does not have enough evidence to fill in that particular price.

Leave its quantity at zero if you do not need it. If you add sugar to the basket, enter your own Greens price before treating that catalogue’s total as complete. Apply the same rule to any missing item: a subtotal with a gap cannot fairly be compared with another shop’s complete basket.

Use receipts and account for the trip

Your receipt is useful evidence for the purchase you made. Update the matching pack price, keep the receipt date in mind and check whether a multibuy, voucher or loyalty condition affected it. Do not carry a one-off discount into every future shop automatically.

The sample basket excludes delivery charges, travel, loyalty rewards and substitutions. Add any actual delivery or transport cost separately when deciding whether a different shop makes sense. Check stock before making a special journey. A difference across five selected products cannot establish which chain will be cheaper for your full shopping list.

Turn your own weekly basket into a monthly allowance

Only use a weekly-to-monthly conversion when the selected quantities really describe a recurring week. Multiply that weekly total by 52, then divide by 12. For example, a visitor-entered weekly basket of €30 gives an average monthly allowance of €130. This is arithmetic for that selected basket, not a Malta household average.

Add groceries outside the basket separately, then bring the complete amount into your household budget once. Keep refundable bottle deposits separate from food consumption when tracking what you spend and recover. Save the result with its quantities and assumptions so your next receipt can improve it.