Today’s reader question:
Are groceries at ski resorts really expensive? I heard everything is overpriced and really expensive!
You know what, I get asked this all the time from friends, family and from readers of the blog. Everyone always says that food and groceries at ski resorts are more expensive, but I’ve never seen that to be true.
Sure some things are a bit more expensive (ie. Milk and bread are pricier in Whistler), but there are a lot of things that are either the same price or cheaper depending on the country you’re coming from.
For example, overall food prices in Whistler’s main grocery store are generally cheaper than your standard big grocery chain store in the UK and Australia. Generally, I’ve found grocery prices to be pretty similar, even in the tiny town of Wanaka in NZ.
I’m sure there are places where the price of groceries are more expensive, but overall you’ll still find one major grocery shop in most ski towns and the prices are overall pretty even with your standard Safeway supermarket in Canada/US (ie. Woolworths for you Aussie readers).
The bottom line:
At the end of the day, even if it’s a tiny bit more expensive, I’ve never had groceries in any of the ski resort have any real effect on my overall budgeting. It’s not like I’ll walk into the grocery store in Whistler and find that milk is $15 a litre.
I’d be more worried about eating out and going to the pub with friends if you’re budgeting for food. Paying an extra $1.20 on bread is basically nothing compared to the money you can spend if you aren’t careful with eating out and pub crawling with your friends.
- Jed
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My experience is similar to yours, depends on where you go. For example in Park City there were two grocers that I remember, one was right in town and another was a mile or two outside of town. The one just outside of PC was markedly less expensive than the one downtown.
But yeah, even marked-up groceries are going to be far less expensive than dining out every day. When we travel, we typically stock up on food for breakfasts, snack food to pack in pockets/backpacks for lunch, and also late-night food like pizzas, microwave burritos, etc. we prep a few of our own dinners but also eat out a few nights. Making your own meals really helps keep your expenses manageable.