Costco Shopper Compares Grocery Prices Between US and Canada, Leaving Viewers Hungry for More

Comparing prices of food, grocery and other items from different countries is quite popular on social media. Especially with rising inflation, people want to know how much people in their neighboring countries are spending every day. US vs Canada has been a popular comparison. Capitalizing on the trend, TikTok creator Andy Shen ( @andyshen.ca ) has created a series where he compares prices of items from the shared popular retail chain, Costco in the US and Canada.

US Costco vs Canada Costco; Here’s Everything Compared

Andy Shen in his "cross border grocery games" covers Costco locations in Vancouver, B.C. Canada and Washington State of the U.S. Starting the series in January, Shen has examined the price differences between several of the popular grocery items some of which are as follows.

Shen found that the Canadian Folgers coffee at Costco offers a better deal at $10.74/kg CAD compared to the U.S. coffee priced at $12.83/kg CAD. Shen also compared 1L bottle of Kirkland organic maple syrup and found it was cheaper by around 8% in Canda when compared to the US.

Coming to fresh produce, Shen compared items like a six-pack of bell peppers and found that the Canadian peppers worked out to be a much better deal. Shen compared the Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano and found that the Costco location in the U.S. was offering a better deal.

Several viewers asked Shen to compare the prices of meat as well. Thus, he compared brands for organic lean ground beef and found close competition. The Kirkland lean organic ground beef cost 3.6% less in the US. For chicken thighs, Americans get a better deal here as well.

Shen also compares Gillette Venus Razors which had the same packaging and same number of units in both countries. Shen found that customers in the U.S. got a better deal saving about 4% on the item. He takes a look at diapers to compare prices in the two countries as well. For this, he picks up Huggies Plus Size 1 diapers offered at regular prices at Costco. In this, Canadian consumers save a whopping 31% for the same item and the same unit size.

While several of his viewers have asked him to review more items, some have commented that it isn’t feasible to go cross country to get a better deal. To this, Shen has clarified that he doesn’t intend people to do that and he is just letting people know if they are underpaying or overpaying for the same items in either of the countries.

Meanwhile, some viewers have even shared useful information and their take on the price differences. On the beef comparison, one user ( @coors_banquets ) recommended people just buy it from a local butcher at a much cheaper price. To this Shen replied that he doesn’t get why Canada imports ground beef from the U.S.

On the chicken thighs video, several users commented that Canadian chicken was better than the U.S. chicken as they trusted Canadian farmers more. A viewer ( @snortingpug18 ) said Canada has a stricter policy on food, thus, they would always go with Canadian meat.

Shen has compared numerous items in his series which has become quite popular. For more such comparisons and shopping content, follow Andy Shen ( @andyshen.ca ) on TikTok.