TICKET – The aisles of Dollarama stores are full of Halloween candy, and we have to admit that the selection is really more varied than in supermarkets, where you can always find the same products. But is it worth buying sweets there from a financial point of view? I was there to make the comparison.
• Also read: How Dollarama manages to sell certain products three times cheaper than in the supermarket
First, let’s clarify something: I didn’t really focus on the quality of the candy for this exercise. Partly because it’s hard to determine, and partly because for a child celebrating Halloween, the quality of the treats is probably the least of their worries. An original candy that you have never tried before can be much more exciting than an Aero bar if you have already eaten this chocolate several times!
On October 15, I visited Dollarama in Montreal’s Plaza Saint-Hubert to see what they were offering two weeks before Halloween. I admit I was surprised by the abundance of selection – I had never seen most of the Halloween candy on offer in my life.
And yes, there were more classic options too, like small bags of Skittles or even mini Kit-Kats.
Since it’s easier to make a comparison with “standard” products available elsewhere, we’ll start there.
Mini chocolate bars
Nestlé chocolates (Kit-Kat, Smarties, Aero, Coffee Crisp) seem to be the most popular as they are widely available and in multiple sizes. That’s why I used them as the basis for this comparison.
At DollaramaNestlé mini chocolate bars are sold in packs of nine or ten at a price of $0.20 or $0.25 per bar of chocolate (depending on type).
They can be found at regular price at Walmart has $0.20 per bar and at Maxi has $0.21 per bar. However, to benefit from this price, which is similar to Dollarama, you must purchase a larger quantity (box of 100).
However, be careful: Special offers can change the situation! On the day of our experience there was a box of Nestlé chocolates on sale Maxiand the minibars returned $0.16 per unit.
I also did a comparison with the Mars mini bar bags.
At Dollarama they went back to regular price $0.21 per barat Maxi $0.25 and at Walmart in $0.27.
At Maxi they could only be found in various boxes of 65 bars from the company of the same name (Mars), which also included mini Snickers and Twix bars as well as bags of M&Ms and peanut M&Ms.
And once again they were on special offer At Maxihas $0.12 per unit the day of our experience.
Verdict: If you opt for the cheapest varieties, mini candy bars are cheaper at Dollarama than regular-priced Maxi and Walmart. But when you come across sales at the supermarket (they even come before Halloween!), it seems like the cheapest way to get big brand mini candy bars. If you want to buy smaller formats, Dollarama seems to be the best place to get them.
The bowling games
Skittles bags are pretty much the only other “standard” Halloween candy I’ve found at Dollarama.
They had these sweets at Dollarama $0.16 per bag. It was available at regular price at Walmart $0.19 per bag and at Maxi, $0.21 per bag.
Note that they could only be found at Walmart and Maxi in boxes of 70 mixed with Starburst.
There were also those on the day of our experiment Special offers At Max, which ensured the bags of Skittles came back $0.11 per unit.
Verdict: LThe price of Skittles bags is cheaper at Dollaramaunless you come across a sale at a major grocery store.
• Also read: Is grocery shopping at Dollarama really worth it?
The original candies
If you occasionally glance at the Halloween candy aisles in supermarkets, you’ll probably notice that they’re generally the same products everywhere. Walmart certainly has more selection than Maxi (a quick look at their websites will show this), but nothing matches Dollarama when it comes to the selection of individually wrapped Halloween-themed candy.
This exhibit represents just a small selection of the Halloween candy I saw at Dollarama in Plaza Saint-Hubert.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some examples I saw on the shelves at Dollarama.
Gummy bears in the shape of vampire teeth.
Lollipop rings in Halloween colors.
Small foil-covered chocolate balls, a classic Halloween candy crop.
It is difficult to do the exercise for all of these types of candies and also to accurately compare them with other similar products elsewhere.
But as we saw in previous sections, you can expect to pay for a candy bar The regular price ranges from $0.19 to $0.27 per unit at grocery stores. So let’s start with this basic price range to see how some more original Dollarama candies compare:
- Double Bubble Erasers: $0.04 per unit
- Fizz fizzy candies: $0.04 per unit
- Rockets: $0.08 per unit
- Popeye cigarettes: $0.21 per unit
- Halloween colored lollipop rings: $0.21 per unit
- Chocolate pumpkins with caramel filling: $0.31 per unit
Verdict: If you go through this section you will find the cheapest candies, and by far. If we choose to offer children rockets, sparkling candies and chewing gums within the same budget, we can distribute much more than if we take candies from more reputable brands. That said, We also find great alternatives to original candiesat similar prices to grocery stores elsewhere, adding variety to the crops of children knocking on doors.
However, it is difficult to sort everything out without calculations. If you want to stick to a strict budget, open your calculator app. But if your main goal is to make sure you don’t pay too much for nothing, don’t worry too much about choosing Dollarama. Aside from the caramel pumpkins, the prices are comparable to the supermarket.
Happy Halloween!
• Also read: Is the meat at Maxi and Super C really worse than at IGA and Metro?
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