Thunder Bay grocery deals this week: Cheap turkey, 50-cent carrots and fall meal bargains

THUNDER BAY — Turkey at $1.74 a pound, Ontario carrots working out to 50 cents a pound, pork loin under $3 a pound, $1.49 grapes and broccoli, 99-cent stuffing and several inexpensive fall vegetables give Thunder Bay shoppers plenty to work with as October begins.

NetNewsLedger reviewed the flyer changeover Wednesday, Sept. 30. Giant Tiger’s new flyer begins Wednesday and runs through Tuesday, Oct. 6. The major Thursday-cycle flyers reviewed for FreshCo, Safeway, Walmart, Metro and Real Canadian Superstore run from Oct. 1 to 7. FreshCo’s official flyer is location-driven, so shoppers should select the Thunder Bay store when checking the preview before heading out.

There is also a significant local addition this week. George’s Market’s specials include a two-pound bag of Ontario carrots for $1, Ontario turnip at 69 cents a pound and Ontario romaine or green leaf lettuce at $1.29 each.

With Canadian Thanksgiving approaching on Oct. 12, several flyer specials also provide an opportunity to buy turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, broth and other holiday basics before the final pre-Thanksgiving rush.

The best Thunder Bay grocery deals at a glance

The strongest values are not concentrated at one store. George’s has exceptionally inexpensive local produce, Walmart leads on advertised whole turkey, Superstore has several useful meat and produce prices, and Giant Tiger and Metro have pantry ingredients that can turn the fresh-food deals into complete meals.

FreshCo: Carrots, onions and pork lead the preview flyer

FreshCo’s official flyer page allows shoppers to choose their store and view the upcoming flyer. Because pricing is location-sensitive, Thunder Bay shoppers should ensure their local store is selected rather than relying on a generic Ontario flyer.

The Oct. 1-7 preview currently indexed online lists frozen cryovac pork tenderloin at $2.99 a pound, three-pound bags of Compliments carrots or yellow onions at $1.44 and an 18-pack of large eggs at $4.77.

Five avocados or a three-pound bag of oranges are listed at $2.44, while four sweet peppers are $2.88. Lean ground chicken is $3.99 for 454 grams.

Best FreshCo buys: Carrots or onions, pork tenderloin, eggs and peppers.

At $1.44 for three pounds, the carrots or onions work out to about 48 cents a pound. That makes them one of the lowest advertised produce prices in this week’s previews.

Stock-up call: Buy extra onions if your household regularly makes soup, stew or pasta sauce. The pork tenderloin can be divided before freezing.

Because the official FreshCo page is the location-specific source, confirm these preview prices against the Thunder Bay selection before making a special trip.

Safeway: $2.99 ham, $3.99 potatoes and early Thanksgiving shopping

Safeway’s Western Canada flyer runs Oct. 1-7 and is applicable to Northern Ontario. Safeway’s Verified Prices program specifically lists Northern Ontario and compares selected advertised products with Metro, Ontario Superstore, No Frills, Walmart, Food Basics and FreshCo.

Schneiders Applewood smoked bone-in ham is $2.99 a pound. Compliments potatoes are $3.99 for 10 pounds, equivalent to about 40 cents a pound.

Hayter’s Farm raised-without-antibiotics frozen Grade A turkey is $2.19 a pound. Raspberries are two 170-gram packages for $5 and Green Giant frozen vegetables are two for $5.

Cracker Barrel cheese is $5.97 and selected bacon is $4.99.

Best Safeway buys: Ham, potatoes and frozen vegetables.

Stock-up call: The ham is particularly useful for households that will repurpose leftovers. One ham can become a roast dinner, sandwiches, omelettes and a pot of ham-and-potato soup.

The potatoes are also a sensible purchase if a 10-pound bag can be stored somewhere cool, dark and ventilated.

Walmart: $1.74-a-pound turkey is the Thanksgiving headline

Walmart has the lowest advertised whole-turkey price among the major flyers reviewed for this article. Canada Grade A or utility turkey is $1.74 a pound in the Oct. 1-7 flyer.

Ten-pound bags of all-purpose potatoes or yellow onions are $4.44, carrots are $3.24 for 1.136 kilograms, and cauliflower or broccoli is $3.44.

Several Thanksgiving pantry items are inexpensive enough to buy ahead. Club House sauce or gravy mixes are 98 cents, Stove Top stuffing is $1.27, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce is $1.57 and Campbell’s broth is $1.47 for 900 millilitres.

Gay Lea butter is $4.97 for 454 grams and Armstrong cheese is $4.98 for selected 400-gram blocks.

Best Walmart buys: Turkey, broth, cranberry sauce, stuffing and butter.

Stock-up call: A frozen turkey can be purchased now for Thanksgiving, provided there is freezer room and shoppers allow sufficient refrigerator-thawing time before cooking.

Butter also freezes well, making the $4.97 price useful for fall baking.

Giant Tiger: 99-cent stuffing, $1.27 mushrooms and canned fish

Giant Tiger’s Sept. 30-Oct. 6 Ontario flyer has several inexpensive items that work well with the meat and produce deals at other stores.

Kraft Stove Top stuffing is 99 cents for 120 grams. White mushrooms are $1.27 for 227 grams, while Clover Leaf canned tuna or salmon in selected 142- to 170-gram sizes is $1.97.

A 1.5-kilogram Gold Label boneless smoked ham is $10.47. That works out to approximately $3.17 a pound.

Chapman’s Creamery ice cream is $3.47 for two litres.

Best Giant Tiger buys: Stuffing, mushrooms and canned tuna or salmon.

Stock-up call: The canned fish and stuffing are the obvious pantry purchases. Mushrooms are more perishable, so buy only what can be eaten within the week.

The canned fish can cover sandwiches, casseroles, pasta and quick lunches without requiring freezer space.

Metro: 99-cent celery and $1.25 pasta stand out in the preview

Metro’s Oct. 1-7 preview includes celery at 99 cents, large red seedless grapes at $1.99 a pound and fresh pork tenderloin at $3.77 a pound.

Field-grown red, orange or yellow peppers are listed at $1.48 a pound. Catelli spaghetti, selected St-Hubert sauce and several other pantry products are $1.25.

Fresh trout fillets are $9.99 a pound.

Best Metro buys: Celery, peppers and $1.25 pasta.

Stock-up call: Pasta at $1.25 is an easy pantry addition. The celery is especially useful this week because it combines with the discounted carrots, onions and potatoes available elsewhere to form the base for soups and stews.

Thunder Bay shoppers should confirm the preview against the local Metro flyer when it becomes active Thursday, as regional offers can vary.

Real Canadian Superstore: $2.77 pork, $3.98 chicken and $1.49 produce

Real Canadian Superstore has one of the more useful combinations of protein and produce in the new Ontario preview.

Pork loin centre-cut chops or roast are $2.77 a pound. Chicken breasts are $3.98 a pound. Green or red seedless grapes are $1.49 a pound and broccoli crowns are $1.49 each.

Lactantia butter is $4.97 for 454 grams. No Name or PC cheese bars in selected 300- to 400-gram sizes, or shredded cheese in selected sizes, are $4.88.

Green Giant canned vegetables are $1.37.

Best Superstore buys: Pork loin, chicken breasts, grapes, broccoli, butter and cheese.

Stock-up call: The pork is the stronger freezer purchase on price. Divide a large roast or family pack into portions before freezing.

The $4.97 butter effectively matches Walmart, while Superstore’s cheese is only pennies below Walmart’s comparable advertised price. That is not enough difference to justify a separate drive across the city.

Skaf’s Just Basics: New flyer comes Thursday

Skaf’s Just Basics says it publishes new flyers every Thursday. When checked early Wednesday, Sept. 30, its public weekly-specials page had not yet exposed an Oct. 1-7 flyer that could be independently verified.

For accuracy, prices from an older Skaf’s flyer are not being carried into this week’s comparison.

Readers checking this article Thursday or later should review Skaf’s new flyer before finalizing their trip. The independent Current River store carries a full grocery assortment including produce, meat, milk and eggs.

Best Skaf’s strategy: Look particularly at produce, canned food, frozen vegetables, meat and the store’s recurring low-priced pantry specials. If a strong Thursday price emerges, it may be worth substituting it for one of the chain-store stops rather than adding a third trip.

George’s Market: Local carrots are $1 for two pounds

George’s Market has several of the week’s most useful produce specials, according to the current weekly-specials image supplied to NetNewsLedger.

Ontario carrots are $1 for a two-pound bag, equal to 50 cents a pound.

Ontario turnip is 69 cents a pound, Ontario celery is $1.79 each, and both Ontario romaine lettuce and Ontario green leaf lettuce are $1.29 each.

At the meat counter, meaty pork back ribs are $4.99 a pound and split chicken wings are $4.99 a pound. AAA Black Angus striploin steaks are $24.99 a pound.

The deli specials include North Country local honey ham at $1.99 per 100 grams, Mastro mild or hot capocollo at $2.49 per 100 grams, and marble cheddar at $2.49 per 100 grams.

Best George’s buys: Ontario carrots, turnip and lettuce.

FreshCo’s preview has a slightly lower unit price on three-pound bags of carrots at about 48 cents a pound, but George’s two-pound bag costs only $1 total and is identified as Ontario-grown. For a smaller household, the lower total outlay and smaller bag may reduce waste.

Stock-up call: Carrots and turnip keep considerably longer than lettuce. Use the lettuce this week; buy additional root vegetables only if they fit the meal plan.

Superior Seasons: Check the local fall harvest before finishing the list

Superior Seasons operates as an online farmers market rather than a conventional weekly flyer. Customers choose an ordering period and distribution location before seeing the full inventory, so a single public flyer price list is not available for direct comparison with the chain stores.

The producer directory includes Belluz Farms, Breukelman Potato Farm, Brule Creek Farms, Borderlands Farm, Kagiwiosa Manomin, Slate River Dairy, Root Cellar Gardens, Thunder Oak Cheese Farm, and Springhills Fish and Sheshegwaning First Nation.

That makes Superior Seasons particularly relevant during the Northwestern Ontario fall harvest.

Before buying potatoes, carrots, squash, greens, eggs, dairy or other seasonal food at a supermarket, shoppers can check the currently open Superior Seasons order and compare the actual quantity and price.

The lowest sticker price will not always be local. The budgeting question is whether a Superior Seasons item can replace something already on the shopping list rather than becoming an extra purchase.

For Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, that approach also keeps a greater share of food spending connected to regional farms, small food businesses and Indigenous producers.

What should Thunder Bay shoppers stock up on this week?

For the freezer: Walmart’s $1.74-a-pound turkey is the clearest seasonal buy, particularly for households already planning Thanksgiving dinner. Superstore’s $2.77-a-pound pork loin is a more flexible everyday freezer option, while its $3.98 chicken breasts are useful for households that prefer boneless meat.

For root vegetables: FreshCo’s preview lists three pounds of carrots or onions for $1.44, while George’s has Ontario carrots at $1 for two pounds and turnip at 69 cents a pound. The unit-price difference on the carrots is tiny; choose the bag size that is most likely to be used.

For the pantry: Giant Tiger’s 99-cent stuffing and $1.97 canned fish, Metro’s $1.25 pasta, and Walmart’s 98-cent gravy mix, $1.47 broth and $1.57 cranberry sauce are practical fall purchases.

For Thanksgiving: The turkey, stuffing, broth, cranberry sauce, potatoes and butter can all be bought before the final holiday week. Waiting until the last minute is not necessary for products that freeze or store well.

For dairy: Walmart and Superstore both advertise butter at $4.97. Superstore has selected cheese at $4.88, compared with Walmart’s Armstrong cheese at $4.98. Choose the more convenient store rather than travelling for a 10-cent difference.

Five budget recipes built around this week’s deals

Turkey, carrot and potato dinner: Walmart’s $1.74-a-pound turkey can become more than a holiday meal. Roast the bird with George’s Ontario carrots and Safeway potatoes. Add Giant Tiger’s 99-cent stuffing. After dinner, remove the remaining meat and refrigerate or freeze it promptly, then simmer the bones with carrots, onion and celery to make stock for soup.

Ham and potato soup: Use Safeway’s $2.99-a-pound smoked ham with its $3.99 10-pound bag of potatoes, George’s carrots and celery and an inexpensive onion. Dice the vegetables, simmer them in Walmart’s $1.47 broth, add chopped ham and season to taste. A small amount of milk can turn it into a creamier soup.

Pork loin with mushrooms and roasted root vegetables: Use Superstore’s $2.77-a-pound pork loin with Giant Tiger’s $1.27 mushrooms and George’s carrots and turnip. Roast the carrots and turnip, brown the pork and mushrooms, then slice the pork thinly. Leftovers can become sandwiches or a second-night stir-fry.

Tuna and vegetable spaghetti: Combine Giant Tiger’s $1.97 canned tuna with Metro’s $1.25 Catelli spaghetti. Cook chopped onion, carrot and peppers in a little oil, add the tuna and whichever tomato sauce is already in the pantry, then toss with the pasta. It is a low-cost way to make canned fish feed several people.

Chicken, broccoli and potato sheet-pan supper: Cut Safeway’s sale potatoes into small pieces and begin roasting them first. Add Superstore’s $3.98-a-pound chicken breasts and $1.49 broccoli later so everything finishes at roughly the same time. Season with oil, garlic, pepper and whatever dried herbs are already available.

The key to all five meals is overlap. Carrots, potatoes, onions and celery are used repeatedly. A household buying those ingredients is purchasing a meal system rather than a collection of unrelated sale products.

How to stretch this week’s grocery dollar

Start with the foods that have an unusually low cost per pound. George’s two-pound carrot bag works out to 50 cents a pound. FreshCo’s three-pound preview offer works out to about 48 cents. Safeway’s 10-pound potatoes cost about 40 cents a pound. Those are the foods that can give a soup, stew or roast substantial volume without adding much cost.

Next, select one main protein rather than buying every meat special. A family planning Thanksgiving might choose Walmart’s turkey. A smaller household may get more practical use from Superstore’s pork loin or chicken breasts.

Think beyond the first meal. A ham should become soup or sandwiches. A turkey should produce leftovers and stock. Roast pork can become wraps or fried rice. Using the second and third meal is where a large package often delivers its real savings.

Compare total price as well as unit price. FreshCo’s carrot preview is fractionally cheaper per pound than George’s special, but George’s bag costs just $1 and contains two pounds instead of three. A household that only needs two pounds may spend less overall and waste less food.

Do not drive across Thunder Bay to save pennies. Superstore’s cheese at $4.88 and Walmart’s at $4.98 are effectively the same decision once fuel and time are considered. Butter is advertised at $4.97 at both.

Keep Thanksgiving purchases focused on foods that will store. Frozen turkey, butter, stuffing, broth, cranberry sauce and potatoes can be purchased in advance. Delicate greens are better bought closer to when they will be served.

This matters even more for shoppers travelling into Thunder Bay from rural Northwestern Ontario communities and First Nations. A well-planned trip to one or two stores can create more real savings than pursuing every flyer special across the city.

Finally, check the Thursday flyer and shelf label before paying. FreshCo’s preview is location-sensitive, Skaf’s new flyer had not yet been posted when this review was completed early Wednesday, and advertised products can sell out or have quantity limits.

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Prices and flyer information were checked Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Giant Tiger’s sale runs Sept. 30-Oct. 6; most other major-chain previews reviewed here run Oct. 1-7. George’s Market prices are taken from the weekly-specials image supplied for this review. Skaf’s new Thursday flyer was not yet publicly available when checked. Prices, package sizes and inventory can vary, so shoppers should confirm the Thunder Bay flyer and shelf price before making a special trip.