Is a Publix BOGO Always the Cheapest? 4 Items Floridians Can Get for Less at Aldi or Walmart
Buy one, get one free sounds like the lowest price around.
Sometimes it isn’t.
In a September check of one Publix near Port Orange, Florida, some BOGO prices came in higher than a comparable item at other stores.
Here are the BOGO items you can find for less elsewhere.
1. Gevalia Coffee at Aldi
Publix’s BOGO on 12-ounce Gevalia ground coffee cost more than Aldi’s Barissimo coffee in the USA TODAY Network-Florida check of one Port Orange store on September 16 and 17, 2026.
It took ten items from that store’s BOGO specials.
The Gevalia coffee was one of four that cost less elsewhere.
The half-off price still came in higher.
The BOGO price worked out to $7.50 a bag, half of the $14.99 regular price.
Aldi’s Barissimo coffee cost $6.29 a bag.
Two bags on the BOGO cost you $14.99, while two bags of Barissimo cost $12.58.
That’s $2.41 more at Publix for the pair.
Per bag, Aldi’s $6.29 sits $1.21 under the BOGO’s $7.50.
Four bags would run $4.82 more at Publix.
Six bags would run $7.23 more at Publix.
The gap is real.
If you buy coffee for the month, price the Aldi bag before you load up on the BOGO.
2. Springer Mountain Chicken at Walmart
In the September check at the Port Orange store, Publix’s BOGO on Springer Mountain Farms boneless chicken breasts put two packs of raw chicken in your cart.
The price worked out to $3.50 a pound on the BOGO in that same comparison.
Walmart’s Freshness Guaranteed breasts cost $2.57 a pound, and Aldi’s Kirkwood brand cost $3.29.
Walmart came out lowest on this item in the check, ahead of both Aldi and Publix.
Per pound, Walmart’s $2.57 sits 93 cents under the BOGO’s $3.50, and Aldi’s $3.29 sits 21 cents under.
Say you buy two 2-pound packs on the BOGO.
At the $6.99-a-pound regular price, one 2-pound pack costs $13.98, and the second pack rings up free.
Four pounds of Walmart’s breasts cost $10.28.
Aldi’s Kirkwood brand would cost $13.16 for the same four pounds, 82 cents under the BOGO.
Walmart’s breasts come out $3.70 cheaper for the same four pounds.
Eight pounds would run $7.40 more than Walmart’s price.
Walmart takes this one.
3. Cottonelle Tissue at Aldi
In the same check, Publix’s BOGO on Cottonelle Ultra Clean bathroom tissue cost more than Aldi’s Willow brand.
A four-roll pack of Cottonelle mega rolls came to $3.75 on the BOGO, while a pack of Willow cost $2.93.
A pair of Cottonelle packs cost you $7.49 on the BOGO, against $5.86 for two Willow packs.
That gap is $1.63.
Per pack, Willow’s $2.93 sits 82 cents under Cottonelle’s $3.75 BOGO price.
If you buy a pair every month, you’d pay $1.63 more each time.
Eight packs widen the gap to $6.52.
You’d pay $29.96 for four Cottonelle pairs on the BOGO and $23.44 for eight packs of Willow.
4. Nature’s Own Bread at Aldi
A BOGO in Florida means buying both items rather than one at half price, News4Jax reports.
So the September BOGO on Nature’s Own bread put two loaves in the cart.
The BOGO price worked out to $2.35 a loaf in the check, rounding half a cent up.
Aldi’s L’Oven Fresh Wheat cost $1.85 a loaf.
That puts the BOGO 50 cents a loaf above Aldi.
Each pair of loaves you buy costs 99 cents more than it would at Aldi.
Eight loaves would run $3.96 more at Publix.
Aldi also won this item in the check.
The gap is small.
Pair Math on Publix’s Nature’s Own BOGO
In the September check at the Port Orange store, the BOGO pair of Nature’s Own loaves came to $4.69, the regular price of one loaf.
Two loaves of Aldi’s L’Oven Fresh Wheat cost $3.70.
That leaves Publix’s pair 99 cents higher.
Four loaves widen the gap to $1.98.
Psst! How much do you know about Publix beyond the weekly ad? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Publix Policy Pop Quiz
Answer these questions on Publix and its fine print. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
On a Publix buy-two-get-two-free offer, how many items do you need in your cart to get the deal?
How the Check Worked
In its price check, USA TODAY Network-Florida halved each Publix BOGO price, rounding half-cents up to the nearest penny, to get a one-item price.
You can run the same math at home by halving a BOGO price and setting it next to the other store's single-item price.
The outlet listed the Publix, Aldi, and Walmart price for each of the ten items side by side.
Your receipt will ring the first one up at full price and the second at $0.00, so halve that full price before you compare.
Publix came out cheapest on six of the ten items, and its basket of ten totaled $34.90 against Aldi's $36.28 and Walmart's $42.42.
Shelf prices change from week to week, so treat these numbers as a snapshot of those two days.
The math is simple.
The check covered ten items at one Port Orange Publix on September 16 and 17, 2026.
Where Aldi or Walmart didn't have the same brand, the outlet chose similar private-label brands or comparable national brands, and they adjusted prices when sizes differed.
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