Dirk 15/09-20/09

The supermarket bill is one of the few household costs you can still steer, but proving that another chain is genuinely cheaper takes more than a slogan. What Dirk has put out this week is not an ordinary flyer but an eight-page newspaper-style supplement, headed DE BESPAARBIJLAGE, Speciale advertentiebijlage, 15 september 2026, valid to 20 September, in which most of the space goes to articles and only four blocks print an actual price.

The page that can be checked is page four: three receipts from the same day and the same town printed side by side, headed Albert Heijn at Burgemeester van Stamplein 270, Dirk van den Broek at Burgemeester van Stamplein 48-50 and Jumbo at Marktlaan 31, all in Hoofddorp, dated 8 September 2026. The 22 lines are identical item for item and total 60,98 euro, 48,15 euro and 60,48 euro. The arithmetic: 60,98 minus 48,15 divided by 60,98 is 21,0 per cent, and 60,48 minus 48,15 divided by 60,48 is 20,4 per cent, which matches the ruim 20% on the page. The same sum works on your own receipt: one minus your total here divided by the total for the same items elsewhere.

Subtracting the 22 lines one by one, where the gap sits matters more than its size:

• Four non-food lines carry almost half of it: Taft haargel ultra styling 150 ml at 3,99 against 5,79 euro, a gap of 1,80; Colgate tandpasta sensation white 75 ml at 1,99 against 3,75, a gap of 1,76; Elmex tandpasta anti-caries 75 ml at 3,45 against 4,65, a gap of 1,20; and Pampers babydoekjes sensitive, 52 wipes, at 1,99 against 2,99, a gap of 1,00. Together that is 5,76 euro of the 12,83, some 45 per cent. A household that gets through toothpaste, styling products and wipes quickly will find the difference mostly here.
• The remaining 18 lines account for only 7,07 euro: the widest is Lindt dark chocolate 70 per cent, 100 gram, at 3,75 against 4,79, a gap of 1,04, followed by Leev organic lentil wafers 117 gram and Skippy peanut butter 340 gram at 0,80 each. A dozen everyday grocery lines differ by ten to thirty cents apiece. On food alone the gap comes out well below the ruim 20% on the cover.
• The other two chains barely differ from each other: of the 22 lines only three are not identical, Lindt chocolate at 4,79 against 4,49, Kips paté vega 125 gram at 2,49 against 2,19 and Taksi jungle fruit 1,5 liter at 1,89 against 1,99, so those two receipts end 0,50 euro apart. What the table really compares is one chain against two, not those two against each other.

Retailer

Dirk

Valid

15/09/2026 to 20/09/2026

Pages

8 pages

The supplement sets out its own scope in small type at the foot of page four: the comparison uses the regular selling prices of these three chains at their Hoofddorp branches on 8 September 2026, printed as 08-09-2026, covers only the products selected in this advertisement rather than the full assortment, and allows for price changes since. In other words it establishes what these 22 items cost on that one day, not what a month of shopping costs, and which 22 items appear was decided by the advertiser.

Only four blocks in the eight pages print a price: Pampers Premium Protection nappies or pants, all variants, packs of 26 to 56 pieces, at 9,99 euro; Prodent toothpaste, 75 ml tubes, at 99 cent each; Milner cheese slices, all variants, packs of 6 slices, at 1,49 euro from 2,59 to 3,47; and flower bulbs including tulips, daffodils and hyacinths at 99 cent each. There is also a word puzzle whose answer must reach Dirk, Postbus 770, 2400 AT Alphen a/d Rijn before 6 October 2026. Before your next trip, pull the repeat household items out of your last receipt and compare just those; that handful of lines is often the whole difference.