Commissaries to Enhance Their Method of Calculating Savings

This interesting piece hit my box yesterday.

The Defense Commissary Agency is forming a new approach to calculating savings, aligning it more closely with private sector practice.  This better reflects what patrons experience daily with the products they routinely buy in the geographic regions in which they routinely shop, agency officials said.

"We hear from our military families that they sometimes find lower prices on selected items outside the gate," said Joseph H. Jeu, DeCA's director and CEO. "For the first time through this new approach, we will compare our prices with local grocers on a more frequent basis to better inform our customers of potential cost savings over stores in their nearby community."

"Our approach to calculating savings will not impact the prices our customers pay or the dollar benefit that they receive," he added. "There will be no change to their out-of-pocket expense."

Through this improved process, DeCA will calculate and monitor patron savings more frequently than the current practice. Prices will be compared with actual prices at local competitors surrounding each commissary, as well, using a market basket of products that reflect what patrons normally purchase.

Personally, when Sailors tell me they "routinely beat the commissary," what I find is that they purchase a lot of processed stuff (it's hard to call it food) from the center aisles. The minute you start buying meat, vegetables, fruit and dairy, the commissary suddenly becomes an outright bargain. It is good to see DeCA taking price seriously though, since more than a few people want to cut that benefit.