In short: This page compares online prices at 4 Guatemalan supermarket chains: La Torre, Paiz, Walmart and MaxiDespensa. Three of them, Paiz, Walmart and Maxi Despensa, are formats of Walmart de México y Centroamérica (supermarket, supercenter and bodega, per the company’s own page, read 10 October 2026); La Torre is not on that list. The table refreshes weekly and shows which store is cheapest for each product. For the official food-basket cost, INE’s canasta básica alimentaria is currently Q966.74 per person per month in urban areas (September 2026).
Guatemala’s Supermarket Landscape
The four chains in this comparison are the ones whose online stores our tracker reads. The table above is the price evidence; the notes below only cover who runs each chain, from the companies’ own pages.
La Torre sells online through its own website, latorre.com.gt. It does not appear among the store formats that Walmart de México y Centroamérica lists for the region, so it is the one chain here outside the Walmart group.
Paiz is the supermarket format of Walmart de México y Centroamérica. The company’s history page traces the name to 1928, when Carlos Paiz founded Tiendas Paiz in Guatemala, and says the regional company passed to Walmart in steps: Walmart Stores took 33% of Carhco in 2005 and 51% in 2006, when it was renamed Wal-Mart Centroamérica, and the merger with Walmart de México began in 2009.
Walmart Guatemala is the group’s supercenter format. According to the same history page, the Hiper Paiz stores were renamed Walmart in 2011, when the company introduced its everyday-low-prices model. The company’s home page says it has more than 900 stores across Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
MaxiDespensa (written Maxi Despensa by the company) is the group’s bodega format. The history page says the Maxi Bodega stores took the names Maxi Palí and Maxi Despensa in 2012.
Which chain is cheapest is a question for the table, product by product; we do not publish a general price ranking between the chains.
The Canasta Basica
The canasta básica alimentaria (CBA) is INE’s official measure of the monthly cost of a basic food basket. According to INE, the urban basket holds 66 products sized for a household of 4.16 people and 2,052 calories a day, and the rural basket holds 60 products for a household of 4.80 people and 2,172 calories. INE’s latest figure, for September 2026, is Q966.74 per person in urban areas and Q751.58 in rural areas. Our tracker compares supermarket prices for staple items across the four chains, so you can see where each item is cheapest.
Supermarkets vs Local Markets
This tool compares supermarket prices only. For fresh produce, the Ministry of Agriculture (MAGA) publishes a weekly report of wholesale prices at the La Terminal market in Zona 4 of Guatemala City. Compare the market and supermarket prices for the items you actually buy.
For a complete picture of your monthly expenses, check out our cost of living comparison, the canasta basica tracker and our food prices page.
Sources
- Walmart de México y Centroamérica, Quiénes somos and Historia, read 10 October 2026.
- Banco de Guatemala, Inflación total table (source: INE), read 10 October 2026.
- INE, Canasta Básica Alimentaria, read 5 October 2026.
- MAGA, weekly wholesale price report for La Terminal market, Zona 4, Guatemala City (precios.maga.gob.gt), week of 7-11 September 2026.