Crowcery
The shelf said $3.50 a pound, the receipt says $7.71 a kilogram, and there are three weight lines for one bag of grapes. Weighed items are the most cryptic lines on a Canadian grocery receipt. Here is how to read them, with the exact math.
Most weighed items print one qualifier row under the item name (these are real receipt lines; a short code like 4017 is the produce PLU code, the number on the little sticker):
1.050 kilograms at $7.71 per kilogram: 1.050 × 7.71 = 8.0955, rounded to the cent is $8.10. The same form shows up at every chain, with small formatting differences: Walmart prints 0.755 kg @ $2.81 /kg under the item, Sobeys prints 1.660 kg @ $4.39 / kg. Always three decimals of weight, always per kilogram.
Self-serve items sold in a container (bulk candy, olive bars, some produce) print the full scale math on Loblaws-family receipts:
| Line | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Gross | What the scale saw: product plus container. |
| Tare | The container's registered weight, subtracted so you do not pay for packaging. Here 10 grams for the tub. |
| Net | What you pay for: 1.040 kg × $15.41/kg = 16.0264, printed as $16.03. |
If the Tare line ever shows 0.000 kg on a container item, you paid for the packaging's weight; that is worth a customer service visit on expensive per-kg items.
MAN WT on a weigh line means the weight was entered manually by the cashier instead of coming from the scale (a real example: 1.050 kg Net MAN WT @ $8.80/kg 9.24). Usually it is harmless, a scale hiccup or a re-key, but a manual weight is the one place a typo can change your price, so these lines are the first thing to check when a produce total looks wrong.
Canadian stores commonly advertise produce per pound, but scales and receipts charge per kilogram. The conversion is 1 kg = 2.2046 lb, so divide the receipt's unit price by 2.2046 to recover the shelf price. It usually lands exactly on the tag:
| Receipt unit price | Divided by 2.2046 | The shelf tag |
|---|---|---|
| $7.71/kg | $3.4972... | $3.50/lb |
| $15.41/kg | $6.9899... | $6.99/lb |
So a per-kg price that looks alarmingly high is often an ordinary per-lb tag in disguise: $15.41/kg is $6.99/lb.
The multiplication is done once per line and rounded to the nearest cent (8.0955 up to $8.10, 16.0264 up to $16.03), so the total can differ from your own estimate by a cent per item at most. Fresh produce and other basic groceries are zero-rated, which is why weighed items almost never carry a taxed flag (what the flags mean: Superstore & Loblaws tax codes). For quantity handling on non-weighed items, multi-buy pricing and discounts, see the discounts and promo math guide.
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How to read a Superstore or Loblaws receipt
Grocery receipt discounts and promo math
Bottle deposits and eco fees by province
Superstore & Loblaws tax codes (H, MRJ, HMRJ)