A shelf tag says $1.45 per 100 grams. The flyer across the street says $13.99 per kilogram. The numbers look far apart, but they use different units. Put them in the same unit and the comparison takes a few seconds.
Meatprices.ca does not publish prices yet. This guide gives you the conversion for any price you find in a store, a flyer, or an online order page.
The rule
There are 1,000 grams in a kilogram. There are ten groups of 100 grams in 1,000 grams. So a price per 100 grams is one tenth of the price per kilogram.
To go from per 100 grams to per kilogram, multiply by 10. In practice, move the decimal point one place to the right.
To go from per kilogram to per 100 grams, divide by 10. Move the decimal point one place to the left.
Per 100 grams to per kilogram
Take $1.45 per 100 grams. Multiply by 10. The price is $14.50 per kilogram.
Take $2.49 per 100 grams. Multiply by 10. The price is $24.90 per kilogram.
Take $0.89 per 100 grams. Multiply by 10. The price is $8.90 per kilogram.
Per kilogram to per 100 grams
Take $12.00 per kilogram. Divide by 10. The price is $1.20 per 100 grams.
Take $13.99 per kilogram. Divide by 10. The price is $1.399 per 100 grams. Stores round this to $1.40.
Rounding matters here. A store that rounds $1.399 up to $1.40 shows a price that is a tenth of a cent too high. Over a whole kilogram, that adds up to one cent. Work from the per kilogram price when the two disagree by a small amount.
Compare two stores
Store A lists ground beef at $1.45 per 100 grams. Store B lists the same kind of ground beef at $13.99 per kilogram.
Convert Store A first. $1.45 times 10 is $14.50 per kilogram. Now compare $14.50 with $13.99. Store B costs $0.51 less per kilogram.
The tag with the smaller number was not the cheaper one. Always convert before you compare.
Find the price of a package
A per 100 grams price also tells you what a package costs. Divide the package weight in grams by 100. Then multiply by the price.
A 450 gram package at $1.80 per 100 grams has 4.5 groups of 100 grams. Multiply 4.5 by $1.80. The package costs $8.10.
You can check this against the per kilogram price. $1.80 per 100 grams is $18.00 per kilogram. A 450 gram package is 0.45 kilograms. Multiply 0.45 by $18.00 and you get $8.10 again.
Find the cost of one serving
Per 100 grams is a handy unit for servings. A serving of 150 grams is 1.5 groups of 100 grams. Multiply the price per 100 grams by 1.5.
At $1.20 per 100 grams, a 150 gram serving of raw meat costs $1.80.
This is the raw cost. Bone and cooking loss raise the cost of the meat you actually eat. The steps are in how to calculate the cost per serving of meat.
Per 100 grams to per pound
Some flyers still list per pound. One pound is 453.592 grams, so there are 4.53592 groups of 100 grams in a pound.
To go from per 100 grams to per pound, multiply by 4.53592. A price of $1.50 per 100 grams becomes $6.80 per pound. The exact result is $6.80388.
To go from per pound to per 100 grams, divide by 4.53592. A price of $5.99 per pound becomes $1.32 per 100 grams.
If you want per kilogram instead, the pound steps are in how to convert meat prices from per pound to per kilogram.
Check your answer
Run one test on every conversion. A per kilogram price must be ten times the per 100 grams price. If your answer is only a little larger, or a hundred times larger, the decimal is in the wrong place.
Here is a second test. Think about a plausible package. If a 500 gram package of chicken is $1.10 per 100 grams, you expect a total near $5.50. If your math says $55.00 or $0.55, go back and recheck.
Watch for mixed units on one page
Stores and flyers do not use one unit for everything. Deli and sliced meats often show a price per 100 grams. Fresh cuts often show a price per kilogram, a price per pound, or both. Read the unit printed next to each price. Do not assume the unit from the product type.
Look for the word “each” too. A price for a whole package has no unit weight at all. Find the net weight on the label, then divide the package price by the weight in kilograms to get a price per kilogram.
What meatprices.ca will cover
The site will track meat prices in Canada by cut and by unit. Each price will list its unit, so you can convert it with the steps above. Until those pages go up, the math on this page works for any price you see.