Aldi has been named the UK’s cheapest supermarket in May by Which?, as the consumer champion found shoppers could save more than £18 on a basket of items there compared to the most expensive store. It means Aldi has been the cheapest supermarket for 12 consecutive months.
The analysis, which involves comparing the average prices of a shop consisting of popular groceries at eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets, is done on a monthly basis. The cheapest supermarket for May was Aldi, where a basket of goods cost £68.60 on average across the month.
Lidl placed behind Aldi with a difference of £1.91 (£70.51), widening the gap from last month, which was just a 65p difference. Aldi has remained the cheapest supermarket since May 2022. In comparison, Waitrose came out as the most expensive for the month, with a basket of goods totalling £86.91 - 23.5% more than Aldi.
Which? also compared the cost of a larger trolley of 131 items – the original 40, plus 91 more. These items included a larger number of branded items, such as Andrex toilet paper and Cathedral City cheese, and did not include discounter supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, as they do not always stock some of these products.
For May, Asda was yet again the cheapest for this larger trolley of groceries, a title it has held since January 2020. In May 2023, it cost £332.40 on average for this shop, beating the next cheapest, Morrisons (£334.47), by just £2.07. Waitrose was an eye-watering £31.59 more expensive than Asda, coming in at £363.99, on average, for the trolley of comparable goods - 9.5% more.
Which? said the latest analysis demonstrated that shoppers could make considerable savings on their groceries depending on where they bought their food. However, with even budget ranges and prices at the discounters rising significantly, and the traditional supermarkets' convenience stores failing to offer or stock budget lines, the consumer champion said it believed supermarkets must do more to help their customers.
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It said: "Which? has found that while some good practice exists, many of the major supermarkets have not done enough to support their customers during the cost of living crisis. Retailers should be helping customers by making sure affordable basic ranges are available in all branches including convenience stores, as well as improving unit pricing on all products, so that customers can easily work out the best value for them."
While some of the supermarkets have engaged with Which? as part of its Affordable Food For All campaign, it said none had committed to any of the changes it has laid out as being vital for consumers during this difficult time. Which? is now calling on the major supermarkets to act by providing the support people around the country desperately need in order to keep food on the table during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Ele Clark, Which? retail editor, said: “The Which? Food Inflation Tracker shows that the price of food and drink is continuing to soar, as people suffer through the worst cost of living crisis in decades. It’s no surprise to see many shoppers turning to discounters like Aldi and Lidl when our research shows they could make savings of more than £18 on a basket of everyday groceries.
“Supermarkets aren’t currently doing enough to help shoppers. Which? believes the big retailers have a responsibility to ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, and to provide transparent and comparable pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value.”
Full table of basket results, based on 40 items:
Retailer |
Average basket price |
|---|---|
Aldi |
£68.60 |
Lidl |
£70.51 |
Asda |
£76.45 |
Sainsbury’s |
£77.13 |
Tesco |
£77.56 |
Morrisons |
£79.09 |
Ocado |
£83.90 |
Waitrose |
£86.91 |
Full table of trolley results, based on 131 items:
Retailer |
Average trolley price |
|---|---|
Asda |
£332.40 |
Morrisons |
£334.47 |
Sainsbury’s |
£341.40 |
Tesco |
£349.35 |
Ocado |
£354.90 |
Waitrose |
£363.99 |
