Aldi has been named the UK’s cheapest supermarket in April by Which?. This month, the consumer champion found shoppers could save £17 on a basket of items from Aldi compared to the most expensive store.
The consumer champion’s monthly analysis involves comparing the prices of a shop that this time consisted of 39 popular groceries at eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets.
The cheapest supermarket this month was Aldi, where a basket of goods cost £69.99 on average across the month. Lidl placed behind Aldi with a difference of 65p (£70.64), widening the gap from last month which was just a 25p difference. The same shop at Waitrose was £87.33 on average, a difference of £17.34 - or 24.7 per cent more.
Which? also compared the cost of a larger trolley of 135 items – the original 39, plus 96 more. This comparison 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 because they do not sell the full range of branded items included in the larger price analysis.
Asda was yet again the cheapest for this larger trolley of groceries, a title it’s held since January 2020. In April it cost £343.46 for this shop, widening the gap between Asda and the next cheapest, Sainsbury’s (£353.96), which was £10.50 more.
Waitrose was £38.76 more expensive than Asda, coming in at £382.22, on average, for the trolley of comparable goods- that is 11.2 per cent more.
This latest pricing analysis from Which? demonstrates that shoppers can make considerable savings on their groceries depending on where they buy 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 believes supermarkets must do more to help their customers.
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.
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Ele Clark, Which? Retail Editor, said: “The price of food and drink has continued to soar as people suffer through the worst cost of living crisis in decades. It’s no surprise to see many people turning to discounters like Aldi and Lidl when our research shows they could save up to £17 on a basket of everyday groceries by doing so.
“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.”
