Aldi has been named the UK’s cheapest supermarket in February by Which?, as the consumer champion found shoppers could save almost £22 on a basket of items from there compared to the most expensive store. The consumer champion’s analysis, which involves comparing the prices of a shop consisting of 43 popular groceries at eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets, is done on a monthly basis.
The cheapest supermarket was Aldi, where the basket of goods was £74.81 on average. The same shop at Waitrose was £96.59 on average, a difference of £21.78. Which? also compared the cost of a larger trolley of 139 items – the original 43, plus 96 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, given that they do not always stock some of these products.
For another month, Asda was the cheapest for this larger trolley of groceries, and has continued to be the cheapest of the bigger supermarket chains since January 2020. In February, it cost £355.29 for this shop, beating the next cheapest, Sainsbury’s (£358.77), by £3.48.
Waitrose was £41.29 more expensive than Asda, coming in at £396.58, on average, for the trolley of comparable goods.
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, the consumer champion believes supermarkets must do more to help their customers.
Which? recently launched its Affordable Food For All campaign, calling on supermarkets to provide the support people around the country desperately need in order to keep food on the table during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Reena Sewraz, Which? Retail Editor, said: “The cost of living crisis has seen food and drink prices put huge pressure on household budgets. It is no surprise to see many people turning to discounters like Aldi when our research shows they could save up to £22 on a typical shop.
“Our findings show that while prices are going up, some supermarkets are significantly more expensive than others. As well as choosing a supermarket that is cheap overall, you can save in other ways by swapping from branded to cheaper own-brand products, sticking to a shopping list, and resisting the temptation to pick up special offers you may not need.”
Full table of basket results (based on 43 items):
Retailer |
Average basket price |
|---|---|
Aldi |
£74.81 |
Lidl |
£77.50 |
Sainsbury’s |
£85.25 |
Tesco |
£85.32 |
Asda |
£85.81 |
Morrisons |
£89.01 |
Ocado |
£89.96 |
Waitrose |
£96.59 |
Full table of trolley results (based on 139 items):
Retailer |
Average trolley price |
|---|---|
Asda |
£355.29 |
Sainsbury's |
£358.77 |
Morrisons |
£371.86 |
Tesco |
£376.95 |
Ocado |
£382.54 |
Waitrose |
£396.58 |
