Supermarket prices have never been in the spotlight quite as much as they are now. With the cost of products increasing at a rapid rate, it means customers have been making changes to their regular shop, with some ditching their usual supermarkets in search of better prices.
One retailer which, historically, was always viewed as being among the most expensive for groceries was Sainsbury's.
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A few years ago and families looking to eat on a budget would scarcely have considered a big shop there. But now it seems shoppers are turning to it in their droves.
Following last week's article about price hikes at Asda, a number of customers responded to say they have ditched their usual supermarket to shop at Sainsbury's instead.
Among them was mum-of-six Caitlin Rolle, who says she's not only impressed with the retailer's Aldi Price Match scheme - which now has over 25% more products matched than last autumn - but believes the quality of food is better than you can get elsewhere.
Prior to the pandemic she mostly shopped at Asda, Aldi and Morrisons, but now claims Sainsbury's works out better for her - on cost and quality - than all the shops in her area.
"Sainsbury's was always the high end like M&S and Waitrose, but now they are on par with the rest," said Caitlin. "They not only price match Aldi, they also have better quality foods."
The 35-year-old sticks to quite a strict budget for her family of eight, taking advantage of bulk buys where she can and making homemade snacks and soups to keep costs down.
"I do a monthly £350 shop, so it works out around £90 per week on average" she added. "I cook from fresh for most meals and meal plan. We bake a lot so the children have snacks homemade so that saves, but we get weekly top ups of milk and bread if needed throughout the week."
Caitlin, who lives in West Yorkshire, says the packs of Sainsbury's 12 breaded ham slices for instance, at £1.75 for 300g, are cheaper than Morrisons', where she used to buy them, but 'taste better' too.
"Same as the salami," she said. "We use six packs per week, as we are a large family of eight and have it in sandwiches. The quality is amazing at Sainsbury's.
"I buy the shop's own brands and branded too. I buy all baby products from there, toiletries, washing powder. We only use Fairy and it's always a good price."
The stay at home mum, who has five daughters aged 17, 13 , 12, 10 and two, and a six-month-old son, says the supermarket also caters well for three of her kids who have dairy allergies.
"The selection of dairy free is really good and the dairy free milks are brilliant," she said. "I like the Nectar card savings and on the smart shop you get some great deals on items you regularly buy."
She's not the only one who's made the swap to Sainsbury's.
Others told us they have too, including Steve Hughes, who praised the cost and said 'the food is better' so less of it gets chucked away.
Paul Pickersgill said: "I've moved to Sainsburys from Asda, better quality fruit and veg," and Maxine Denton added: "The supermarkets were the only retailers who made mega money during the pandemic, but still hike their prices for even more profit.
"At Asda I priced a 38 wash Ariel at £10 (outrageous). I walked out and got the same one at Sainsbury’s for £7.50. I lived through a recession before and it was never this bad. They’re just all taking us for mugs."
We reported in December how Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts had shared his vision for it to become 'as cheap as Aldi' and said they were seeing 'more customers coming back to us from the discounters'.
He announced a £550m investment, which will see the supermarket 'take on' the budget retailer and become more competitive. And he admitted he is prepared to accept a fall in profits in the short term in order to ensure Sainsbury's stays competitive for shoppers.
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: “With costs going up, we are working hard to keep prices low. Last year we announced that we would invest over £550m by March 2023 into lowering prices as part of our goal to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s.
“We're committed to doing everything we can to support customers with the rising cost of living. Through initiatives such as our Aldi Price Match campaign, Price Lock and My Nectar Prices, customers can find low prices on the products they buy most often both in stores and online.
“Our focus on value means that all our customers will find great deals when they shop with us and do not need to go anywhere else to get the best prices on their weekly shop.”
Sainsbury's says it is 'focused on keeping prices low on the fresh products customers buy most often – essentially the items people buy most to feed their families, including chicken breasts and other meats, bread, eggs and vegetables', but has also added its own-brand household staples such as nappies, cereal and canned soup to the price match campaign.
Aldi says it would be 'entirely wrong' to suggest that customers are switching from the budget retailer to Sainsbury's as industry data suggests the opposite.
It says the price gap between the two is 'significant' with the latest Which? survey, from last month, finding that a basket of 45 everyday items was £13.62 – or 17% – more expensive at Sainsbury’s than at Aldi.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “Week after week, independent price surveys confirm what shoppers know already – that Aldi is the lowest-priced supermarket in the UK. That’s why Aldi has been named by Which? as the UK’s cheapest supermarket for two years running.
"In the last three months alone, Aldi attracted an additional 1.3 million customers, as shoppers switch in their droves from every single major UK supermarket, including Sainsbury’s.”
An Asda spokesperson said: "We’re working hard to keep prices in check for customers and remain the lowest-priced major supermarket – a position recognised by Which? in their regular monthly basket comparison which has named Asda as the cheapest supermarket for a big shop every month for the last three years.”
A Morrisons spokesperson said: "We continue to work hard to keep prices down for our customers while maintaining high standards and availability in all our stores.
"We have recently introduced three significant price cutting initiatives to help our customers through this unprecedented period of inflation.
"We are also investing in our My Morrisons app offering shoppers exclusive deals and have introduced an online shopping hub called 'More Ways To Save', which helps customers identify savings across a number of categories."
Have you swapped supermarkets since the cost of living crisis took hold? Have you moved to Sainsbury's from another retailer or found it cheaper than it used to be? Let us know in the comments here.
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