One supermarket beat all other rivals to be crowned the cheapest place to buy a basket of shopping in March.
Lidl trumped Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose with the relatively low cost for a basket of 33 common items earlier this month. Many shoppers will be on the hunt for a bargain as food prices soar to record highs amid a spiralling cost-of-living crisis.
A basket of 33 common items, including PG Tips, semi-skimmed milk and baby potatoes, cost £53.06 in Lidl, while a basket of the same 33 goods cost £85.40 in Waitrose, more than 60% more than in the cheapest store. The same basket of shopping would cost £63.26 at Sainsbury's, £64.55 at Tesco, £72.73 at Morrisons, according to The Grocer.
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Despite being the cheapest supermarket this month, the basket of items from Lidl cost 4.5% more than a year ago, or an extra £2.31, thanks to rising prices, with inflation currently at 5.5%, The Mirror reports. Inflation was 4.3% in February, according to data analytics company Kantar.
Asda beat Lidl for the top spot when it came to customer service, with Asda scored 85/100 compared to Lidl in second-last place on 65/100. Only Morrisons was lower on 58/100, while Waitrose got 77/100, Tesco got 75/100, and Sainsbury's got 72/100. The Grocer normally includes Aldi, Iceland, Amazon, M&S and Ocado in its price test, but did not this time.
Lidl was previously named the cheapest supermarket by consumer group Which? last month. The group's monthly price test compared prices for 23 grocery items throughout February, including own-brand and branded goods, like apples, eggs, Hovis wholemeal bread and more. On average, it found shoppers would pay £24.21 for the basket at Lidl, beating rival discounter Aldi by just 62p.
An equivalent basket of groceries at the dearest supermarket was £9.50 more expensive than Lidl. PG Tips had one of the biggest price differences between supermarkets, with a gap of £1.52 between the prices in Lidl and Waitrose.
This is the full list of the 33 items used to work out the cheapest supermarket in March:
- Pink lady apples (six-pack)
- Dried apricots own-label
- Aquafresh little teeth toothpaste (age 3-5)
- Baby potatoes own-label
- Sliced beetroot own-label
- Black Sheep ale 500ml bottle
- Carrots own-label organic
- Chocolate cake own-label premium
- Coca-Cola Original 1.25l bottle
- Domestos original thick bleach 750g
- Double Gloucester cheese own-label 250g
- Egg noodles own-label medium 250g
- Eggs own-label free-range large 12-pack
- Fillet steak own-label, premium, 170g
- Greek-style yoghurt own-label with honey
- Ham and mushroom tagliatelle ready-meal own-label chilled 400g
- Hartley’s jelly orange 135g
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- Instant coffee own-label, gold, 200g
- McVities Club biscuits orange
- Milk semi-skimmed own-label 1,136ml
- Mr Kipling Apple Pies bramley six-pack
- Nurofen tablets 16-pack 200mg
- Orange own-label smooth from concentrate one litre
- Parsnips own-label 500g
- Peanuts chilli own-label 200g
- Peas own-label frozen 1kg
- PG Tips pyramid 240 bags 696g
- Pulled pork own-label, with smokey BBQ sauce
- Spinach own label 260g
- Sticky toffee sponge puddings own label 2x110g
- Tortilla chips cool 200g
- Vanish stain remover Oxi Advance Crystal White, 1.5kg
- White toastie loaf Own-label, thick sliced 800g
