Yahoo News 'Most expensive' supermarket still cheaper than Aldi and Lidl after 15% price cut on shopping essential
A supermarket once accused of 'laughing at customers' with price hikes has undercut both Aldi and Lidl for a second week.
Despite being among the most expensive retailers for much of the last year, we reported last week how Morrisons had swiped the 'cheapest' crown from Aldi in our weekly comparison of shopping essentials.
It came after the retailer cut the price of its chicken breasts by 15% as part of an expansion of its More Card scheme, which gives shoppers exclusive prices on a number of products and lets them collect points to turn into vouchers.
Read more: We tried Aldi's new £1.19 snack and my son is obsessed
With that offer still in place until September 22, it means Morrisons, with a bill of £11.95, is still working out as cheapest of all the six main supermarkets for our basket of basics, which, as well as chicken, includes mince, a two-pint bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, coffee, teabags, butter and beans.
Every week since March 2022, we've compared the price of the basket at Morrisons, Sainsbury's Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Lidl.
It was only this April when Morrisons worked out as the most expensive of the lot and in July it was criticised for hiking the price of its cheapest Savers tea bags by 13% in a week, an increase it reversed after a backlash from shoppers.
Aldi, at £12.12, is back to second position this week after rival Lidl, just a penny more at £12.13, increased the price of its butter to £1.79 in line with other retailers. Only Asda and Morrisons are still selling it for £1.69.
Asda is fourth cheapest at £12.55, closely followed by Sainsbury's at £12.56. Tesco is spending the 17th consecutive week as the most expensive in our comparison and has this week put the price of its 100g jars of Stockwell coffee up to £1 each.
Aldi disputes the results of our weekly comparison and says that it doesn’t take into account like-for-like products or ‘the higher quality’ of its products. For example, the supermarket says that its beans are 20g heavier than Sainsbury's and that Aldi tea bags are 'better quality than the comparative products used'.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “Our promise to customers is that they will make significant savings every time they shop with Aldi, which is why we’ve been named Which? Cheapest Supermarket of the Year for three years running. Which? has also named Aldi the UK’s Cheapest Supermarket every month this year, even in its latest analysis including loyalty prices."
Asda also disagrees with our weekly comparison and says that our small sample of products does not represent the fuller picture of prices and does not account for its deals. The supermarket says that, across the board, its Just Essentials range is the largest and cheapest available, alongside Aldi's.
The full list is as follows:
Morrisons
Loaf of white bread 800g - 47p
Milk 2 pints - £1.20
Coffee (2 x 100g) - £1.98
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack Savers) - £1.60
Savers Salted butter 250g - £1.69
Beans 410g tin - 27p
Chicken 300g - £2.25 for 330g, equates to £2.05 for 300g
Mince 500g 25% fat - £2.29
Total £11.95
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g - 47p
Milk 2 pints - £1.20
Coffee 200g - £1.99
Teabags 160 - £1.85
Salted butter 250g - £1.79
Beans 420g tin - 28p
Chicken 300g - £2.25
Mince 500g 25% fat - £2.29
Total £12.12
Lidl
Loaf of white bread 800g - 47p
Milk 2 pints - £1.20
Coffee 200g - £1.99
Teabags 240 - £2.79 / equates to £1.86 for 160
Salted butter 250g - £1.79 (up from £1.69)
Beans 420g tin - 28p
Chicken 300g - £2.25
Mince 500g 25% fat - £2.29
Total £12.13 (up from £12.03)
Asda
Loaf of white bread 800g - 47p
Milk 2 pints - £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) - £1.98
Teabags 160 (4 x 40-pack) - £1.80
Salted butter 250g - £1.69
Beans 410g tin - 27p
Chicken 300g - £2.65
Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.49
Total £12.55
Sainsbury's
Loaf of white bread 800g - 47p
Milk 2 pints - £1.20
Coffee 200g - £1.99
Teabags 160 - £1.85
Salted butter 250g - £1.79
Beans 400g tin - 27p
Chicken 300g - £2.50
Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.49
Total £12.56
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g - 47p
Milk 2 pints - £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) - £2 (up from £1.98)
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) - £1.84
Salted butter 250g - £1.79
Beans 420g tin - 29p
Chicken 300g - £2.65
Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.49
Total £12.73 (up from £12.71)
