Aldi loses title of UK’s cheapest supermarket

Waitrose remains the most expensive in analysis by Which?

Aldi has lost its title of cheapest supermarket in the UK for the first time in nearly two years, with rival Lidl taking its place.

Price analysis by consumer group Which? looked at an average basket of 76 grocery shopping products across July, including both popular brands and own-brands, with Lidl edging out its discount rival by less than £1 overall – or slightly more if loyalty cards were used.

Lidl’s total price was £128 with the loyalty card and £128.40 without, while Aldi came in at £129.25.

More notably, both those supermarkets worked out to be around £17 cheaper than Tesco and £40 cheaper than Waitrose, which was the most expensive at £170.91 overall.

The price of a Tesco basket with a loyalty card was cheaper than Sainsbury’s with a loyalty card. Morrisons failed to beat any different competitors whether a loyalty card was used or not, with a price reduction in this instance of less than £1.

With food inflation rising and general cost of living pressures still affecting households, supermarkets have continued their price war to attract customers, using price comparisons and other tactics.

In turn, customers have changed where they shop. Analysis last year showed more than a third changed their regular supermarket (37 per cent) while almost half (45 per cent) cut down on treats and luxuries when shopping.

In a second price analysis to see which supermarkets came out on top in a bigger shop of 192 branded products in a basket, Lidl and Aldi were excluded due to less items on offer meaning they didn’t stock all the chosen products.

Instead, Asda came out on top at an average price of £474.12, with Waitrose 14 per cent higher at £538.33.

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Which? noted consumers would “pay a lot more if you stock up at Morrisons, Sainsbury's or Tesco without a loyalty card” as a key finding from the analysis.

“Households are still contending with high food prices but our analysis shows it pays to shop around. Simply choosing one supermarket over another could save you 25 per cent,” said Reena Sewraz, retail editor at Which?.