I shopped at the supermarket which was cheaper than Lidl and Aldi for essentials

There is one supermarket that has been cheaper on basic shopping items for over a year now and that is Lidl.

Week in week out, it’s consistently the cheapest place for a shopping basket of eight essentials we’ve been tracking at the six main supermarkets for over two years, usually by just pennies over Aldi.

So it came as a surprise when Morrisons took the lead earlier this month – having previously been the most expensive.

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With that in mind I decided to do a big shop there to see how the prices are doing overall.

In February, the supermarket announced it was launching its own Aldi and Lidl Price Match – matching the retailer’s cheapest price on more than 200 products. Although it has reduced some prices, the price matching only applies to a small percentage of Morrisons overall stock.

In fact, out of the 38 items I bought this week, only five matched the budget stores. These were milk, mince, chicken breast, carrots and pasta.

It also has a range of budget savers, offering more than 200 low-cost products, from freezer fillers to cupboard staples such as bread and rice.

But what really impressed me was the number of offers on many of the other items, especially branded ones, making it cheaper than the likes of Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s for numerous articles.

A pack of nine Warburtons crumpets for example was just £1, while Tesco and Asda were £1.25 and Sainsbury’s £1.35. A pack of four Holland pies was available for £3.75, while at Tesco you would pay £4.40.

Birds Eye Fish fingers are reduced to £3 from £3.50, a few packs of Jaffa Cakes down from £2 to £1.35 and Mr Kipling apple pies are available for £1.50, when they are as much or twice as much elsewhere.

Many shoppers will know how expensive extra virgin olive oil has become in recent months and that has been cheaper here too – with a 250ml bottle of Filippo Berio available for £3.50, while the price is £4.30 at Tesco and Asda and £5 respectively.

Even without offers, some of the products have come down in price compared to previous Morrisons stores I did last year and a few months back.

A 450g tub of Flora Lighter, for example, was £1.50, down from £2.49 in March. Asda and Sainsbury’s are selling the same tub for £2.50, and at Tesco it’s slightly more than Morrisons, at £1.60.

I didn’t buy any Heinz products this time, but I noticed that some of those have also started to drop in price.

Last year a pack of four Heinz Beanz 400g coins was £4, but now you can get four large 415g coins for £3.75. A 480g bottle of Heinz BBQ sauce was around £3.40, but this is now down to £2.49.

It was very striking how many of the deals are no longer just about bulk purchases, which is an advantage for those on a tight budget.

There are still a few you’ll want to take advantage of – like fruit two for £3, Ambrosia Custard at £1.99 a tin or two for £2.50, and two Hovis loaves for £2.50 – but the rest was good see that Items such as Lloyd Grossman’s pasta sauce and Sharwood’s Tikka Masala Sauce are now down to £1.49 a jar, but last year they were around £2.15 each, or cheaper if you bought two.

And the 500g bags of fusilli pasta are down from 95p to 75p, largely due to Aldi and Lidl price matching, but before you had to multi-buy to get them cheaper, with a pair for £1.60.

Not everything is cheaper of course. Potatoes are another product that has increased and, since March, a 2kg bag of Maris Piper potatoes at Morrisons has risen from £1.65 to the current £1.89. However, Aldi’s and Tesco’s are only 10p cheaper, suggesting they have all but disappeared.

With better offers, more Savers products and a select number of items matching Aldi and Lidl, there may be more reasons to shop at Morrisons after all.

My whole Morrisons shop

On offer

• Holland Pies £3.75 down from £4.40

• 2 for £3 on fruit – grapes 400g / blueberries 150g

• 9 Warburtons Crumpets £1, down from £1.25

• wafer thin honey cured ham 170g £1.75 down from £2

• Corned beef 100g £1.50, down from £2

• Birds Eye 38 chicken coop £3.50, down from £5.69

• Ambrosia custard 2 for £2.50, or £1.99 each

• Mr Kipling apple pie £1.50, down from £2.99

• Walkers Baked Sea Salt Crisps 6-pack £1.50, down from £2.20

• Warburtons Bagels 5 pack £1.35, down from £1.85

• Twin pack of Jaffa cakes 220g £1.35, down from £2

• Onken yoghurt 450g £1.50, down from £1.95

• Sharwood’s Tikka Masala Sauce £1.49, down from £2.50

• Lloyd Grossman pasta sauce £1.49, down from £2.99

• Pot Noodle King Size 99p, down from £1.39

• Fingerling Fish Eye Birds 360g £3, down from £3.50

• Goodfella pepper pizza 332g £1.50, down from £3

• Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil 250ml £3.50, down from £4.30

• Richmond Skinless Sausages 2 packs of 12 for £4

Game Aldi Price

Other people

• Cathedral Lighter cheese 350g £2.75

• Flora Lighter 450g £1.50

• Apple juice savers 1L 99p

• Orange juice 1L £1.29

• Maris piper potatoes £1.89 for 2kg

• 12 x large free range eggs £2.95

• Hovis white thick soft £1.45 and Hovis thick cask 800g £1.45 (2 for £2.50)

• Broccoli 79p

• Morrisons Fat Free Greek Style Yoghurt 500g £1.10

• Morrisons Mighty Malties 625g 95p

• Soft white rolls 89p

• 4 beef burgers 5% fat £4

Total £75.35