by A supermarket which has been the most expensive for a basket of essentials since May is now the third cheapest behind Aldi and Lidl after cutting the cost of essentials by 15% since last week.
In our comparison of basic groceries, which looked at the cost of the same eight groceries from March 2022, Tesco worked out the most expensive for 18 consecutive weeks.
But this week that’s all changed after the retailer slashed the price of its 300g pack of chicken breast from £2.65 to £2.25 in line with its Aldi Price Match.
Read more: Aldi shoppers are not surprised by the results of Tesco’s price game
It means Tesco, at £12.33, is now third cheapest for the essentials basket, which includes mincemeat, a two-pint bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, coffee, tea bags, butter and beans as well as chicken.
With a bill of £12.12, Aldi has wrested the ‘cheapest’ supermarket crown back from Morrisons, which held the award for three weeks running.
The More Card offer which saw its chicken cut by 15% has ended, putting the supermarket in fourth place, costing £12.45.
Lidl is just a penny ahead of Aldi, at £12.13, with Sainsbury’s, which this week changed the size of its chicken breast pack from 300g to 320g, making the comparative size slightly cheaper, now the second most expensive at £12.54.
Asda has taken the unfortunate title of most expensive, partly because of Tesco’s price cut, but also because it has increased the price of two products this week.
Its Just Essentials coffee is up from 99p to £1 a jar and butter has risen by 10p for the second week in a row, making it the most expensive of them all, with a block costing £1.89.
Asda says there are ‘various reasons why prices for individual products change over time’ and revealed it was named cheapest again in the Grocer 33 this week, even with its rivals’ loyalty pricing.
The retailer disagrees with our weekly comparison and says our small sample of products does not reflect the fuller price picture and does not account for its deals. The supermarket says its Just Essentials range is the biggest and cheapest available, alongside Aldi’s.
An Asda spokesman said: “Asda is consistently recognized as the best value traditional supermarket in independent price comparison surveys, including the Grocer 33 basket comparison and the monthly supermarket trolley comparison Which?
“As well as offering the lowest prices of any traditional supermarket, our customers can make further savings by using the Asda Rewards app. The app gives them cash back into their Money Pot every time they shop, which they can use to reduce the price they pay at the till. In less than two years since its launch, rewards are now used by over six million customers who have saved more than £553m in total.”
Aldi also disputes the results of our weekly comparison and says it does not take into account similar or ‘higher quality’ products – something highlighted in this week’s Panorama investigation.
For example, the supermarket says its beans are 20g heavier than Sainsbury’s and Aldi’s tea bags are ‘better quality than comparable products used’.
An Aldi spokesman said: “Our promise to customers is that they’ll make significant savings every time they shop with Aldi, which is why we’ve named Which? Cheapest Supermarket of the Year for three years in a row. Which one? Aldi has been named the UK’s Cheapest Supermarket every month this year, even in its latest analysis which includes loyalty prices.”
The full list is as follows:
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
2 pints of milk – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.99
160 tea bags – £1.85
Salted butter 250g – £1.79
Tin beans 420g – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.29
Total £12.12
Lidl
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
2 pints of milk – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.99
240 tea bags – £2.79 / £1.86 for 160
Salted butter 250g – £1.79
Tin beans 420g – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.29
Total £12.13
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
2 pints of milk – £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £2
160 tea bags (2 x 80-pack) – £1.84
Salted butter 250g – £1.79
Beans 420g tin – 29p
Chicken 300g – £2.25 (down from £2.65)
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.49
Total £12.33 (down from £12.73)
Maurice
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee (2 x 100g) – £1.98
160 tea bags (2 x Save 80-pack) – £1.60
Salted Butter Savers 250g – £1.79
Beans 410g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.65 for 330g, equal to £2.41 for 300g (from £2.25 for 330g / £2.05 for 300g)
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.29
Total £12.45 (up from £12.05)
Sainsbury’s
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
2 pints of milk – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.99
160 tea bags – £1.85
Salted butter 250g – £1.79
Beans 400g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.65 for 320g / equal to £2.48 for 300g (down from £2.50 for a 300g pack)
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.49
Total £12.54 (down from £12.56)
Asda
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
2 pints of milk – £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £2 (from £1.98)
160 tea bags (4 x 40-pack) – £1.80
Salted butter 250g – £1.89 (from £1.79)
Beans 410g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.65
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.49
Total £12.77 (up from £12.65)
