Cheapest supermarket prices for August

The consumer group Which? has named the UK’s cheapest supermarket, with the winner being £30.31 cheaper than the most expensive.

Aldi has once again claimed the title, with a basket of 62 items costing an average of just £110.58.

Lidl, another discount supermarket, was a close second in August, with its Lidl Plus scheme costing an average of £111.88 and £112.17 without it. Waitrose was deemed the most expensive supermarket this month, with a shop totalling £140.89.

Which? conducts a monthly analysis where it compares the average prices of a shop consisting of popular groceries at eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets. The list of 62 items they looked at in August included both branded and own-brand items such as Birds Eye Garden Peas, Heinz baked beans, Hovis bread, milk and butter, reports the Mirror.

The analysis also takes into account special offer prices and loyalty prices where applicable, but not multi-buys.

Asda came in third place with a basket price of £121.85. Unlike other chains, Asda doesn’t have two-tier loyalty pricing as its loyalty scheme is based on points and personalised rewards, so lower prices are not offered to every scheme member.

In August, Tesco claimed fourth place, where Clubcard holders paid an average of £123.13. Surprisingly, a Tesco shop without a Clubcard was only 49p more, at £123.62.)

In fifth place was Sainsbury’s, with Nectar card users spending an average of £123.75 for the same basket of 62 items, whilst those without a card faced a price tag of £129.63.

While Morrisons and Waitrose also have two-tier pricing systems, their schemes had a reduced impact this month as no items on Which?’s list were available at reduced prices to all scheme members. Therefore, Morrisons landed in sixth place with a basket cost of £129.79, while Ocado came seventh at £133.99.

Ele Clark, Senior Money and Shopping Editor at Which?, commented: “Our latest monthly analysis once again sees Aldi crowned as the UK’s cheapest supermarket. Given the ongoing strain of high food prices on household budgets, it’s understandable that many people are choosing discounters to cut costs. By switching supermarkets, consumers could save 22%, highlighting the advantages of shopping around.”

Which? maintains that due to restrictions on who can access loyalty prices, they will confer the cheapest supermarket title only to the retailer offering the lowest prices accessible to all shoppers.