Two supermarkets previously criticised for their high prices are now working out cheaper than Aldi and Lidl for a basket of essentials.
Our price comparison has monitored the cost of the same eight basic items since March 2022 and it’s mostly been one of the two budget retailers coming in cheapest throughout that time.
But this week, both Morrisons and Asda are working out cheaper for the shop of staple items, which includes bread, milk, butter, beans, tea bags, coffee, mince and chicken breasts.
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It comes after Aldi made two increases this week, with mince up from £2.39 to £2.49 and coffee up from £1.85 to £1.99.
Both Lidl and Morrisons have increased their blocks of butter from £1.89 to £1.99, which is the price others were already charging.
It’s the cheaper price of tea bags at Morrisons and Asda that’s made the difference, working out at £1.60 and £1.80 respectively for 160 bags. But Aldi has always argued that our comparison doesn’t take into account the difference in quality, insisting that its own Diplomat Red Label tea bags and its coffee are ‘higher quality’ than the comparative products used and its tins of beans are heavier than some of the others.
When it comes to meat however, our comparison includes the cheapest packs of mince from each place and at Aldi and Lidl, along with Morrisons, it’s a 25% fat pack, whereas the others sell 20% fat, which is seen as better quality.
The price of Morrisons chicken breasts has also helped it secure the cheapest crown, with the More Card price bringing the cost of its 330g pack down from £2.65 to £2.35, giving it an overall total of £12.14, 7% more than the most expensive place, Tesco.
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In second place, Asda’s bill comes to £12.49, which is quite the turnaround for the retailer, which worked out most expensive for 11 consecutive weeks until mid December.
In fact both Asda and Morrisons have previously come under fire from shoppers over their high prices. Before Christmas, Asda was criticised for selling its 300g pack of chicken breasts for almost 20% more than nearly every other supermarket before eventually bringing the price down in line with its competitors.
Aldi is now £12.52, just a penny apart from Lidl’s £12.53, and followed by Sainsbury’s at £12.83 and Tesco at £13.04.
As already stated, Aldi disputes the findings of our weekly comparison, saying it doesn’t take into account like-for-like products or ‘the higher quality’ of its products. As well as its complaint about tea bags, the supermarket says its beans are 20g heavier than Sainsbury’s for instance.
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 in 2024.”
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Asda also disagrees with our 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.
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 – £1.99 (up from £1.89)
Beans 410g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.35 for 330g, equates to £2.14 for 300g (down from £2.65 for 330g, or £2.41 for 300g)
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.49
Total £12.14 (down from £12.31)
Asda
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £2
Teabags 160 (4 x 40-pack) – £1.80
Salted butter 250g – £2
Beans 410g tin – 28p
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Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.49
Total £12.49
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.99 (up from £1.85)
Teabags 160 – £1.85
Salted butter 250g – £1.99
Beans 420g tin – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.49 (up from £2.39)
Total: £12.52 (up from £12.28)
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 – £1.99 (up from £1.89)
Beans 420g tin – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.49
Total £12.53 (up from £12.43)
Sainsbury’s
Loaf of white bread 800g – 50p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.98
Teabags 160 – £1.85
Salted butter 250g – £1.99
Beans 400g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.50 for 320g / £2.34 for 300g
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.70
Total £12.83
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £2.30
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) – £1.84
Salted butter 250g – £1.99
Beans 420g tin – 29p
Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.70
Total £13.04
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