Supermarket almost as cheap as Aldi and Lidl for basics for third week running

A supermarket that’s been the dearest of the lot for shopping essentials over the last year is pennies behind Aldi and Lidl for the third week running.

Our comparison of essentials such as milk, bread and tea bags showed that Asda was the most expensive of all the main supermarkets for a shopping basket of eight basics throughout most of 2023.

In fact, since we first started tracking prices back in March 2022, it’s spent the largest number of weeks in the bottom spot, behind the other five main supermarkets – Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.

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But now, for the third consecutive week, it’s working out just pennies apart from Lidl and Aldi for the basket, made up of bread, milk, tea bags, coffee, butter, baked beans, chicken breasts and mince.

Its bill for the eight items, many of them from its budget Just Essentials range, once again comes to £12.18, just four pence dearer than Aldi and seven pence more than Lidl.

Morrisons is fourth cheapest behind Asda at £12.27, followed by Sainsbury’s at £12.33 and Tesco, which is most expensive for a fifth week, with a bill of £12.62.

Our comparison only looks at a select number of items and we revealed last week how other prices at Asda have risen as at other supermarkets – with a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil now £8.40 a bottle and a box of 80 Tetley tea bags now £3.15.

Aldi disputes the results of our weekly comparison, saying that it does not take into account like-for-like products or ‘the higher quality’ of its products. The supermarket says, for example, that Aldi beans are 20g heavier than Sainsbury’s and that Aldi teabags are ‘better quality than the comparative products used’.

The full list is as follows:

Lidl

Loaf of white bread 800g – 45p

Milk 2 pints – £1.20

Coffee 200g – £1.99

Teabags 240 – £2.79 / equates to £1.86 for 160

Salted butter 250g – £1.69

Beans 420g tin – 28p

Chicken 300g – £2.35

Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.29

Total £12.11

Aldi

Loaf of white bread 800g – 45p

Milk 2 pints – £1.20

Coffee 200g – £1.99

Teabags 160 – £1.89

Salted butter 250g – £1.69

Beans 420g tin – 28p

Chicken 300g – £2.35

Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.29

Total £12.14

Asda

Loaf of white bread 800g – 45p

Milk 2 pints – £1.20

Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £1.98

Teabags 160 (4 x 40-pack) – £1.60

Salted butter 250g – £1.69

Beans 410g tin – 27p

Chicken 300g – £2.50

Mince 500g 20% fat -£2.49

Total £12.18

Morrisons

Loaf of white bread 800g – 45p

Milk 2 pints – £1.20

Coffee (2 x 100g) – £1.98

Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack Savers) – £1.58

Savers Salted butter 250g – £1.69

Beans 410g tin – 27p

Chicken 300g – £2.65 for 330g, equates to £2.41 for 300g

Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.29

Total £12.27

Sainsbury’s

Loaf of white bread 800g – 45p

Milk 2 pints – £1.20

Coffee 200g – £1.99

Teabags 160 – £1.89

Salted butter 250g – £1.69

Beans 400g tin – 27p

Chicken 300g – £2.35

Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.49

Total £12.33

Tesco

Loaf of white bread 800g – 45p

Milk 2 pints – £1.20

Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £1.98

Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) – £1.88

Salted butter 250g – £1.69

Beans 420g tin – 28p

Chicken 300g – £2.65

Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.49

Total £12.62