When it comes to discount retailers, are you team Lidl or team Aldi? Either way, both supermarkets are renowned for their excellent bargains and value for money. That said, it was actually Aldi that was crowned the cheapest UK supermarket in October, according to the monthly analysis by Which?.
We love to see what’s on offer in the ‘middle of Lidl’ and you’re lucky if you manage to basket an Aldi Specialbuy before it sells out, but how do the brands compare on essentials?
Every day throughout October, Which? checked the prices of 23 essentials in various supermarkets to figure out which one was the cheapest. The essential products included own-brand foods like eggs and apples. The consumer group also compared branded goods, like Hovis wholemeal bread.
Aldi beat Lidl to the top spot by just 73p, proving both stores are neck and neck when it comes to cheap prices. The shop at Aldi came to £24.24, while the same products at Lidl cost £24.97. Asda was the cheapest of the ‘big four’ supermarkets, with the trolley contents priced at £25.94.
It’s no surprise to see Waitrose at the other end of the scale, where the essential products were £9 more than at Aldi, costing a total of £33.81. That’s 39 per cent more expensive, according to Which?.
Some of the groceries with the biggest price differences included own-label seedless grapes and own-label melon, both of which had a difference of £1.11 between Aldi and Waitrose, and PG Tips tea bags had a difference of 94p.
A further investigation by Which? looked into the total cost of 77 items. The bigger selection included more brands like Cathedral City cheddar and Colgate toothpaste. Aldi and Lidl weren’t included in the research as they have a smaller selection of products.
So Asda took the top spot this time, coming in at £143.21. In fact, Asda has been the cheapest mainstream supermarket for 22 months now, having claimed the title every month since January 2020.
Sainsbury’s was second at £145.56. In third place was Morrison’s with its trolley items costing £150.26. Ocado and Tesco followed, with just £2 between them. Waitrose was the most expensive, at £164.91.
Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in September, too, beating Lidl by just 37p.
