Aldi is no longer UK’s cheapest supermarket

Aldi, known for being UK’s most pocket-friendly supermarket, has been dethroned as it is now no longer the cheapest one in Britain.

As per consumer group Which?, Lidl is now UK’s cheapest supermarket after being named as  the best-value grocer in August, coming up top against all of the Big Four supermarkets as well as fellow rival Aldi.

Asda has been the cheapest mainstream supermarket for more than a year, having claimed the title every month since January 2020.

The comparison study carried out by the consumer group looked at the prices of 23 items, including own-brand products such as apples and eggs as well as branded goods.

Lidl came out cheapest overall at just £24.11 while Asda was the cheapest ‘big four’ supermarket, with a basket costing £25.22. At the other end of the scale, at Waitrose, the basket of the same products cost £33.20. Grocery prices at Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Ocado and Tesco were found to be similar.

Items with some of the biggest differences in price included own-brand melon, which cost £1.31 more at Waitrose compared to Lidl, and PG Tips tea bags, which had a difference of £1.25.

Which? also compared the price differences of 82 items to determine the cost of a bigger shopping trip which included Kenco coffee, Oxo stock cubes and Twinings English breakfast tea with own-label products including onions and milk, among others.

The consumer group checks and compares the prices of grocery items at every major supermarket throughout the year, releasing cheapest supermarket of the month analysis regularly.

The findings came as customers have been warned that grocery prices may rise in the coming months owing to the current shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers, which in turn is leading to major disruption in the supply chain of the country.

Tesco chairman John Allan and Iceland managing director Richard Walker were among retail bosses to warn that their supermarkets have been impacted by the shortage of HGV drivers last month.