Lidl was the cheapest supermarket in February, according to the latest monthly analysis from Which?.
The research firm compared prices for a basket of 23 items every day last month and found that, on average, shoppers would have paid £24.21 at Lidl, beating rival discounter Aldi by just 62p. The products assessed included own-brand products such as apples and eggs as well as branded goods such as Hovis wholemeal bread.
Asda (Asda.com) was the cheapest ‘big four’ supermarket, with a basket costing £27.35.
The most expensive supermarket, Waitrose, was £9.50 pricier than Lidl for an equivalent basket of groceries. Some of the biggest price differences included PG Tips tea bags, which had a difference of £1.52 between Lidl and Waitrose, and own-label seedless grapes, which had a difference of £1.41.
Which?’s full rankings (average cost of a grocery basket):
- Lidl – £24.21
- Aldi – £24.83
- Asda – £27.35
- Tesco – £27.40
- Sainsbury’s – £27.68
- Morrisons – £29.19
- Ocado – £31.28
- Waitrose – £33.71
The ‘big’ shop
Which? also compared a trolley packed with 66 items (the original 23 plus 43 more). This included a wider selection of branded items, including Twinings tea bags, that aren’t always available in the discounter supermarkets. Aldi and Lidl were therefore not included in this research.
Asda, at £128.19, was the cheapest of the traditional supermarkets. It was £16.26 cheaper than the most expensive supermarket, Ocado. According to the research firm, Asda has been the cheapest mainstream (non-discounter) supermarket for 26 months, beginning in January 2020.
