The competition between top budget supermarkets Lidl and Aldi has always been pretty close. Throughout the past year, Aldi has consistently beaten its rival to the top spot as the UK’s most affordable grocery hub. But in Which?’s most recent survey, Lidl has finally knocked it off the podium.
Every month Which? compares thousands of prices at eight of the country’s main supermarkets, putting together a hypothetical trolley of groceries and household essentials. We don’t know exactly which items are included in Which?’s trolley – but that’s deliberately the case. The survey company doesn’t want retailers to be able to skew the results.
Aldi has proved the most affordable every single month of 2023 until now. Which? found that a basket of 44 items from Lidl cost £74.58, 17p cheaper than its fellow discounter. It’s a narrow victory, but a victory nonetheless.
In a shock to no one, Waitrose came out as the most spenny store, with the same basket costing an average £91.15. Out of the ‘big four’ (Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons) it was Asda’s products that came to the cheapest price at £82.11.
Which? pointed out that the results are based on discounts and offers available to all customers and don’t include things like multibuys or loyalty prices.
Here’s the full ranking of the UK’s main supermarket’s from the least to most affordable, plus the average cost of a basket at each one. Sorry Cuthbert, it seems your reign is over – for now.
Lidl £74.58
Aldi £74.75
Asda £82.11
Tesco £85.34
Sainsbury’s £85.88
Morrisons £86.35
Ocado £90.37
Waitrose £91.15
All the latest supermarket updates
Our favourite budget grocery shops have been going from strength to strength recently, meaning that they’ve got big plans to bring cheap, good quality products to more of us. Of course, Time Out has been following it all. Lidl wants to open 150 new stores by 2025, Aldi has announced 12 new stores opening before the end of the year and Asda is introducing a whopping 166 new stores over the next few months. Are you one of the lucky ones getting a new discount store?
Did you see that this hotel chain has been named the best in the UK?
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.