New data reveals cheapest supermarkets for common essentials

The Newsquest Digital Optimisation Team has tracked the collective prices for 10 common everyday items in the weekly food shop at the UK’s biggest supermarkets.

These include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Aldi.

We analysed the prices of these common items as part of our ongoing #YourMoneyMatters campaign, launched by this title and many other local news brands across the UK owned by Newsquest.

5 ways to save money on your weekly food shop

The campaign was set up to help readers overcome the surge in the cost of living.  

As we have seen a whole host of household price increases since early last year — from the energy price cap rise to surging inflation and food prices — costing households hundreds or even thousands of pounds extra per year. 

Since March 2022, we’ve made it our mission to look out for your cash, offering money-saving deals, competitions, giveaways and insightful stories from your community on the impact this cost of living crisis is having on our readers like you.

The worldwide energy crisis exacerbated by the Ukraine invasion, record inflation figures and a surge in the cost of goods, fuel and travel means we will all continue to feel the pinch.

The analysis shows that of the supermarkets we have included, Tesco is the cheapest supermarket.

However, Aldi sells their Diplomat Red Label teabags in boxes of 160, instead of 80 like other chains such as Tesco. 

Aldi argues if the teabags were sold pro-rata it would make the item at least 75p cheaper than rival Tesco, meaning Aldi would in fact be the cheapest supermarket on July 21 and August 1.

Which 10 items were in the basket?

Over the past 8 months, the Newsquest DOT Team tracked the collective totals of 10 essential items in the weekly food shop at the UK's five biggest supermarket chains – Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. 

The items that were tracked are as follows: Medium white bread loaf (800g), 2 pints of semi-skimmed milk, Block of mature cheddar (350g or 400g), Unsalted butter (250g), Bag of granulated sugar (1kg), Pack of 80 tea bags (caffeinated), Medium whole chicken (uncooked), Tin of chopped tomatoes (400g), Medium Free Range eggs (12 pack), and Pack of 4 toilet rolls.

Newsquest contacted each supermarket chain for a response to our findings and asked whether prices on household items (such as the ones we tracked) would continue to fall in the coming months. We also asked what initiatives each chain had in place to help shoppers during the cost of living crisis. 

To make the comparisons as fair as possible, the supermarkets' own-brand items were those that were tracked where possible although there are some exceptions, for example if a supermarket doesn't have an own-brand item available for one of the products we tracked.

What did the findings reveal?

The findings revealed Aldi's basket of items cost £15.92 on December 13, 2022 while on July 25, 2023, it cost £16.40.

Tesco’s basket of items cost £16.78 on December 13, 2022 and on July 25, 2023 it cost £16.52.

The basket of items from Sainsbury’s cost £17.44 on December 13, 2022 and on July 25, 2023 it cost £18.26.

On December 13, 2022, the basket of items at Asda cost £18.77 while on July 25, 2023, it cost £17.59.

At Morrisons, the findings revealed that the basket of items cost £18.73 while on July 25, 2023, it cost £18.47.

What has each supermarket chain said about the prices of these items? 

We contacted each supermarket chain for a response to our findings and asked whether prices on household items (such as the ones we tracked) would continue to fall in the coming months.

We also asked what initiatives each chain had to help shoppers during the cost of living crisis. 

Here are their responses:

Tesco

A Tesco spokesperson said: “With household budgets under continued pressure, we remain absolutely focused on providing great value for our customers, so are delighted that a shop at Tesco has come out as best value in the tracker.

“Wherever there are opportunities to pass on savings to our customers we will do so, and we recently cut the price of more than 500 household essentials.”

Sainsbury's 

Newsquest has approached Sainsbury's for comment but didn't receive a response.

Asda

An Asda spokesperson said: “Asda was recently recognised by The Grocer as the lowest priced traditional supermarket for the 26th year in a row and recently announced we were cutting the prices of more than 200 own-label lines by an average of nine percent.

“The products include a host of fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen meat and fish products and cupboard staples.”

Morrisons

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “This is an unprecedented period of inflation and we are working hard to keep prices down and competitive for our customers while maintaining high standards and availability in all our stores.

“This year we have announced a number of price cuts which have seen the prices of thousands of products lowered as we remain committed to doing all we can to help when it comes to the cost of grocery shopping.”

Aldi

Newsquest has approached Aldi for comment but didn't receive a response.