Asda is cheapest UK supermarket for the SEVENTH month running: Basket of 42 everyday groceries costs £106 from the retailer – while Tesco is more expensive than Morrisons and Iceland
- Alertr team tracked items from the government-based Consumer Price Index ‘shopping basket’ over a four-week period during the month of October
- Ocado was the most expensive store overall while Asda was the cheapest
- This is the seventh month running that the retailer has been the least expensive
Asda is once again the least expensive option for British shoppers looking to keep grocery bills down this Christmas, according to new research.
Alertr – an online price tracking website – monitored the cost increases and decreases across seven major UK supermarkets – and found Asda to be the cheapest for the seventh month running.
The study also discovered that Tesco was more expensive than both Morrisons and Iceland, while Ocado was the pricest.
The results were determined by carefully tracking how each retailer priced 42 items outlined in the Government’s Consumer Price Index ‘shopping basket’ on a week-by-week basis – including eggs, milk, bread, and non-perishables like pasta and rice.
Asda was found to be offering the cheapest products during the four weeks of analysis overall (from October), with a basket costing £106.59, while Morrisons followed closely behind with a price of £111.75.
Asda is once again the least expensive option for British shoppers looking to keep grocery bills down this Christmas, according to new research
In third place was Iceland, with an average cost of £114.22 for the 42 items, while Tesco sat in forth place, costing £117.88.
Sainsbury’s was next, with an average grocery bill of £119.28 for the products, while a basket from Waitrose reached £127.46.
The most expensive supermarket out of the seven UK stores studied was Ocado, with the items costing £130.14 on average.
| PRODUCT | MORRISONS | ASDA | TESCO | SAINSBURY’S | OCADO | WAITROSE | ICELAND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Bread Wholemeal Bread Cereals Rice Flour Pizza Pasta Mince Pork Sausages Chicken Salmon Blue Milk Green Milk Yogurt Cheese Eggs Cooking Oil Butter Bananas Apples Potatoes Broccoli Carrots Tomatoes Peas Crisps Sugar Jam Chocolate Ice Cream Ketchup Coffee Tea Bags Hot Chocolate Coca Cola Squash Fruit Juice Gin Vodka Prosecco Wine Beers Total |
£0.55 £0.49 £2 £0.99 £1 £1.50 £1.50 £2.59 £2.65 £4 £4 £0.80 £0.80 £0.80 £2.50 £0.90 £2.25 £1.87 £0.75 £1.29 £1.39 £0.55 £0.41 £0.70 £2 £1.75 £1.30 £1 £3.50 £1.25 £2 £3 £7 £3 £2 £1.25 £0.79 £13 £13 £8.50 £6 £4.75 £111.37 |
£0.49 £0.49 £2 £0.99 £1.25 £1.25 £1.50 £2.59 £2.25 £3.55 £2.69 £0.80 £0.80 £0.45 £2.59 £0.89 £1.50 £1.10 £0.98 £0.96 £1.10 £0.49 £0.43 £0.60 £2.15 £2 £0.54 £1 £3 £1.35 £2 £4 £6.99 £2.99 £2.10 £1 £0.69 £13 £13 £7 £6.50 £4.60 £105.65 |
£0.59 £0.59 £2.40 £0.99 £2 £2.50 £1 £2.59 £2.50 £3.50 £3.50 £0.80 £0.80 £0.90 £2.59 £1.10 £2 £1.10 £0.69 £1.60 £1.15 £0.52 £0.41 £0.75 £2.15 £2.50 £1 £1.60 £3.50 £1.50 £2 £5.50 £3.49 £3 £1.59 £1.65 £0.69 £15.50 £15.50 £8.50 £6.50 £4.60 £117.34 |
£0.55 £0.55 £2 £1.55 £1.50 £1.50 £1.95 £2.60 £2.75 £3.60 £3.25 £0.80 £0.80 £0.75 £3.50 £1.10 £2.30 £1.85 £0.80 £1.60 £1.75 £1.60 £0.41 £0.75 £2 £2 £1.20 £1.60 £4 £1.80 £2 £4 £5.75 £3 £2.05 £1.75 £0.90 £15.50 £15.50 £7.50 £6.75 £4.50 £121.61 |
£0.65 £0.65 £2.40 £1 £1.50 £2.50 £1.99 £4.50 £3.50 £3.80 £4.60 £0.85 £0.85 £1 £3.50 £1.10 £2 £1.85 £0.85 £1.52 £1.75 £0.60 £0.60 £0.74 £2.15 £3.09 £1 £1.60 £2.50 £2 £2.55 £6.60 £5.85 £2 £2 £1.65 £1.50 £15.50 £15.50 £8.50 £8 £4 £130.29 |
£0.60 £0.60 £2.69 £1.55 £1.50 £1.73 £1.10 £4.50 £3.50 £4.50 £5 £0.89 £0.89 £0.90 £3.50 £2 £2 £1.85 £1 £1.70 £1.80 £0.46 £0.50 £0.75 £2.15 £2 £1.35 £1.80 £2.92 £2 £2.55 £4 £5.85 £3 £2 £1.65 £0.95 £16 £16 £6.99 £5.99 £5 £127.71 |
£1 £0.79 £2 £1 £1 £1.25 £1 £2 £2 £5 £4 £0.80 £0.80 £1 £3 £1 £1.50 £1 £1 £1.60 £2 £0.75 £0.60 £0.75 £2 £2.50 £1.50 £1 £3.50 £1.50 £2 £4.50 £3.25 £3 £1.95 £1.25 £0.95 £14.95 £15 £7 £6.50 £4.60 £113.79 |
The research found that more of the branded products fluctuate in price week after week, whereas more of the own-brand items stay the same.
For example, the own-brand breads stayed the same prices across all the stores for the whole four weeks.
Meanwhile, Dr. Oetker Ristorante Mozzarella Pizza 335g at Iceland went from £2.50 in week one to £1.00 in week two.
Hartley’s jam (340g) was £1.25 for weeks one and two at Morrisons but dropped down to £1.00 for weeks three and four.
Morrisons prosecco (I Heart Prosecco 75cl) was £7 for three weeks and went up in price in week four to £8.50, whilst Iceland wine (Campo Viejo Rioja Tempranillo Red Wine 75cl) was £8 in week one and went down to £6.50 in week two.
While prices across seven of the largest supermarkets were analysed, discount retailers Lidl and Aldi were not included due to the inability for customers to shop full ranges online.
Own-brand items (or their equivalent) were monitored in the research to give the most unbiased comparison of goods and their prices, with the exception of brands that all seven supermarkets stocked (e.g. Coca-Cola).
To ensure the results across the stores are fair, the leg of lamb was removed from tracking this month as the weights and prices weren’t consistent across the stores.
Also, in week one, Tesco’s large pack of six eggs was out of stock online, so all eggs were removed from tracking across the seven supermarkets for the week as there was no like-for-like replacement, then added back into week two once Tesco was restocked.
Andy Barr, co-founder of www.alertr.co.uk, said: ‘Despite us removing the leg of lamb from tracking due to a lack of consistency in weights across the supermarkets, which would naturally decrease this month’s baskets across stores, there definitely seems to be some pricing wars as we reach the final push to Christmas.
‘With everyone on the hunt for bargains to keep this year’s Christmas costs down, supermarkets have no choice but to lower their prices in order to compete.
‘As we come out of lockdown, it will be interesting to see if prices go down even further, or if we see them rise.’