Asda provided the cheapest basket for this week’s Grocer 33 shopping list, though it will be concerned by the impact of rival Tesco’s Clubcard Prices deals.
UK supermarkets are always vying for the cheapest basket or the most value and sometimes the differences can be tricky to unravel. We try to keep abreast of the latest UK retail news such that we are in tune with what's happening in the market.
At £56.04, Asda came in £2.12 cheaper than Morrisons, offering the lowest price for 16 products, five exclusively: the Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewells, paprika, Pukka teabags, tzatziki and chicken (just).
In the week that Asda’s owners the Issa brothers lost out to Morrisons in the battle to land McColl’s, Asda struggled most in terms of keeping a lid on inflation, while Morrisons was the least affected.
The cost of our shopping list was 9.3% higher than at the same time last year. Tesco saw a 5.2% increase in prices while Waitrose was 4.7% more expensive. Sainsbury’s prices were only up 2.4% and Morrisons just 1.8% up on May 2021. Across the board, prices were 4.7% up on last year, and they were actually 0.1% cheaper than a month ago, though the Waitrose basket was up 5.3%.
Morrisons offered the lowest price for 15 products, with six exclusively cheapest. These included the eggs, Jacob’s crackers and Old El Paso kit.
Third-placed Sainsbury’s was £2.78 more expensive than Asda and 66p pricier than Morrisons at £58.82. It carried the lowest price for a dozen lines and was exclusively cheapest for the Batiste dry shampoo, cottage cheese and Rowse honey.
While Tesco’s shelf-edge prices left it £4.19 more expensive than Asda at £60.23, its instant discounts for loyalty card holders added up to £4.20, making it a penny cheaper than Asda. It also matched Asda in terms of offering the lowest price for 12 lines and being exclusively cheapest for five.
Waitrose was £17.65 more expensive than Asda this week – and more than £4 dearer on a pro-rated basis than its rivals for the bin bags.
This article first appeared in the Grocer
