Supermarket cheapest for essentials out of Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco

Tesco is no longer working out as the most expensive retailer for a basket of groceries

With food prices rising even further with the start of a new financial year, shoppers are keener than ever to find the cheapest places.

We've been tracking prices at the six main supermarkets for the last three years now and every week we share the results to show which retailer is selling a basket of essentials for the cheapest price.

Our survey monitors the cost of milk, bread, butter, beans, tea, coffee, mince and chicken at Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

While Tesco has had the unfortunate title of 'most expensive' since December, it's now been taken over by Sainsbury's, which last week increased the price of its cheapest Stamford Street Co coffee from £1.98 to £2.30 for a 200g pot.

And Asda, which has been working out cheapest over recent weeks, has now fallen into third place behind Lidl and Aldi after increasing the price of its mince and bread.

The two budget retailers have had hikes of their own this week though, with Lidl increasing its 500g 25% fat beef mince from £2.85 to £2.95 and Aldi increasing its mince from £2.75 to £2.89.

The changes mean that Lidl is working out cheapest overall, with a bill of £13.02, followed by Aldi's £13.07 and Asda's £13.09.

In fourth place is Morrisons at £13.23, followed by Tesco's £13.34 and Sainsbury's £13.51.

It is important to highlight that a number of supermarkets have disagreed with our comparison. Aldi has said that the list doesn't take into account the difference in quality, insisting, for example, that its own Diplomat Red Label tea bags and its coffee are 'higher quality' than the comparative products used. The supermarket says its tins of beans are also heavier than some of the others.

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An Aldi spokesperson added: “Our promise to customers is that they will make significant savings every time they shop with Aldi, which is why we’ve been named Which? Cheapest Supermarket of the Year for four years running.”

When it comes to meat however, our comparison includes the cheapest packs of mince from each place and at Aldi and Lidl, along with Morrisons, it's a 25% fat pack, whereas the others sell 20% fat, which is seen as better quality.

Asda also disagrees and says that our small sample of products does not represent the fuller picture of prices and does not account for its deals. The supermarket says that, across the board, its Just Essentials range is the largest and cheapest available, alongside Aldi's.

Lidl

Loaf of white bread 800g - 47p

Milk 2 pints - £1.20

Coffee 200g - £1.99

Teabags 240 - £2.79 / equates to £1.86 for 160

Salted butter 250g - £1.99

Beans 420g tin - 27p

Chicken 300g - £2.29

Mince 500g 25% fat - £2.95 (up from £2.89)

Total £13.02 (up from £12.96)

Aldi

Loaf of white bread 800g - 49p

Milk 2 pints - £1.20

Coffee 200g - £1.99

Teabags 160 - £1.99

Salted butter 250g - £1.99

Beans 420g tin - 27p

Chicken 300g - £2.25 (down from £2.29)

Mince 500g 25% fat - £2.89 (up from £2.75)

Total: £13.07 (up from £12.97)

Asda

Loaf of white bread 800g - 49p (up from 47p)

Milk 2 pints - £1.20

Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) - £2.16

Teabags 160 (4 x 40-pack) - £1.80

Salted butter 250g - £1.99

Beans 410g tin - 28p

Chicken 300g - £2.28

Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.89 (up from £2.75)

Total £13.09 (up from £12.93)

Morrisons

Loaf of white bread 800g - 47p

Milk 2 pints - £1.25

Coffee (2 x 100g) - £2.30

Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack Savers) - £1.80

Savers Salted butter 250g - £1.99

Beans 410g tin - 26p

Chicken 300g - £2.65 for 330g, equates to £2.41 for 300g

Mince 500g 25% fat - £2.75

Total £13.23

Tesco

Loaf of white bread 800g - 49p

Milk 2 pints - £1.20

Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) - £2.30

Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) - £1.80

Salted butter 250g - £1.99

Beans 420g tin - 28p

Chicken 300g - £2.44 for 320g, equates to £2.29 for 300g

Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.99

Total £13.34

Sainsbury's

Loaf of white bread 800g - 49p

Milk 2 pints - £1.20

Coffee 200g - £2.30

Teabags 160 - £1.99

Salted butter 250g - £1.99

Beans 400g tin - 26p

Chicken 300g - £2.44 for 320g / equates to £2.29 for 300g

Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.99

Total £13.51