UK’s cheapest supermarket for 148 items revealed – and you could save up to £45

THE UK’s cheapest supermarket for a big shop has been revealed and you could save up to £44.56.

Consumer champion Which? conducted an analysis of supermarket prices in October.

Which? compared eight supermarkets and 148 items, including branded items such as Andrex toilet paper and Cathedral City cheese. 

They found the best place to go for a big shop was Asda – where 153 items cost £348.38.

Discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl were not included.

This is because Which? compares as many items as possible, and quite often they don’t find the same big brands at the discounters.

An Asda shop would save you a whopping £44.56, compared to the most expensive store which is Waitrose.

A similar shop at Waitrose would set you back £392.94.

The runner-up was Sainsbury’s where you can pick up the exact same items for £355.65.

At Tesco, a big family shop would cost you just over £22 more at £370.38 than at Asda.

While Morrisons cost £367.12 and Ocado cost £382.30 – £18.74 and £33.92 more than Asda respectively.

It’s worth remembering that the analysis is done just on the basket of goods at the time – prices frequently change and many supermarkets have items on offer.

So for example, Which’s basket does not take into account Clubcard Prices at Tesco.

You should always shop around to see what deals are out there.

Supermarket prices can change regularly, even from one day to the next, so this kind of research is just a snapshot in time.

You can look up items yourself online before heading to a store, or by using handy comparison websites like trolley.co.uk.

Here is a list of the full results:

• Asda – £348.38
• Sainsbury’s – £355.65
• Morrisons – £367.12
• Tesco – £370.38
• Ocado – £382.30
• Waitrose – £392.94

Cheapest place for a smaller shop

Which? also did an analysis of how much it costs to do a smaller shop.

Every day in October, the consumer champion checked the price of 48 popular groceries,

Discount stores beat the big supermarkets in the analysis of a smaller basket of items.

Aldi was the cheapest overall with the shop costing £75.79 on average, beating rival discounter Lidl by £1.89. 

The same shop at Waitrose was £101.17.

Asda did well again, coming in at third place behind the discounters with a price of £84.98.

The full results were:

• Aldi – £75.79
• Lidl- £77.68
• Asda – £84.98
• Tesco – £86.21
• Sainsbury’s – £86.36
• Morrisons – £92.72
• Ocado – £93.99
• Waitrose – £101.17

How to reduce the cost of your supermarket shop

There are lots of ways you can reduce the cost of your shop.

You should keep an eye out for yellow stickers to get the best food bargains.

Supermarkets often reduce the price of food nearing its use-by date to shift stock and stop food waste.

You can get up to 75% off products in some cases.

Another trick is to use supermarket loyalty schemes.

For example, Sainsbury’s runs its Nectar card reward scheme, where customers receive points every time they shop in stores.

And checking the price per quantity is another great way to see how much you are actually paying for your groceries.