These are the cheapest UK supermarkets for doing your big shop - and the most expensive

How did your favourite supermarket rank? (Photo: Shutterstock)How did your favourite supermarket rank? (Photo: Shutterstock)
How did your favourite supermarket rank? (Photo: Shutterstock)

The weekly food shop can set you back a fair amount, so knowing which stores offer the best value for money can help to save those extra few pennies.

While we all might have our preference when it comes to supermarkets, new analysis from Which? has revealed one store will see your money go the furthest.

Which supermarket is the cheapest?

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Consumer watchdog Which? analysed the prices of 78 essential items at the UK’s biggest supermarkets to determine which offered the best value in the month of June.

The report factored in the costs of staple shopping items, including both branded and non-branded lines. Own brand products including pasta, olive oil, milk and salad tomatoes, were among those that were price checked, as well as branded items such as Hovis wholemeal bread.

Findings revealed that Lidl offered the best value for money, costing the average customer £72.02 for all 78 goods.

The supermarket - which uses the tagline “Big on quality, Lidl on price” - proved to be the cheapest place for customers to shop for groceries and household items throughout June.

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Aldi came in at a close second, with the shop costing just 21p more, at a total of £72.23. This was followed by Asda, where shopping would set customers back £80.15.

On the other end of the scale, Waitrose was found to cost customers almost £40 more. The same 78 products cost the average customer £11.77 at Waitrose, making it the most expensive of the UK’s main supermarkets.

How did supermarkets rank?

Here’s how the six major UK supermarkets ranked in terms of price for a 78 item shop, listed from the cheapest to the most expensive:

  • Lidl - £72.02
  • Aldi - £72.23
  • Asda - £80.15
  • Tesco - £88.28
  • Morrisons - £90.27
  • Sainsbury’s - £93.93
  • Ocado - £109.61
  • Waitrose - £111.77

What about bigger shopping lists?

As well as a price comparison on a small shop, Which? also assessed which supermarket offered the best value for money on larger shops of 175 items.

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The analysis included the original 78 items from the first shop, plus an additional 97 that were made up of a greater selection of branded items.

These included products such as Branston baked beans and Flash cleaning spray, that are not typically available all year round in some discount supermarkets. Both Aldi and Lidl were excluded from the larger trolley analysis as the full list of products were unavailable.

For larger shops, Asda came out on top as the UK’s cheapest, costing customers £299.78 for all 175 items.

The supermarket was a huge £103.04 cheaper than online-only retailer, Ocado, which proved to be by far the most expensive.

Here’s how the supermarkets ranked:

  • Asda - £299.78
  • Morrisons - £312.28
  • Sainsbury’s - £317.99
  • Tesco - £324.03
  • Waitrose - £367.19
  • Ocado - £402.82