A supermarket has knocked Asda off the ‘most expensive’ spot by hiking the price of an essential by 15% since last week.
Asda has worked out dearest for a basket of basics for almost three months running and was under fire for selling its chicken breasts for almost 20% more than other supermarkets.
But not only has it now reduced them to what rivals are charging, but another retailer, Tesco, has made two hikes in the last week – putting the price of its cheapest coffee up 15% and the price of its cheapest mince up 8%.
It means Tesco’s bill for the basket – which also includes bread, milk, butter, tea bags and beans – is now £12.94, and the dearest of the lot.
Read more: Tesco peas up in price by 142% – seeing how much my big shop has risen makes me sick
It’s not the only one to bring in price rises this week though. Aldi has increased its coffee to £1.85 – although that’s still the cheapest price for that product – and Sainsbury’s has also increased its mince from £2.49 to £2.70, the same 8% hike as Tesco, making it the second most expensive retailer in our weekly comparison with a bill of £12.61.
Aldi remains cheapest overall, at £12.18, followed by Morrisons at £12.31, Lidl at £12.33 and Asda, now down to £12.49 and fourth cheapest.
Tesco’s unfortunate position comes after we repeated a big shop to see how much it had risen in price since the cost of living crisis began three years ago.
Of the 44 items we bought back in December 2021, 33 items had increased by 20% or more, 16 by 50% or more and 10 by a staggering 60% or more. The largest increase was on a 1kg bag of frozen garden peas, which was up from 66p to £1.60, a depressing 142% rise.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We work hard to offer our customers the best possible value, quality, and service with every shop and our powerful combination of Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices and Clubcard Prices has helped ensure we have remained the cheapest full-line grocer for nearly two years.”
The retailer says it has lowered prices on thousands of lines, launched or improved more than 860 products in partnership with its suppliers and growers, and its customer satisfaction scores continue to improve across a broad range of measures.
Despite working out as cheapest, Aldi disputes the findings of our comparison, saying that it doesn’t take into account like-for-like products or ‘the higher quality’ of its products.
For example, the supermarket says that its beans are 20g heavier than Sainsbury’s and that Aldi tea bags are ‘better quality than the comparative products used’.
Asda also disagrees with our comparison 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.
The full list is as follows:
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.85 (up from £1.79)
Teabags 160 – £1.85
Salted butter 250g – £1.89
Beans 420g tin – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.39
Total £12.18 (up from £12.12)
Morrisons
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee (2 x 100g) – £1.98
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack Savers) – £1.60
Savers Salted butter 250g – £1.89
Beans 410g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.65 for 330g, equates to £2.41 for 300g
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.49
Total £12.31
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 – £1.89
Beans 420g tin – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.39
Total £12.33
Asda
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £2
Teabags 160 (4 x 40-pack) – £1.80
Salted butter 250g – £2
Beans 410g tin – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.25 (down from £2.65)
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.49
Total £12.49 (down from £12.89)
Sainsbury’s
Loaf of white bread 800g – 50p (up from 47p)
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.98
Teabags 160 – £1.85
Salted butter 250g – £1.89
Beans 400g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.40 for 320g / equates to £2.25 for 300g
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.70 (up from £2.49)
Total £12.61 (up from £12.40)
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £2.30 (up from £2)
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) – £1.84
Salted butter 250g – £1.89
Beans 420g tin – 29p
Chicken 300g – £2.25
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.70 (up from £2.49)
Total £12.94 (up from £12.43)
