For months on end it was the most expensive of the six main supermarkets
A supermarket that was criticised for selling a shopping essential almost 20% more than competitors is now the cheapest for a basket of basics.
Towards the end of last year, Asda was called out over the price of its chicken breasts after charging customers £2.65 for a 300g pack, which was 18% more than Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl.
Industry figures suggested shoppers were turning their backs on the retailer, with market research company Kantar showing that sales were down 5.5% year on year.
But there’s been quite a turnaround this year and for the second consecutive week – and for the fourth week since Christmas – Asda is working out the cheapest of all the main supermarkets including Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
Its bill for the basket of basics, including a two-pint bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, coffee, teabags, butter, baked beans, chicken and mince, comes to £12.57, more than 5% cheaper than the most expensive retailer Tesco.
The price of its chicken breasts – reduced last week from £2.43 to £2.24 – are now the cheapest of any of the other retailers.
Asda has rarely been the cheapest in our comparison, taking the top slot on just nine previous occasions since we started monitoring prices back in March 2022.
The supermarket now has a new boss in the form of Allan Leighton, who was appointed executive chair in November. He previously served as chief executive from 1996 to 2001 and managed to revive the chain and engineer a sale to Walmart.
It recently reintroduced its Rollback proposition and Asda price, reducing prices on 4,000 products by an average of 25% as part of a ‘plan to lower prices across our entire range and make Asda the cheapest traditional supermarket’.
In second place this week is Aldi, where the basket comes to £12.65, followed by Lidl at £12.67, and Sainsbury’s at £12.94.
Morrisons has reduced its chicken this week, but its pro rata price of £2.41 for 300g, means it’s still the most expensive for that product.
Its overall bill comes to £13.03, with Tesco the most expensive at £13.28.
It’s worth noting that Aldi has always argued that our comparison 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.
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.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “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. Which? also named Aldi the UK’s Cheapest Supermarket every month in 2024.”
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.
An Asda spokesperson said: “We’re focused on delivering Asda Price and started 2025 as we mean to go on by cutting prices on thousands of products for our customers. While we’re always pleased to be recognised as the cheapest supermarket in any price comparison, eight products doesn’t reflect the unbeatable value we offer across our full range, both in-store and online. We would encourage customers to come in and see this for themselves.”
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 – £1.99
Beans 410g tin – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.24
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.59
Total £12.57
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.99
Teabags 160 – £1.85
Salted butter 250g – £1.99
Beans 420g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.29
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.59
Total: £12.65
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 – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.29
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.59
Total £12.67
Sainsbury’s
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g – £1.98
Teabags 160 – £1.85
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 – £2.90
Total £12.94
Morrisons
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee (2 x 100g) – £2.30
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack Savers) – £1.80
Savers Salted butter 250g – £1.99
Beans 410g tin – 27p
Chicken 300g – £2.65 for 330g, equates to £2.41 for 300g (down from £2.70 / £2.45)
Mince 500g 25% fat – £2.59
Total £13.03 (down from £13.07)
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g – 47p
Milk 2 pints – £1.20
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) – £2.30
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) – £1.96
Salted butter 250g – £1.99
Beans 420g tin – 28p
Chicken 300g – £2.29
Mince 500g 20% fat – £2.79
Total £13.28
