Major supermarket selling one shopping essential for 17% more than almost every retailer

Daily Record

a day ago

The most expensive supermarket in the UK has been revealed based off a weekly price comparison between the top six most popular retailers
One supermarket is selling an essential food item for 17 per cent more than almost every other retailer. The Manchester Evening News carried out a price comparison which looked at the cost of a basket of eight items across the six main supermarkets -Sainsburys, Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons - every week.
One of the products they price analysed was a 500g pack of the cheapest supermarket mince (either 20 per cent or 25 per cent fat) which has been rising in cost for quite some time. However, now the cost of mince at Sainsburys is 17 per cent more than at Aldi, Lidl, Asda and Morrisons and 13 per cent more than at Tesco.
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Most supermarkets sell their cheapest pack for £2.99, which is a staggering 77 per cent more than the cheapest price of £1.69 that it was being sold at in Aldi when the M.E.N first started tracking prices over three years ago. At the time, Sainsbury's was still charging 50% less than it is now, with a price of £2.
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However, it is now charging an eye watering £3.50, the highest price it's been throughout the publication's comparison.
The overall eight item shopping bill in Sainsburys came to £13.90, making it the most expensive supermarket for a third consecutive week.
Aldi remains the cheapest for a fifth week, with a bill of £13.09, just a penny less than Lidl's £13.10.
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Asda is now third cheapest at £13.33, followed by Tesco at £13.46 and Morrisons at £13.55.
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However, despite working out the cheapest, Aldi has disagreed with the M.E.N's comparison, arguing that the list doesn't take into account the difference in quality, citing its own Diplomat Red Label tea bags and its coffee are 'higher quality' than the comparative products used as an example.
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The supermarket insists its tins of beans are also heavier than some of the others.
When it comes to meat however, Aldi and Lidl, along with Morrisons offer a 25% fat pack, whereas the others sell 20% fat, which is seen as better quality.
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.'
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Asda also disagreed and insisted that the small sample of products does not represent the fuller picture of prices and does not account for its deals.
The supermarket argued that, across the board, its Just Essentials range is the largest and cheapest available, alongside Aldi's.
Sainsburys also commented that there have been industry-wide factors that have influenced the price of beef.
A spokesperson for the supermarket said: "This review of a limited number of products does not reflect the fantastic value our customers will find at Sainsbury's.
"We are committed to offering the best possible value across a wide variety of products – whether that's through our value Stamford Street range, Low Everyday Prices, Aldi Price Match or Nectar Prices."