Which? crowned Aldi as its cheapest supermarket in the UK for June, finding it had the best value for a shopping basket of 79 essential items.
Aldi came out on top with a cost of £131.52, £47.12 less than Waitrose as well as being cheaper than Ocado by £33.99, and less expensive than Sainsbury’s by £22.26.
That makes it an entire year that Aldi has come out on top against loyalty card prices, beating Sainsbury’s Nectar Card prices by £16.77 and Tesco Clubcard prices by £15.17.
Over the course of the year, those loyalty card shoppers could have saved more than £850 by switching to Aldi.
Which? said: “Based on our smaller list of products, having a loyalty card would save an average of 0.02% at Lidl, 0.3% at Morrisons, 1.7% at Tesco and 3.7% at Sainsbury’s over the month.
“But you’d still save even more money by switching to Aldi.
“The discounts offered by loyalty cards may sound good. But that’s only if you can access them.
“Our research has found millions of people can’t access loyalty promotions because they’re not eligible to join supermarket member schemes due to their age, lack of address or difficulties with digital access.
“We think some supermarkets could do more to ensure certain groups of shoppers, such as those without a smartphone or those who are under 18, can access – or know how they can access – loyalty prices.”
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These were the full results for June in Which’s study:
- Aldi – £131.52
- Lidl (inc loyalty discount) – £131.87
- Lidl – £131.89
- Asda – £144.82
- Tesco (inc loyalty discount) – £146.69
- Sainsbury’s (inc loyalty discount) – £148.29
- Tesco – £149.19
- Morrisons (inc loyalty discount) – £152.91
- Morrisons – £153.37
- Sainsbury’s – £153.78
- Ocado – £165.51
- Waitrose – £178.64
Julie Ashfield, Chief Commercial Officer at Aldi UK, said: “Introducing loyalty prices to the Which? research has only reaffirmed our stance that we will not be beaten on price.
“We are proud to make it an entire year of wins since the loyalty prices were introduced, and vow to keep providing shoppers with the best possible value.”
It comes after it was announced food prices have increased by 3.7% from May’s 2.8%, while fresh food is 3.2% more expensive than a year ago.
Meat prices have been hit by high wholesale prices and more expensive labour costs, and fruit and vegetable prices increased due to the hot, dry weather reducing harvest yields.
Overall shop prices were 0.4% higher in June than a year earlier – a significant jump from the decline of 0.1% seen in May, according to the BRC (British Retail Consortium)-NIQ Shop Price Index.
Non-food goods remained in deflation at 1.2% cheaper than last June – but up from May’s decline of 1.5% – as retailers cut prices, especially on DIY and gardening items.
Overall, shop prices have returned to inflation for the first time in almost a year, but many are struggling to make ends meet – particularly those who haven’t had a pay rise.
