UK’s cheapest supermarket for 82 essentials revealed – it’s not Lidl, Asda or Tesco

THE cheapest supermarket for May has been revealed.

Shoppers could save nearly £50 on their weekly food shop depending on where they go.

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Aldi has bagged the top spot once again as the UK’s most affordable supermarket for a basket of everyday essentials, beating rivals Lidl, Tesco and Asda.

That’s according to new research by consumer group Which?, which compared the price of a typical shop of 82 items across eight major UK supermarkets.

At Aldi, the shop came in at just £135.48 on average – the lowest of the lot.

Lidl followed closely behind, with a near-identical total of £135.79 if using a Lidl Plus loyalty card, or £135.82 without it.

This makes Lidl just 31p more expensive than Aldi.

The shopping list included branded and own-brand favourites such as Birds Eye peas, Hovis bread, milk and butter.

Special offers and loyalty card prices were factored in, but multibuy deals were excluded from the analysis.

Tesco customers using a Clubcard would have paid £150.26, while those without the loyalty scheme forked out a bit more at £152.35.

Sainsbury’s shoppers with a Nectar card paid £151.82, while non-cardholders saw their shop rise to £155.59.

Waitrose proved to be the most expensive supermarket for the smaller shop.

Here, 82 items totalled to a massive £184.03 on average.

That’s £48.55 more than Aldi, or 36% higher.

Which? also looked at prices for a bigger weekly shop of 198 items.

Aldi and Lidl weren’t included in this comparison due to their smaller ranges.

Asda took the crown for that larger trolley, with the full list costing £485.79, which was over £10 cheaper than Tesco, where Clubcard holders paid £496.59.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, the same large shop would cost £559.02 at Waitrose, making it £73.23 more expensive than Asda, or around 15% more.

Reena Sewraz, retail editor at Which?, said: “Aldi continues to be the UK’s cheapest supermarket in our monthly price analysis for May while Lidl has narrowed the gap to just 31p.

“For a bigger list of groceries, Asda continues to be the cheapest supermarket, beating shopping at Tesco with a Clubcard by more than £10.

“Food prices are still high and are likely to rise again, so many people will be looking to cut costs where they can.

"Our analysis shows that by switching supermarkets, shoppers could pay up to 36% more – highlighting the advantages of shopping around where possible.”

How to save money on your food shop

Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:

Odd boxes - plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.

Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.

Sainsbury's also sells £2 "Taste Me, Don't Waste Me" fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.

Food waste apps - food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.

Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.

Too Good to Go's app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.

Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.

Yellow sticker bargains - yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.

But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.

Super cheap bargains - sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they've found on the cheap, including food finds.

"Downshift" - you will almost always save money going for a supermarket's own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.

The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as "downshifting" and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.