Consumer champion Which? has named Aldi as the UK's cheapest supermarket for September, following an analysis of 93 everyday grocery prices. The discount retailer's average basket cost £159.48, undercutting Lidl by £2 when Lidl Plus loyalty prices are included.
Price comparison details
Lidl with Lidl Plus averaged £161.48, while Lidl without its loyalty scheme came to £161.84, making Aldi £2.36 cheaper than that non-loyalty price. The analysis covered both branded and own-brand products, including milk, cheese and sliced bread.
Which? separated results by loyalty-scheme and non-loyalty-scheme prices. For example, Tesco with a Clubcard ranks higher in the analysis because it is found to be much cheaper than Tesco without one.
Methodology and rankings
For each supermarket, Which? calculates the average price of each item over the month, then sums them to get the average total price. While own-brand items are not identical across supermarkets, the consumer group ensured everything compared was as similar as possible, including size and quality.
Which? is unable to include discounts personalised to selected members, and cannot factor in points or other rewards, as these vary between customers and do not always have a quantifiable monetary value.
September price rankings
Based on the average price for 93 items analysed, the UK's cheapest supermarkets in September were: Aldi at £159.48; Lidl (with Lidl Plus) at £161.48; Lidl at £161.84; Asda at £186.71; Tesco (with Clubcard) at £187.71; Sainsbury's (with Nectar) at £188.95; Morrisons (with More) at £192.93; Morrisons at £193.13; Tesco at £193.45; Sainsbury's at £195.01; Ocado at £208.64; and Waitrose at £223.38.
According to the analysis, a loyalty card would save an average of 0.1% at Morrisons and 0.22% at Lidl in September. Shoppers save a little more at Tesco and Sainsbury's, at 2.97% and 3.11% respectively.
Aldi recently announced a package of measures to tackle food affordability in Britain amid concerns about rising inflation, including a record £900m investment in new stores and distribution centres, continued price cuts across its range, and more long-term agreements with its British suppliers. Aldi currently has 1,092 stores in the UK and has plans for further expansion, with its £900m investment in 2027 set to include 40 new stores plus continued work on its distribution network.
