Cheapest supermarket for basket of 89 items named – and it’s not Lidl | Personal Finance | Finance

Aldi has been crowned the cheapest supermarket across the UK for the second month running this year. The budget grocer was £55 cheaper than the most expensive supermarket, and has held the title for 10 months over the past year, beaten only by Lidl in July and October.

Consumer champion Which? revealed the results after comparing the costs of 89 common grocery items across eight supermarkets. This included popular branded products such as Hovis sliced bread and Cathedral City cheese, as well as own-branded groceries such as potatoes and baked beans. Aldi’s shop came to an average of £161.56 for the items, roughly £1 cheaper than Lidl, which came to £162.75.

Asda came in third with the list of items costing £181.06, around £20 more than the winner. Which? never shares the full list of items to avoid supermarkets reducing prices to win the title, but it includes a range of products widely used in UK households.

Tesco’s Clubcard shop was the next cheapest at £181.58, but without a Clubcard, the list cost £185.93. In the latest analysis, 13 products offered loyalty discounts, and the Clubcard achieved an average savings rate of 2.34%.

Morrisons took fifth place, with items costing £185.49 on average in February. The Sainsbury’s shop cost £186.21 with a Nectar card, or £189.18 without, representing a £2.97 difference. Some 14 products on the shopping list came with a loyalty discount last month.

Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket in the monthly analysis, with the items costing £217.02 on average. This was £55.46 more expensive than Aldi.

Grocery prices were on the rise in February, according to data from Worldpanel by Numerator. Grocery inflation rose to 4.3% in February, up from 4% in January, after four consecutive months of falls.

January’s figures also showed that shoppers were seeking out more own-label groceries, accounting for 52% of grocery spending, the highest level ever recorded.