I'm a supermarket expert: here's what you need to know about budget groceries

Going for budget groceries can be a great way to try to manage the rising cost of supermarket shopping.  

After the soaring inflation we've seen over the past few years, we're all much more aware of the price of our food and drink. So much so that Tesco is bringing back its famous blue-and-white stripes in a bid to emphasise value.

But just how cheap are budget lines, where are they stocked, and what do supermarkets call their ranges?

I've been writing about supermarkets for more than a decade. Here, I've crunched the prices and cut through the spin to reveal everything you need to know about budget groceries.

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Not all own-label is the same

All the UK’s major supermarkets have own-label groceries. 

Unlike the big brands, such as Kellogg’s and Coca-Cola, these own-label groceries are made for and branded by the supermarket. And these own-label grocery ranges are big business – accounting for 52% of grocery spending in the UK, according to market analysts Worldpanel by Numerator. 

All the major UK supermarkets have more than one tier – or level – of own-brand groceries. These tiers are usually differentiated by price and can be broadly categorised into budget, standard and premium. 

All eight supermarkets we asked have three tiers, except for Ocado, which has two. But it’s worth remembering that even for those with three main tiers, the cheapest range could still be more directly comparable with another supermarket’s standard or even premium range. 

• Find out more: Which is the cheapest supermarket? 

Budget ranges can go by many names

If you want to find the budget own-label groceries, it’s worth knowing they aren’t always labelled as ‘value’ or ‘budget’. 

For example, there are Everyday Essentials at Aldi and Just Essentials at Asda, which seem straightforward enough. But at Tesco, for example, the budget-range fruit and veg comes under the name of various fictitious farms (such as Rosedene Farms), and its budget ready meals are labelled the 'Hearty Food Co'. 

Here are some examples of what the cheapest own-label ranges are called at the different supermarkets: 

• Aldi: Everyday Essentials
• Asda: Just Essentials
• Lidl: Simply 
• Morrisons: Morrisons Savers
• Ocado: Ocado own range
• Sainsbury’s: Stamford Street Co 
• Tesco: Exclusively at Tesco – Hearty Food Co., HW Nevill’s, The Grower’s Harvest, Stockwell & Co., Ms Molly’s, Butcher’s Choice, Creamfields, Eastman’s, Suntrail Farms, Rosedene Farms, Woodside Farms, Nightingale Farms, Bay Fishmongers
• Waitrose: Essential Waitrose & Partners

Budget groceries may not be stocked near you

Having cheaper groceries is great for those on a budget. But it only works if they are actually available at the stores where people shop. 

During the cost of living crisis, we ran a mystery shopping investigation to see just how available these budget groceries were – and found big retailers failing to stock essential items from their value ranges in convenience stores.

This meant that people who couldn't access the bigger stores – perhaps through low mobility or lack of public or private transport – were potentially being forced to buy more expensive foods or go without.

Worryingly, these people were more likely to be living on lower incomes, meaning they were less able to afford the higher-priced items offered in small stores. 

Which? called on supermarket bosses to address the disparity between convenience stores and their larger supermarket counterparts, so more people would be able to access nutritious budget-range food at a store near them. 

And it worked. Our campaign led to Morrisons and Sainsbury's stocking more budget groceries in their convenience stores. Tesco also pledged to stock more cheaper groceries than before in its smaller Express stores, although these weren't all from its cheapest budget range.

There's still more that could be done, though.  

• Find out more: Which? campaign brings more budget groceries

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Pricing is often pretty consistent... 

When we compared the prices of some essentials, using their average price in February 2026, we found that pricing is pretty consistent across the supermarkets for many own-label budget items. 

For example: 

• A sliced loaf of wholemeal bread (800g) was 55p. 
• 10 fish fingers were 80p.
• A 1kg bag of oats was 85p.
• A bag of six small apples was 99p.

These prices are for all the supermarkets that had items listed during February 2026 and include discounts but not multibuys. They don’t include any loyalty scheme discounts, although discounting of any kind is very rare on budget items. 

• Find out more: How to spend less at the supermarket

... but inflation can be high

Budget groceries may be cheaper, but that doesn't mean they aren't subject to price hikes. 

In fact, budget groceries were hit by far higher inflation than other types of groceries during the peak of the cost of living crisis, rising by 26% year-on-year in early 2023. This was far higher than the inflation seen at that time on premium and branded goods, and showed that the effects of inflation were often unevenly spread.

This has changed now, though and actually own-label premium groceries currently have the highest inflation, at 8.2%. Budget groceries are rising by 6.6% year-on-year.

• Find out more: Which?'s food inflation tracker

Quality may vary

Price is important, but it might not be the only issue you care about. The quality, standards and provenance of different supermarkets’ own-label ranges vary. 

For example, whether the meat is British, how it is reared and which certifications are used will differ between supermarkets. You should check these nuances if there are particular issues you feel strongly about. 

• Find out more: Best supermarkets

'Budget' might not always mean cheapest

It’s worth remembering that the very cheapest groceries may not even officially be in own-label budget ranges at all. 

Price-matching schemes and loyalty discounts may actually mean the cheapest groceries are from other own-label ranges or even sometimes big brands. 

But on the flip side, don't always assume big discounts mean good value. Impressive-looking loyalty prices can sometimes be beaten by normal discounts at other supermarkets. 

And Tesco's blue-and-white stripes - made famous by its value range - are now being used on branded groceries as part of its 'Everyday low prices on brands you love' marketing scheme, many of which will be more expensive than their own-label equivalents. 

• Find out more: Aldi price match secrets - what to know before you shop