Support original journalism
Our award-winning research helps us in our mission to make life simpler, fairer and safer for everyone.
Join Which?By clicking a retailer link you consent to third-party cookies that track your onward journey. This enables W? to receive an affiliate commission if you make a purchase, which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.
Tesco – with Clubcard – crowned cheapest supermarket for branded groceries
The supermarket takes the top spot from Asda for the first time in our analysis
Hannah is an investigative journalist covering retail issues from fake reviews and unsafe products to supermarket pricing practices. She's been at Which? for 12 years.
Ellie is an award-winning investigative reporter who has written about retail issues at Which? for more than 12 years.
Shopping with a Clubcard makes Tesco the cheapest supermarket for branded groceries in our latest price comparison.
It's knocked Asda off the top spot for the first time since our analysis launched eight months ago.
However, if you don't have the Clubcard loyalty card, it's a very different story.
Our shopping list for September included 219 popular branded groceries such as Heinz beans, Nescafé coffee and Mr Kipling cakes.
If you’re attached to your branded groceries – whether that's butter and bread or coffee, cakes and ketchup – read on to find out how much extra you might pay by shopping at the various supermarkets.
Tesco with a Clubcard cheapest for branded goods
Tesco with a Clubcard was the cheapest supermarket for branded groceries in September, with the list of products costing £757.71.
Signing up to a loyalty scheme makes a huge difference. The same list of groceries at Tesco without a Clubcard was 13.7% pricier, at £861.50.
The most expensive supermarket, Sainsbury's (without a Nectar loyalty card), was 14.77% pricier than Tesco with a Clubcard, at £869.65. With Nectar, Sainsbury's was still nearly 4% more than Tesco with a Clubcard, at £786.82.
Asda was the next cheapest for the month, just a fraction more than Tesco with a Clubcard at £760.36.
Without a loyalty card, both Sainsbury's and Tesco were more expensive than high-end Waitrose (£829.04) and Ocado (£801.71).
Meanwhile, Morrisons was £773.42 without a loyalty card and £771.81 with one.
| Supermarket | % difference with Tesco Clubcard |
|---|---|
| Tesco (with Clubcard) | Cheapest |
| Asda | 0.35% |
| Morrisons (with More card) | 1.86% |
| Morrisons | 2.07% |
| Sainsbury's (with Nectar) | 3.84% |
| Ocado | 5.81% |
| Waitrose | 9.41% |
| Tesco | 13.70% |
| Sainsbury's | 14.77% |
Table note: percentages rounded to two decimal places
- Find out more: The best supermarkets in 2026, rated by customers.
The impact of loyalty card pricing
There were 154 products on loyalty promotion from Sainsbury’s through the month of our analysis, 146 at Tesco and six at Morrisons. None of the products on our list were part of a loyalty promotion at Waitrose.
While most people are part of a membership scheme, some customers may be unwilling to sign up to loyalty cards for reasons such as data privacy. Others have no choice due to unfair eligibility criteria.
Tesco recently announced that customers aged 16 and 17 can now sign up for a Clubcard on their parent's or guardian's account after years of campaigning by Which?.
Asda and Ocado don’t offer member-only pricing in the same way.
- Find out more: Tesco launches Clubcard for 16 and 17-year-olds.
The products with the biggest price differences
We compared the average price of branded groceries across supermarkets in September, including loyalty discounts where applicable. And we've identified the products with the largest percentage price difference between the cheapest and most expensive supermarkets.
On average, Pampers 1 Premium Protection New Baby Diapers (x50) saw the biggest difference between the highest and lowest price. They were at their lowest price, on average, at Asda (£4.27), and their highest price, on average, at Waitrose (£9.27) – a huge 117% difference for shoppers.
Ocado wasn't the cheapest for any of our examples this month again.
| Product | Lowest price (average) | Highest price (average) | Cheapest supermarket | Most expensive supermarket | % difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pampers 1 Premium Protection New Baby Diapers (x50) | £4.27 | £9.27 | Asda | Waitrose | 117% |
| Oral B Pro Expert Toothpaste (75ml) | £2.24 | £4.83 | Asda | Waitrose | 116% |
| Listerine Total Care Clean Mint Mouthwash (500ml) | £3.01 | £6.06 | Tesco with Clubcard | Waitrose | 101% |
| L'Oreal Paris Elvive Bond Repair Shampoo (200ml) | £6.72 | £13.00 | Sainsbury's with Nectar | Sainsbury's*, Tesco** | 93% |
| Nescafe Azera Americano Instant Coffee (90g) | £3.75 | £7.25 | Tesco with Clubcard | Sainsbury's*, Tesco** | 93% |
| Colgate Plax Cool Mint Mouthwash (500ml) | £2.40 | £4.50 | Tesco with Clubcard | Sainsbury's*, Tesco** | 88% |
| Tilda Boil in Bag Basmati Rice (4 x 62.5g) | £1.16 | £2.15 | Asda | Sainsbury's* | 86% |
| Plenty White Original Kitchen Rolls (x2) | £3.13 | £5.80 | Asda | Waitrose | 85% |
| Fairy-Platinum Plus All in One Dishwasher Tablets Lemon (x36) | £6.72 | £12.00 | Waitrose | Sainsbury's*, Tesco** | 79% |
| Quorn Meat Free Chicken Style Pieces (300g) | £1.55 | £2.75 | Waitrose | Ocado, Sainsbury's*, Tesco** | 77% |
| Mr Kipling Mini Battenberg Cakes (x5) | £1.58 | £2.75 | Tesco with Clubcard | Sainsbury's*, Tesco** | 74% |
| Little Moons Mochi Ice Cream Vegan Passionfruit and Mango Ice Cream (6 x 32g) | £3.00 | £5.15 | Sainsbury's with Nectar | Waitrose | 72% |
| Starbucks Frappuccino Mocha Chocolate Flavoured Milk Iced Coffee (250ml) | £1.32 | £2.20 | Waitrose | Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco | 67% |
| Mr Kipling Angel Cake Slices (x8) | £2.15 | £3.50 | Tesco with Clubcard | Tesco** | 63% |
| Mr Kipling Fruit Pie Selection (x6) | £2.00 | £3.25 | Asda, Morrisons | Sainsbury's* | 63% |
| Lynx Africa Anti Perspirant Deodorant Spray (150ml) | £2.44 | £3.95 | Tesco with Clubcard | Morrisons | 62% |
| Sharwoods Medium Egg Noodles (226g) | £1.33 | £2.15 | Morrisons | Ocado | 62% |
| Sensodyne Repair and Protect Whitening Sensitive Toothpaste (75ml) | £4.12 | £6.65 | Tesco with Clubcard | Waitrose | 61% |
| Maltesers Pouch (158g) | £2.50 | £4.00 | Morrisons | Sainsbury's* | 60% |
| Birds Eye Original Potato Waffles (x10) | £1.47 | £2.35 | Waitrose | Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's*, Tesco** | 60% |
Average loyalty card prices where applicable:
*Sainsbury’s with Nectar L'Oreal Paris Elvive Bond Repair Shampoo (200ml) (£6.72), Nescafe Azera Americano Instant Coffee (90g) (£4.63), Colgate Plax Cool Mint Mouthwash (500ml) (£4.43), Tilda Boil In Bag Basmati Rice (4 x 62.5g) (£1.81), Fairy-Platinum Plus All in One Dishwasher Tablets Lemon (x36) (£9.20), Quorn Meat Free Chicken Style Pieces (300g) (£2.25), Mr Kipling Mini Battenberg Cakes (x5) (£1.88), Mr Kipling Fruit Pie Selection (x6) (£2.80), Maltesers Pouch (158g) (£3.60), Birds Eye Original Potato Waffles (x10) (£1.93).
**Tesco with Clubcard L'Oreal Paris Elvive Bond Repair Shampoo (200ml) (£12.78), Nescafe Azera Americano Instant Coffee (90g) (£3.75), Colgate Plax Cool Mint Mouthwash (500ml) (£2.40), Fairy-Platinum Plus All in One Dishwasher Tablets Lemon (x36) (£10), Quorn Meat Free Chicken Style Pieces (300g) (£2.67), Mr Kipling Mini Battenberg Cakes (x5) (£1.58), Mr Kipling Angel Cake Slices (x8) (£2.15), Birds Eye Original Potato Waffles (x10) (£1.78).
- Find out more: see how the supermarket loyalty schemes compare.
What did the supermarkets say?
Each supermarket included in our price analysis was given the right to reply to our specific examples.
A spokesperson for Asda said: 'Both of Which?’s supermarket comparison surveys consistently show that Asda is the cheapest full-range supermarket for shoppers, without the need for a loyalty card. Customers can be confident they're getting great value on the brands and everyday products they buy the most, with clear and consistent pricing that's available to all.'
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: 'Eleven out of the 12 items flagged in this report were cheaper on Nectar Prices and with 85 per cent of sales involving a Nectar card, we’re confident our customers are getting great value when they shop with us. We have not been able to verify the calculations used by Which? as the group has not shared its full analysis with us. We continue to focus on offering outstanding value on the products people buy most often, with more than 10,000 Nectar Price offers available every week on top of personalised Your Nectar Prices.'
A Tesco spokesperson said: 'Clubcard unlocks the best savings at Tesco, and with more than 80% of sales at Tesco involving a Clubcard, millions of customers are unlocking the extra value that Clubcard provides each week. But Clubcard unlocks even more than Clubcard Prices, as the Clubcard Points Tesco customers collect on their shopping offer savings on everything from meals out and cinema tickets to holidays and travel.'
Morrisons, Waitrose and Ocado did not provide comment.
- Find out more: Aldi Price Match scheme secrets.
Where are Aldi and Lidl?
Our research has shown that the discounters offer good value, and are consistently the lowest priced in our monthly cheapest supermarket analysis, which includes a large number of own-label products and a handful of branded items.
We couldn’t include Aldi and Lidl in this analysis because they don’t stock the same range of branded goods as the non-discounter supermarkets.
- Find out more: The cheapest supermarket of the month.
We analysed the price of 219 groceries from the most popular brands – including Chicago Town, Dove, Kellogg’s, Mr Kipling, Nescafé and Tilda – every day over the course of a month to work out the average cost per item. We then add those up to get each supermarket's average total price.
The list represents the most popular brands across a wide range of grocery categories based on industry data and is designed to produce a robust sample rather than to be representative of a typical shop.
We include loyalty discounts separately in the table where they are available. We can’t include the value of points, personalised discounts or other rewards as these vary from customer to customer. Our data is supplied by an independent price comparison company.
