Which was the cheapest supermarket in July 2023?
Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in July, according to the latest monthly analysis from Which?.
We compared the prices of 38 popular groceries in July and found the total average cost was £71.22 at Aldi - £1.38 less than its closest rival Lidl.
When we looked at a larger trolley of 135 groceries, Morrisons was the cheapest supermarket, ending Asda’s three-and-a-half-year streak as the cheapest traditional supermarket for our larger trolley of products.
Keep reading to find out how your usual supermarket compares in our analysis.
Cheapest supermarket for a basket of groceries
Our basket of 38 items included Albert Bartlett Rooster potatoes, own-brand chicken thighs and own-label full fat milk.
The graph shows how much our basket cost on average across eight supermarkets:
Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in July overall, with our shop costing £71.22, pipping its discounter rival Lidl to the post by £1.38.
The same basket of items at Waitrose would have set you back an average of £87.24, that's 22% pricier on average than Aldi.
When it came to the 'big four' supermarkets, our comparison revealed that Asda was the cheapest for our basket at £78.65. There was only 94p between it and the next cheapest supermarket Tesco, where our basket cost £79.59.
- Find out more: tips to spend less at the supermarket
How do bigger shopping lists compare?
We also compared the cost of a larger trolley of 135 items (the original 38, as well as 97 more).
These products included a larger number of branded groceries, including Bird’s Eye frozen garden peas and Heinz cream of chicken soup. As the discounters don’t always stock big-brand products, we haven’t included Aldi or Lidl in this comparison.
The graph shows how much our larger trolley costs on average at each supermarket:
Morrisons was the cheapest for our trolley of groceries, ending Asda’s reign as the cheapest traditional supermarket for our larger trolley of products - a title it's held since January 2020.
Our shop at Morrisons cost £341.92 on average, beating Asda’s by 22p.
Our analysis also unveiled that Waitrose was £34.74 pricier than Morrisons on average, with a big shop typically costing £376.66.
However, price is just one factor to consider when you're figuring out which supermarket to shop at. We survey shoppers on their experiences in terms of product quality, customer service, store experience, online deliveries and other factors, to uncover the best and worst supermarkets each year.
- Find out more: our free My Money Health Check tool can give you tailored money-saving tips
How Which? compares supermarket prices
We look at the prices of hundreds of grocery items at eight major supermarkets every day throughout the month, using an independent price comparison website.
For each supermarket, we calculate the average price for each item across the month, before adding those up to get each store’s average price for our basket and trolley of products.
To keep things fair, we include special offers, but don’t incorporate multibuys or loyalty scheme discounts into our analysis.
Our shopping list includes branded items such as Cathedral City extra mature cheddar and PG Tips tea bags, as well as own-label products such as smoked bacon rashers and little gem lettuce. As own-brand items won’t be identical across supermarkets, we’ve used experts to ensure everything we’ve compared is as similar as possible, based on several factors including quality and weight.
- Find out more: supermarket price comparison over time
How are supermarkets helping with the cost of living?
Morrisons will add 40 products from its budget grocery range to its Morrisons Daily convenience stores in the coming weeks, thanks to our campaign calling on supermarkets to do more to support people struggling to afford food during the cost of living crisis.
Our research revealed earlier this year that major supermarkets are failing to make their budget-range groceries available to people who have to shop in their smaller stores.
We're calling on all supermarkets to make sure affordable basic ranges are available in all their branches, including smaller convenience stores, as well as improving unit pricing (eg the price per 100g/ml) on all products, so customers can easily work out the best value.
- Do you want to see your supermarket take action to support people through the cost of living crisis? Sign our Affordable Food for All petition
