Aldi named cheapest supermarket of the year amid ‘significant’ price rises
Supermarket Aldi has been named as the cheapest place to shop according to the new research.
The budget supermarket came in the first place according to the study that looked at the best place to pick up a bargain basket.
The survey was conducted by consumer advice firm Which? who found Aldi was the cheapest supermarket for six of the last 12 months.
The company picked up 19 popular every day items from each of the big eight supermarkets before comparing the prices.
The shopping list combined branded items such as Kenco coffee, Oxo stock cubes and PG Tips tea bags with own-label products.
Aldi beat all the competition with a basket of items ringing in at just £18.45.
The news comes amid reports that Aldi had seen 'significant' price rises over the past year as grocery prices rose by up to 9% over the past 12 months, according to an annual survey.
During December of last year, prices have risen 9% more than the start of the year, January 2021.
However, despite this, it's managed to keep costs lower than all of the competition including Lidl, Tesco and Morrisons.
Some own-brand grocery items rose more in price than others across all supermarkets, including free-range eggs (up 12%), brown onions (up 11%), Royal Gala apples (up 14%), skimmed milk (up 10%) and semi-skimmed milk (up 9%)
It was only during January last year that Aldi and Lidl were tied, with a basket of 19 items coming in at £18.45 at both discounters.
Which? retail editor Ele Clark said: “No one wants to overpay for basic groceries, especially when a cost-of-living crunch is putting extra pressure on household budgets.
“Our findings show that while prices are going up, some supermarkets are passing their rising costs on to shoppers more than others. As well as choosing a supermarket that is cheap overall, other ways to save include swapping from branded to own-brand products, sticking to a shopping list and resisting the temptation to pick up special offers you don’t need.”
Meanwhile, Waitrose proved the most expensive of all the supermarkets.
In response, a Waitrose spokesman said: “We’re working hard to deliver great value, offering ethically sourced, great-quality products at fair prices along with excellent service from our partners.”
This news comes as Aldi have just launched their first checkout-free store where customers literally just pick up their items and leave.
The ground-breaking technology which eliminates tills from your shop is being used in its first store after months of tests and trials.
It’s hoped the innovation will avoid long queues at checkouts and follows in the footsteps of Amazon and Tesco who have trialled similar methods.
The tech works predominantly off an app that shoppers must download to gain access to the store.
They are then monitored by various cameras which capture which items they put in their basket.
The retailer has launched the technology-led store in London's Greenwich, and if successful plans to rollout across more UK branches.
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