Aldi Leads as Budget Supermarket While Rivals Cut Price Matches
- Aldi offers significant savings, up to £63 weekly, when compared to Waitrose
- Which? identifies Aldi as the most affordable for essential items in February
- Major supermarkets reduce price match offers, focusing on different strategies
Recent research by consumer group Which? names Aldi as the most cost-effective supermarket for a basket of 100 essential items this February. A standard weekly shop at Aldi costs £182.64, undercutting competitors like Tesco (£212.54), Sainsbury’s (£225.20), and Waitrose (£245.79).
Aldi's prices remain unbeaten, even surpassing discounts from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Lidl. In an industry shift, Sainsbury’s and Tesco are pulling back on their "Aldi Price Match" schemes, citing financial constraints. Asda opted for a Rollback initiative instead, leaving Aldi as the frontrunner in affordability.
Julie Ashfield of Aldi UK emphasized the company’s steadfast dedication to delivering low prices without sacrificing quality. For 16 consecutive months, Aldi has been recognized by Which? as the Cheapest Supermarket.
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, commented, "Aldi's consistent ranking as the cheapest shows their commitment to offering true value. When rivals pull back on price matches, it highlights the competitive edge Aldi has in maintaining affordability."
There is no standard shop we are all different. I can't do a full shop in Aldi as often they don't have the items I want and many items are below the quality I accept and there is no choice. There isn't much savings if you have to go to another supermarket to buy the other items which means extra time and fuel. However Aldi is my nearest supermarket so occasionally pop in and buy maybe £12-15 of items. There is no loyalty scheme or vouchers either, no way of reducing prices further.
I'm often surprised how poor quality fruit and veg is at Aldi too.
Lastly I would never trust Which at all to be fair about any comparison. I would need to see the detail of their comparison and what they are comparing. I've seen so many Which comparisons which are a complete joke and their reviews of products that make little sense like rating vacuum cleaners that are less noisy but use bags over vacuums that are more noisy but don't need bags and completely ignoring the cost of bags over the years of ownership which is madness in my opinion.
Absolutely no surprise Waitrose is more expensive though but can be good value if you just go in for a few items and get a free coffee which is very nice. Even they have some decent offers from time to time and some of their food is lovely quality so if you go in when there are short life reductions it can be great.
Now that I've looked around I can't see any supermarkets cutting back on their price matching with Aldi plus they often have their own offers. I still think other supermarkets offer better value than Aldi overall but I accept it depends on what you are buying and what quality you will accept.
I'm amazed at a weekly shop costing around £200 though. That seems staggeringly high as an average. I'm not seeing most people in supermarkets buying that much product. I'd say on average when I hear how much they are paying maybe £50. Yes you get people with big trolley's full of stuff but most are far less than that. I've just checked online and the average food shop a week in the UK is about £63 so what is this £200 nonsense from Which? Seems they have inflated the trolley price in order to exaggerate the savings. Seems very manipulative. As ever Which are a truly useless consumer group who really shouldn't be listened to anymore. It's going to be very hard to save £63 a week on a spend around £63 for the average family.