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1997

The Grocer 33 is launched, a nationwide price comparison service measuring seven supermarket chains.

1998

After six months, the 33 items are changed. (The list continued to change bi-annually for several years and until 2007 the sample was limited to 200 items.)

2001

Coverage doubles to two pages as the Grocer 33 is broadened to include mystery shopper scores for customer service and availability.

2002

The quarterly online Grocer 33 is launched, with Ocado featuring as a guest retailer.

2003

A distinction is made for the first time between out of stocks and not stocked items. Coverage is extended to Northern Ireland. Photos of the winning store manager are introduced. The first is Miles Foster, from Morrisons in Yeadon.

2010

As the Grocer 33 teams up with web scraping analysts Brand View, the list of products for selection increases from 200 to over 1,000, and promotions on the 33 items are captured and analysed along with other comparative data.

2014

The biggest revamp yet. Aldi, Lidl and Iceland are included as guest retailers on a quarterly basis. A more transparent scoring system for service and availability is accompanied by new online widgets that enable retailers to read all the mystery shopper comments. On the pricing side, cash-back and voucher info is captured, and new online widgets detail annual price and promo activity for each SKU.

July 2017

The Grocer 33 evolves still further to capture price inflation on a monthly and y-o-y basis at a SKU and overall basket level.

 

Asda has never been beaten on price over the course of a Grocer 33 year, a 20-year run.
But service and availability is a different matter...

Price (since 1997)
Asda: 20 wins

Service (since 2003)
Asda:3
Morrisons:5
Sainsbury’s:5
Tesco:1
Waitrose:1


Availability (since 2003)
Asda:2
Morrisons:6
Sainsbury’s:6
Tesco:0
Waitrose:1

Grocer 33 | 20th anniversary average changes table
  1997 weight1997199719971997199719972017 
      Asda Morrisons Tesco Sainsbury's Waitrose Average Average Item change
  Andrex toilet tissue Twin Pack 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.10 3%
  Apples 1lb 0.48 0.55 0.48 0.44 0.45 0.48 0.90 88%
  Ariel washing powder 1.2kg 2.49 1.99 2.49 2.49 2.49 2.39 4.11 72%
  Bacon 8 rashers 1.94 1.78 1.69 2.04 2.29 1.95 2.00 3%
  Baked beans 420g 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.33 43%
  Bananas 1lb 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.33 -27%
  Birds Eye peas 1lb 0.85 0.85 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.87 1.34 53%
  Cheddar cheese 250g 1.28 0.89 1.43 0.85 1.23 1.14 1.93 70%
  Chicken Small (1-1.3kg) 1.59 1.69 1.75 2.05 2.05 1.83 3.27 79%
  Claret wine 750ml 2.69 2.99 3.49 4.99 3.65 3.56 6.19 74%
  Comfort fabric conditioner 1l 0.95 0.95 0.95 0.95 0.95 0.95 1.79 88%
  Diet Coke 2ltr 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.77 42%
  Eggs 6 0.74 0.69 0.79 0.78 0.79 0.76 1.31 73%
  Flora 250g 0.54 0.52 0.52 0.52 0.52 0.52 0.92 76%
  Ham 125g 0.79 0.75 0.99 1.39 0.99 0.98 1.46 48%
  Hovis bread 800g 0.65 0.59 0.69 0.65 0.72 0.66 1.09 65%
  Kellogg's Corn Flakes 250g 0.83 0.85 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.87 1.21 39%
  Kit Kat 8 x 2 finger 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 1.32 71%
  Kleenex tissues Box 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45 2.00 38%
  McVitie's Digestives 250g 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.90 100%
  Milk Own-label, semi-skimmed, 568ml 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.53 88%
  Mushrooms 1lb 1.22 1.15 0.99 1.49 1.09 1.19 1.62 36%
  Natural yoghurt 450g 0.49 0.49 0.89 0.99 0.9 0.75 0.87 16%
  Nescafé coffee 100g 1.89 1.89 1.89 1.89 1.89 1.89 3.20 69%
  Onions 1lb 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.34 19%
  Orange juice 1l tr 0.57 0.57 0.56 0.64 0.64 0.60 0.89 49%
  Pasta 500g 0.25 0.45 0.45 0.49 0.45 0.42 0.69 66%
  PG Tips tea 40 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 1.27 50%
  Plum tomatoes 420g 0.1 0.23 0.23 0.26 0.45 0.25 0.39 54%
  Potatoes 1lb 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.89 207%
  Stella Artois lager 4 pack 4.69 4.69 4.69 4.69 4.69 4.69 4.45 -5%
  Tomatoes 1lb 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.86 91%
  Walkers crisps 6 pack 1.05 1.05 1.05 1.05 1.05 1.05 1.54 47%
1997 Price     33.91 33.44 35.63 38.26 36.9 35.63    
2017 Price     51.51 49.13 47.82 52.97 61.59 52.60    
% uplift     52% 47% 34% 38% 67% 48%