Morrisons pipped Safeway by £3.88 for this week's cheapest full basket, partly through a special on red wine but also due to some keen sourcing of local fruit, veg and eggs. Promotional activity has seen a run on Hardys Stamp Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon ­ out of stock at three stores ­ while pricing around the regions still varies greatly on bacon, coffee, eggs and fish fingers. Three stores fared poorly in the clean and tidy stakes, with a shopper at Sainsbury's in Cwmbran escaping a fall but slipping on veg bags scattered on the floor. More than half our shoppers had difficulty with aisles clogged by product or stackers, with Sainsbury's leaving a set of steps in the middle of one of their aisles. Merchandising was a mixed bag this week with eggs not signed at Morrisons while Sainsbury's confused shoppers with a dedicated section of organic products but with some lines on the same shelf as non-organics. But a plus point was its fresh salad kitchen where shoppers were encouraged to taste various dishes. Staff at Asda, the Co-op in Manchester and Sainsbury's were noted for their lack of helpfulness, with our Sainsbury's shopper saying she'd "never use this store from choice", while Safeway came up trumps with the most friendly staff. The Co-op in Glasgow had only two of five checkouts open and our shopper waited 10 minutes to pay. But as with all the stores, the operator made eye contact and said hello. A special mention here for the Co-op, Manchester, whose operator was very good'. Only Somerfield in Bodmin and the Co-op in Glasgow offered to pack goods. Just one bill discrepancy was reported ­ mushrooms at Tesco were priced £1.44/kg on shelf but scanned at £2.38/kg. {{GROCER 33 }}

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