Asda has reclaimed the title of cheapest retailer after a three week absence from the top spot. It provduced the cheapest basket at £44.41 - £1.87 cheaper than Tesco, which took second place in The Grocer 33 survey this week.

Asda propelled itself to the top spot on the back of some cheaper fresh produce, including individual oranges, loose closed-cup mushrooms and loose ­parsnips. It also provided cheaper Old el Paso fajita dinner kits than the other retailers , 2-packs of Kleenex for men tissues and half-price 8-packs of Danone Actimel Original.

Tesco achieved its second place £46.28 basket with help from a promotion on bottles of Hardy's Stamp Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon, which has been on offer since 21 January.

Morrisons weighed in at the third-cheapest with a basket cost of £48.12, while last week's winner, Sainsbury's, dropped to fourth-cheapest retailer at £48.52 a basket. 

Somerfield was the fifth-cheapest at £55.2 6 with Waitrose the most expensive at £55.94.

Parsnip prices have fluctuated yet again, with Asda slashing the cost of a kg by 13p in two weeks. Morrisons also lowered the price by 14p per kg of loose parsnips in two weeks.

And parsnips are not the only items to have fallen in price. Retailers have been keeping up the pace of recent promotional activity.

Morrisons has slashed 61% off the price of 198g tins of Green Giant Niblets sweetcorn, as well as 25% off individual own-label white grapefruit. Tesco halved the price of its own-label mangoes and took 42% off 1.5kg bags of straight-cut McCain Home Fries oven chips.

Not to be outdone, Waitrose also joined in the promotional activity and slashed the price of 185g tins of its cheapest own-label tuna in brine by 100%.

Sainsbury's cut 25% off the price of 2-packs of white Bounty kitchen towels, while Asda offered 37% off 2-packs of 100 sheets of Kleenex for men.


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