It's just like old times in The Grocer 33 at the moment with Asda extending its run as the cheapest retailer to a third week. Asda provided a £40.68 basket, which was £1.39 cheaper than runner-up Tesco, although the rival retailers had the same prices for 24 items. One of Asda's biggest price cuts this week was on Philadelphia soft cheese, which was reduced from £1.18 t0 86p, and it also cut the price of bagged potatoes by 14p. Although five items were cheaper than at any other retailer, Asda ramped up the price of Marmite by 12p and free-range eggs by 10p. Tesco has moved in to second position with a £42.07 basket, although it made no price cuts on items in this week's list. It also increased the price of free-range eggs by 10p. Sainsbury's, which provided a £42.48 basket, spends another week in third place and was almost £1 closer to the winning basket total than last week. The retailer matched 17 of Asda's prices but could not compete on the price of own-label Brussels pâté, which was 41p cheaper at its rival. Last week's runner-up Morrisons has dropped two positions to fourth place this week with a £42.79 basket. It didn't have much of an impact on this week's list, only knocking a few pennies off the price of its frozen broccoli and making no other price cuts. However, it did offer the cheapest Marmite on the list for £1.06. Somerfield's market share has fallen below 4%, according to a recent report from market research organisation TNS, but the expensive retailer has swapped places with Waitrose this week to become the second most expensive store, with a £47.41 basket. Even so, Somerfield offered the cheapest own-label Cheddar at £3.51 and also reduced the price of a kilo of pears by 20p this week. With own-label refuse sacks on the list at £4.29, Waitrose will always struggle to avoid being labelled the most expensive retailer. The hefty price of this item and its own-label food items has resulted in a £53.91 basket.

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