This week Asda announced it would be making £150m of price cuts in the run-up to Christmas but its winning basket this week proves its prices are already the lowest. Asda was the cheapest retailer for the fourth consecutive week with a £45.94 basket, though the gap with its nearest rival has narrowed sharply. It knocked 19p off its spring onions, 18p off pears and cut the price of Sacla' classic pesto by 14p. Its basket also contained seven of the cheapest items on the list including washing powder that was 62p less than at its rivals. Asda and Morrisons provided significantly cheaper lamb chops than the other retailers at £7.00 and £7.32 respectively, whereas Tesco and Sainsbury's were selling them for £10.64 and £11.99. Morrisons got closer to Asda's total this week with a £46.66 basket - helped by an ongoing promotion on the £1.98 Walkers Crisps Variety Pack - £1 less than Asda's price. Morrisons provided the cheapest eggs and Sacla' classic pesto, and its lamb chops were £3.66 cheaper than last week. Tesco made two price changes this week, adding 14p to the price of dried spaghetti and raising the price of McVitie's chocolate digestives by 10p. However, Tesco did offer the cheapest celery and fresh double cream on the list. The price of dried spaghetti has fluctuated across the retailers recently, reflecting the volatility of wheat prices. It was more expensive at Tesco and Morrisons this week, but was 10p cheaper at Sainsbury's. Sainsbury's, which matched 20 of Asda's prices, lowered the prices of its fresh veg range but couldn't match the other retailers' prices for lamb chops. Until last week, Waitrose was regularly our most expensive store but has held on to the fifth-cheapest retailer position for a second week with a £57.04 basket that contained the cheapest Birds Eye garden peas on the list. While Waitrose provided nine of the most expensive items, Somerfield had 19. Its £57.79 basket also reflected hikes in the prices of McVitie's chocolate digestives and eggs.

Topics