Asda was just 2p cheaper than Morrisons in this week’s Grocer 33, with the Bradford retailer undone by a toppy 9p margin to its rivals on the pint of milk – while Tesco would have snatched the victory had we factored in its Clubcard Prices initiative.
It was a particularly competitive week, with less than £2 separating the big four supermarkets’ shelf-edge prices – and further proof of the efforts retailers are making to keep a tight lid on inflation.
Overall prices were up just 2.7% year on year and 1.9% month on month, with the biggest inflation on the pint of milk, garlic & herb flatbread and Stork margarine.
Ironically, Asda had the highest inflation, 5.4% more expensive than last April, on a basket costing £61.89, offering the lowest price for 16 products, 10 exclusively so. Of these, eight were either fresh or own brand lines such as the eclairs, king prawns and rocket. There were two exclusively cheapest branded lines – the Nairn’s biscuits and Vanish stain remover.
Morrisons offered the lowest price for eight lines and was exclusively cheapest for the broad beans and Stork, with inflation running at 1.1%.
Tesco was just 88p more expensive than Asda at £62.77 with 3.6% inflation. Clubcard members would have received an instant discount of £1.78, reducing Tesco’s bill to £60.99 and undercutting Asda by 90p. Tesco was exclusively cheapest for the Blue Dragon noodle kit, Guinness, Mini Babybel and Wrigley’s chewing gum.
Last week’s winner Sainsbury’s slipped to fourth despite its total actually being 0.7% lower than 12 months ago.
Waitrose was the outlier on price. At £71.79 it was just shy of a tenner dearer than Asda. It was cheapest for three lines and exclusively so for the ginger, with annual inflation on the basket running at 4.0%.
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