GettyImages-1140197427

Source: Getty Images

Just 80p separated the traditional big four supermarkets

Asda completed a hat-trick of wins this week, with a victory in one of the most competitive Grocer 33 pricing surveys ever.

Just 80p separated the traditional big four. And in the week the CMA dismissed consumer group concerns over loyalty pricing, it was the one supermarket without such a scheme that emerged victorious.

At £71.16, Asda came in 44p cheaper than runner-up Morrisons. It offered the lowest price for 18 items but was only exclusively cheapest for two. These were the cavolo nero and the Duck toilet cleaning discs.

Morrisons was also cheapest for 18 products and exclusively so for six. These included the celeriac, Comfort fabric conditioner and the pork belly slices.

Asda’s regular money-off discounts amounted to a total saving of £6.50, while Morrisons was offering a discount worth £5.30, which came from a mixture of standard deals for all customers and special prices for its More Card members.

Tesco came in 65p more expensive than Asda at £71.81. That was aided by a £5.85 saving for its Clubcard members. The market leader was cheapest for 13 items and exclusively cheapest for the paté and the Schweppes pink soda.

Sainsbury’s came in fourth at £71.96. This was despite having £7.60 in Nectar Prices discounts, which amounted to a saving of 9.6%. Sainsbury’s was cheapest for 10 products and exclusively so for the Seriously Spreadable cheese spread, vegetarian lasagne and Wall’s Twister lollies.

While you could throw a blanket over the major supermarkets in terms of price this week, the same could not be said for Waitrose. It was £12.64 more expensive than Asda at £83.80. It had no exclusively cheapest items and only matched the lowest price for the BrewDog Wingman IPA and the Eat Real lentil chips.