While there is very little that is business as usual these days, it certainly was the case with the Grocer 33 pricing survey as Asda claimed a fifth consecutive victory.
The Walmart-owned retailer’s £69.19 total came in £6.23 cheaper than runner-up Tesco. In a similar pattern to recent weeks, Asda offered the lowest price for 22 products with a dozen exclusively cheapest.
These included the Bertolli olive spread, Cauli rice, Hovis Seed Sensations and KP peanuts. The biggest difference came on the Baileys Irish Cream, which at £13 was £2 cheaper than all of its big four rivals. However, Waitrose was the cheapest retailer for the Baileys, thanks to a £12 deal.
Tesco offered the lowest price for 10 lines and was exclusively cheapest for three: the carrot, swede & potato mash, Colgate Max toothpaste and gnocchi.
Last week’s runner-up Sainsbury’s came in £7.07 more expensive than Asda at £76.26 to take third. It was cheapest for eight lines and exclusively so for three. These were the Benecol yoghurt drink, McCain Home Chips and Snickers ice cream.
Morrisons was exclusively cheapest for the Birds Eye peas, Heck sausages and mange tout. It was £8.50 more expensive than Asda at £77.69.
Waitrose was well off the pricing pace at £82.11, £12.92 more expensive than the winner. As well as the Baileys, it was exclusively cheapest for the Walkers French Fries. However, it was impacted by a significantly higher per kilo price for the chicken breast fillets.
As yet, there has been little evidence of inflation driven by the coronavirus crisis. This week Morrisons was 2.2% more expensive than a year ago, Sainsbury’s 1.1% more expensive and Waitrose 0.3% up on 2019. Asda and Tesco, meanwhile, were 0.9% and 0.2% cheaper than they were this time a year ago.
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