Lidl’s announcement follows rival discounter Aldi’s pledg to scrapping 5p bags

Lidl’s promotions on the olives and own-label scones proved decisive

Lidl edged out Aldi by just 3p to claim another Grocer 33 pricing win.

It is Lidl’s seventh victory from the nine times we have pitched the discounters head to head in a Super Grocer 33.

Lidl and Aldi matched each other for 30 of the 33 items on our shopping list. Thanks to promotions, Lidl was cheapest for the olives and scones; Aldi offered a lower price for the little gem lettuce.

And despite the supermarket price war – which reduced inflation on this list of basics to just 0.1% – Lidl and Aldi were almost 10% cheaper than the traditional supermarkets on price, even after factoring in the impact of loyalty-based pricing.

Asda was the closest challenger on shelf-edge prices, and exclusively cheapest for the Cheestrings. But at £61.16 it was £6.20 more expensive than Lidl.

In recent weeks Tesco’s Clubcard Prices initiative has trumped all comers, with loyalty card holders getting major discounts. However, in order to accommodate both Lidl and Aldi, our shopping list skews more heavily towards own-brand products, and we traditionally see less promotional activity on these lines.

Tesco was carrying Clubcard Prices on just three items on our list, which combined to provide a discount of 96p. This reduced Tesco’s total to £60.98, making it 18p cheaper than Asda but still £6.02 pricier than Lidl.

Sainsbury’s was cheapest on the Sensodyne toothpaste. And the cost of the shop was 1.2% lower year on year (and 5% lower with Nectar Prices). But as with Tesco, the £1 discount meant it was still £7.86 more expensive than Lidl at £62.82.

That’s a lot closer than Morrisons, however, which came in £11.14 more expensive than Lidl at £66.10, while Waitrose – despite minimal inflation – was even further off the pace at £73.37. That’s an £18.41 (or 34%) difference.