Asda has come under fire for upping the price of one item in its budget range items.
Manchester Evening News (MEN) has been monitoring the prices of eight essential items from the six major UK supermarkets since March last year.
In its recent weekly comparison check, the overall price of its shopping list has surpassed £12 for the first time, which is an "all time high".
The newspaper found that Asda used to be the third cheapest retailer ranking behind Aldi and Lidl.
However, its recent comparison has placed it now as the most expensive.
The newspaper said it had reached this placing after upping the price of its 40-pack of tea bags from 31p to 35p.
Shoppers criticised the finding with some telling the newspaper that it "wasn't fair" to increase the prices as too many it was all they could afford.
One shopper told the MEN: "If I had any money to spare then I wouldn't be buying the cheapest of everything there is. I buy Asda's Just Essentials range because it's cheap and it's all I can afford.
"I don't know how they expect us to keep paying more for things. It's the most basic stuff, not a luxury."
Another said: "We have cut back so much, over the last few months especially. There really is nothing else we can cut back on.
"It isn't fair to introduce a new budget range and then increase the prices when it's all people can afford."
The eight essential items the MEN has looked at over the last year include:
- Loaf of white bread - 800g
- Milk 2 pints
- Coffee 200g
- Teabags 160 bags
- Salted butter 250g
- Beans 420g tin
- Chicken 300g
- Mince 500g - 20% fat
Another increase seen by the MEN this week was at Morrisons, which put the price of its mince up from £1.99 to £2.19.
Although the MEN did note that this was in line with all the other supermarkets.
The recent comparison found Lidl to be the cheapest with Aldi taking second place.
Sainsbury's took third place with Tesco and Morrisons following after.
An Asda spokesperson told Mirror Money: "We launched the Just Essentials By Asda range last year to provide customers with the option of getting all of their weekly essentials from the same low-cost brand range in all of our stores nationwide.
"We’re working hard to keep prices in check for customers despite global inflationary pressures and we remain the lowest-priced major supermarket – a position recognised by Which? in their regular monthly basket comparison which has named Asda as the cheapest supermarket for a big shop every month for the last three years.
"Last week we announced we would be freezing the prices of over 500 popular branded and own label products, more than half of which are fresh meat, dairy, fruit and vegetable products until the end of May."
Full list of prices
Lidl
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - £1.30
Coffee 200g - £1.99
Teabags 160 bags - £1.19
Salted butter 250g - £1.99
Beans 420g tin - 27p
Chicken 300g - £2.29
Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.19
Total: £11.58
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g - 39p
Milk 2 pints - £1.19
Coffee 200g - £1.89
Teabags 160 bags - £1.39
Salted butter 250g - £1.99
Beans 420g tin - 27p
Chicken 300g - £2.29
Mince 500g 20% fat -£2.19
Total: £11.60
Sainsbury's
Loaf of white bread 800g - 39p
Milk 2 pints - £1.30
Coffee 200g £1.85
Teabags 160 bags - £1.39
Salted butter 250g - £1.99
Beans 400g tin - 26p
Chicken 300g - £2.50
Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.19
Total: £11.87
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g - 39p
Milk 2 pints - £1.30
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) - £1.84
Teabags 160 bags (2 x 80-pack) - £1.38
Salted butter 250g - £1.99
Beans 420g tin - 27p
Chicken 300g - £2.55
Mince 500g 20% fat -£2.19
Total: £11.91
Morrisons
Loaf of white bread 800g - 85p
Milk 2 pints - £1.30
Coffee (2 x 100g) - £1.66
Teabags 160 bags (2 x 80-pack Savers) - £1.24
Savers Salted butter 250g - £1.89
Beans 410g tin - 25p
Chicken 300g - £2.59
Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.19 (up from £1.99)
Total: £11.97 (up from £11.77)
Asda
Loaf of white bread 800g (Just Essentials) - 39p
Milk 2 pints - £1.30
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g Just Essentials) - £1.66
Teabags 160 bags (4 x 40-pack Just Essentials) - £1.40 (up from £1.24)
Salted butter 250g - £1.99
Beans 410g tin (Just Essentials) - 27p
Chicken 300g - £3
Mince 500g 20% fat -£2.19
Total: £12.20 (up from £12.04)
