Asda has been criticised for the hiking the price of one of its Just Essential products, making it more expensive than all the other main supermarkets.
When the new range first launched, a rebrand of Smart Price, the 500g packs of mince were the cheapest around, at £1.69.
The retailer was getting so much attention for its Just Essentials - largely because of its bright yellow labels - that other supermarkets were quick to follow, matching Asda's discounted price.
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Since then prices have been yo-yo'ing somewhat, but seemed to have recently settled around £1.79.
Even Morrisons, which had put its up to a hefty £2.39, last week brought its down to £1.79 too.
But this week Asda appears to have gone out on a limb, hiking its price to £1.99 - and the move hasn't gone down well with shoppers.
"This just makes so sense," said one shopper. "They're banging on about this being the best value range around, but it's anything but when you have prices like this."
The increase means that Asda now ranks second most expensive of all the supermarkets in our weekly comparison of eight basics, which we've been tracking since March.
It means the full basket of essentials - made up of an 800g loaf, two pints of milk, 200g of coffee, 160 teabags, a 250g block of butter, a tin of beans, 300g of chicken and 500g of mince - is now £11.18 at Asda, behind Morrisons, which is still the most expensive at £11.50.
Sainsbury's is just slightly cheaper than Asda at £11.15, followed by Tesco's £10.98, Aldi's £10.81 and the cheapest of all, Lidl, at £10.51.
Asda isn't the only one to increase prices this week though.
Both Tesco and Sainsbury's have put the price of their cheapest loaf up from 36p to 39p - in line with their Aldi Price Match schemes - and Lidl has increased the cost of its chicken breasts from £2.15 to £2.29. Only Aldi, at £2.15, is cheaper for chicken, while Tesco is almost the same as Lidl, at £2.30 a pack.
A spokesperson for Asda said: "’We know how much the cost of living is worrying our customers right now and we’re doing everything we can to keep prices as low as possible on their shopping.
"We launched Just Essentials earlier this year to offer customers the largest value range on the market and we continue to be the best value of the traditional supermarkets as shown by independent research carried out by the Grocer and Which? magazines.”
Here's the full list:-
Lidl
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - £1.25
Coffee 200g - £1.89
Teabags 160 - 99p
Salted butter 250g - £1.72
Beans 420g tin - 22p
Chicken 300g - £2.29 (up from £2.15)
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.79
Total £10.51 (up from £10.37)
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g - 39p
Milk 2 pints - £1.25
Coffee 200g - £1.69
Teabags 160 - £1.29
Salted butter 250g - £1.99
Beans 420g tin - 26p
Chicken 300g - £2.15
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.79
Total £10.81
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g - 39p (up from 36p)
Milk 2 pints - £1.25
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) - £1.70
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) - £1.30
Salted butter 250g - £1.99
Beans 420g tin - 26p
Chicken 300g - £2.30
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.79
Total £10.98 (up from £10.95)
Sainsbury's
Loaf of white bread 800g - 39p (up from 36p)
Milk 2 pints - £1.25
Coffee 200g £1.69
Teabags 160 - £1.29
Salted butter 250g - £1.99
Beans 400g tin - 25p
Chicken 300g - £2.50
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.79
Total £11.15 (up from £11.12)
Asda
Loaf of white bread 800g (Just Essentials) - 39p
Milk 2 pints - £1.25
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g Just Essentials) - £1.66
Teabags 160 (4 x 40-pack Just Essentials) - £1.24
Salted butter 250g - £2
Beans 410g tin (Just Essentials) - 25p
Chicken (bigger 350g pack for £2.80) equates to £2.40
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.99 (up from £1.79)
Total £11.18 (up from £10.98)
Morrisons
Loaf of white bread 800g - 79p
Milk 2 pints - £1.25
Coffee (2 x 100g) - £1.70
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack Savers) - £1.30
Savers Salted butter 250g - £1.89
Beans 410g tin - 29p
Chicken 300g - £2.49
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.79
Total: £11.50
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