When it comes to food shopping there is one area where parents can save money and that's school lunches.
Unless a child qualifies for free school meals then it's almost always cheaper to buy lunch rather than paying for school dinners. Most mums and dads would probably admit to keeping it simple, but what is the cost of a typical packed lunch for schoolkids?
The Manchester Evening News set out to find the best deal for a lunch consisting of a homemade ham sandwich and include a tube yoghurt, a packet of crisps and a Royal Gala apple for a little as possible using like-for-like products. Writer Emma Gill visited all six main supermarkets to find out where to get the best deal.
She went to Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Aldi and Lidl and opted for own brand products where possible. It was only in Sainsbury's where she had to purchase branded Frube yoghurts and Tesco, Asda and Morrisons the Wildlife Choobs. Both Aldi and Lidl sell their own versions.
Overall - with two pieces of bread, 40g (four slices) of ham and 6g of margarine used for the comparison - it was the two budget retailers who came out as cheapest, at 62p for the entire lunchbox. None of the stores charged more than £1 with Asda most expensive at 92p - mostly because its own brand crisps (82p for a six-pack) weren't available. With its own brand of crisps, it would have reduced the lunchbox cost to 81p.
If apples had been purchased as part of the 2 for £2 mix and match offer on packs of fruit, it would have reduced even further and the retailer says it would have been cheaper to pick its Smart Price ham at £1.59 a pack and its Farm Store apples at 72p for 500g. A spokesperson for Asda said: ‘’This survey does not compare like-for-like products or include lower-priced options on bread, ham, apples or crisps. Asda is consistently the cheapest major supermarket - a position recognised by independent surveys such as The Grocer 33 and the Which? basket comparison, which recently found that Asda was the cheapest traditional grocer every month for the last two years.”
Morrisons worked out as slightly more than Asda's lowest price, at 85p, followed by Tesco at 79p and Sainsbury's at 75p.
Here's how the supermarkets ranked in price - full price of products / lunchbox price
Asda
Bread - loaf 58p / slices 5.8p (cheapest 50p loaf unavailable)
Spread - 500g 84p / 6g 1p
Ham - 400g £2.25 / 40g 22.5p
Tube yoghurt - pack of six £1 / 16.6p
Crisps - pack of six £1.50 / 25p
Apple - pack of six £1.29 / 21.5p
Total 92p (would have been 81p with own brand crisps)
Morrisons
Bread - loaf 59p / slices 6.2p
Spread - 500g £1 / 6g 1.2p
Ham - 400g £2 / 40g 20p
Tube yoghurt - pack of six £1 / 16.6p
Crisps - pack of six 85p / 14.16p
Apple - pack of six £1.59 / 26.5p
Total 85p
Tesco
Bread - loaf 59p / slices 5.9p
Spread - 500g 85p / 6g 1p
Ham - 400g £1.59 / 40g 15.9p
Tube yoghurt - pack of six £1 / 16.6p
Crisps - pack of six 77p / 12.8p
Apple - pack of six £1.60 / 26.6p
Total 79p
Sainsbury's
Bread - loaf 55p / slices 5.5p
Spread - 500g £1 / 6g 1.2p
Ham - 400g £1.59 / 40g 15.9p
Tube yoghurt - pack of nine £1 / 11.1p
Crisps - pack of six 90p / 15p
Apple - pack of six £1.60 / 26.6p
Total 75p
Lidl
Bread - loaf 36p / slices 3.27p
Spread - 500g 69p / 6g 0.8p
Ham - 400g £1.59 / 40g 15.9p
Tube yoghurt - pack of nine 95p / 10.5p
Crisps - pack of six 69p / 11.5p
Apple - pack of six £1.19 / 19.8p
Total 62p
Aldi
Bread - loaf 36p / slices 3.27p
Spread - 500g 69p / 6g 0.8p
Ham - 400g £1.59 / 40g 15.9p
Tube yoghurt - pack of nine 95p / 10.5p
Crisps - pack of six 69p / 11.5p
Apple - pack of six £1.19 / 19.8p
Total 62p
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