The long summer school holiday is almost here and many parents will be thinking about the cost of feeding their children over the six weeks. The rising cost of groceries in supermarkets is putting a strain on many families' budgets.
With inflation rising as energy bills and petrol are among the highest risers, it's a challenging time. And with families struggling even with the help of free school meals, there is concern about the summer months.
In a bid to find out the costs of a basic lunchbox of a ham sandwich, a tube yoghurt, a packet of crisps and an apple, the Manchester Evening News visited Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Aldi and Lidl and opted for own brand products where possible.
It had done the same back in February and has now repeated the shop to see just how much costs have risen and unsurprisingly every supermarket came out as more expensive.
It was only Asda where it had to opt for Walkers crisps as its own brand wasn't available. And that's mainly why it came out highest in price - at 92p for the lunch. Unexpectedly the biggest increase came at Lidl, where its lunch rose from 62p to 71.6p, a 15.5% hike, largely due to its 400g pack of cooked ham rising from £1.59 to £1.99.
Its pack of Gala apples also contained five rather than the previous six, bringing the individual cost of an apple up from 19.8p to 23.8p.
Morrisons was only just behind Asda at 93p per lunchbox and that's despite the inclusion of its own brand crisps.
Overall - with two pieces of bread, 40g (four slices) of ham and 6g of margarine used for the comparison - it was Aldi who came out as cheapest for the entire lunchbox, costing 67.62p - an increase of 9% on February's 62p.
A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We know that this is a very tough time for customers and so one of the recent changes we have made is to improve our My Morrisons loyalty scheme. Customers who are part of it will be rewarded with instant offers when they shop to help them save money."
Asda
Bread - loaf 58p (cheapest 50p loaf was unavailable) / slices 5.8p : loaf 70p / 7p
Spread - 500g 84p / 6g 1p : £1 / 1.2p
Ham - 400g £2.25 / 40g 22.5p : £2 / 20p
Tube yoghurt - pack of six £1 / 16.6p : £1 / 16.6p
Crisps - pack of six £1.50 / 25p : £1.65 / 27.5p
Apple - pack of six £1.29 / 21.5p : £1.50 / 25p
Total was 92p (would have been 81p with own brand crisps) / now 96.8p (would be 86.4p own brand)
Morrisons
Bread - loaf 59p / slices 6.2p : 85p / 8.9p
Spread - 500g £1 / 6g 1.2p : £1 / 1.2p
Ham - 400g £2 / 40g 20p : £2 / 20p
Tube yoghurt - pack of six £1 / 16.6p : £1 / 16.6p
Crisps - pack of six 85p / 14.16p : 99p / 16.5p
Apple - pack of six £1.59 / 26.5p : £1.79 / 29.8p
Total was 85p / now 93p
Tesco
Bread - loaf 59p / slices 5.9p : 70p / 7p
Spread - 500g 85p / 6g 1p : £1 / 1.2p
Ham - 400g £1.59 / 40g 15.9p : £1.69 / 16.9p
Tube yoghurt - pack of six £1 / 16.6p : £1 / 16.6p
Crisps - pack of six 77p / 12.8p : £1 / 16.6p
Apple - pack of six £1.60 / 26.6p : £1.70 / 28.3p
Total was 79p / now 86.6p
Sainsbury's
Bread - loaf 55p / slices 5.5p : 70p / 7p
Spread - 500g £1 / 6g 1.2p : £1.10 / 1.3p
Ham - 400g £1.59 / 40g 15.9p : £1.59 / 15.9p
Tube yoghurt - pack of nine £1 / 11.1p : £1.25 / 13.8p
Crisps - pack of six 90p / 15p : 95p / 15.8p
Apple - pack of six £1.60 / 26.6p : £1.70 / 28.3p
Total was 75p / now 82.1p
Lidl
Bread - loaf 36p / slices 3.27p : 36p / 3.27p
Spread - 500g 69p / 6g 0.8p : 85p / 1p
Ham - 400g £1.59 / 40g 15.9p : £1.99 / 19.9p
Tube yoghurt - pack of nine 95p / 10.5p : 95p / 10.5p
Crisps - pack of six 69p / 11.5p : 79p / 13.2p
Apple - pack of six £1.19 / 19.8p : pack of five £1.19 / 23.8p
Total was 62p / now 71.6p
Aldi
Bread - loaf 36p / slices 3.27p : 36p / 3.27p
Spread - 500g 69p / 6g 0.8p : 85p / 1p
Ham - 400g £1.59 / 40g 15.9p : £1.69 / 16.9p
Tube yoghurt - pack of nine 95p / 10.5p : 95p / 10.5p
Crisps - pack of six 69p / 11.5p : 79p / 13.2p
Apple - pack of six £1.19 / 19.8p : £1.39 / 23.2p
Total was 62p / now 67.62p
