Shoppers at budget supermarkets have seen steeper price rises over the past year than at traditional stores, according to consumer group Which?. Prices were up 23.6% year-on-year at Lidl in January and 22.5% at Aldi, according to the Which? food and drink tracker.
However, price rises were 10.4% at Ocado, 13.2% at Sainsbury’s, 13.6% at Tesco, 14.4% Morrisons, 15.2% at Waitrose and 16.8% at Asda. Despite this, both Lidl and Aldi are still cheaper overall than their rivals, Which? said.
It comes after Aldi was recently crowned the cheapest UK supermarket for the seventh month running, the Mirror reports.
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More than 25,000 food and drink products were analysed by the Which? food tracker, which looked at eight major supermakets: Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
The price rises at the stores were as follows:
Lidl - 23.6%
Aldi - 22.5%
Asda - 16.8%
Waitrose - 15.2%
Morrisons - 14.4%
Tesco - 13.6%
Sainsbury's - 13.2%
Ocado - 10.0%
The Which? tracker found overall inflation in the popular supermarket products it analysed was 15.9% in the year to January 2023. Shoppers who buy own-brand budget ranges – those likely to be struggling the most – saw a 21.6% increase in the cost of these products.
Branded goods went up by 13.2% over the year, with own-label premium ranges increasing by 13.4%. Standard own-brand products shot up by 18.9%.
Some of the sharpest price rises highlighted in the report include own-label water at Sainsbury's rising from 17p to 35p (105.9%) and French brie at Tesco soaring from 80p to £1.57 (96.6%).
Muesli shot up from £1.20 to £2.25 at Sainsbury's (87.5%), tins of sliced carrots at Tesco rose from 20p to 33p (63%) and pork sausages increased from 80p to £1.27 (58.2%) at Asda.
Overall, butter and spreads went up by 29.9% over the year to January 2023, with milk increasing by 26.1% and cheese going up by 23.8%. Which? is calling on all supermarkets to ensure their budget line items are widely available, particularly in areas where people are most in need.
Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy, said: “It’s clear that food costs have soared in recent months, but our inflation tracker shows how households relying on supermarket value ranges are being hit the hardest.
“Supermarkets need to act and Which? is calling for them to ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, particularly in areas where people are most in need.
“Supermarkets must also do more to ensure transparent pricing enables people to easily work out which products offer the best value and target their promotions to support people who are really struggling.”
An Asda spokesperson said: “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.”
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: “With costs going up, we are working hard to keep prices low.
“Last year we announced that we would invest over £550m by March 2023 into lowering prices as part of our goal to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s.
“We're committed to doing everything we can to support customers with the rising cost of living. Through initiatives such as our Aldi Price Match campaign, Price Lock and My Nectar Prices, customers can find low prices on the products they buy most often both in stores and online – including: biscuits, cheese, water, cereals and yoghurts.
“Our focus on value means that all our customers will find great deals when they shop with us and do not need to go anywhere else to get the best prices on their weekly shop.”
An Aldi spokesperson said: “We are working hard to shield shoppers from industry-wide inflation, and our promise to our customers is that we will always provide the lowest grocery prices in Britain.
“That’s why Which? named us as the cheapest supermarket in 2022 and why it has again confirmed that we were the lowest-priced in January 2023 as well.”
Which? approached both Lidl and Tesco for comment.
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