A woman was left in disbelief when she compared Aldi's notoriously cheap food with ASDA's budget essentials range. ASDA snatched the headlines earlier this month when it released its new Just Essentials range.
The range, which can easily be spotted by its flourescent yellow packaging has already divided shoppers. Some have praised the line, while others have accused it of 'poverty shaming'.
It seems that the budget line is not a new phenomenon however, with Waitrose and Morrisons also having their own budget brands. The likes of Lidl and Aldi have always offered affordable or discounted prices for their goods for many years.
READ MORE: Home Bargains shoppers discover luxury £60 shower gel on shelves for 99p
With that in mind, Branwen Jones, a reporter at our sister site Wales Online decided to look at how the cost of 15 items would compare between Asda’s new Essentials range and the regular items at Aldi, to see which works out cheaper.
Here's what she had to say:
| Product | Asda Essentials | Aldi |
| Orange Juice | 69p | 79p |
| Muesli | £1.20 | £1.69 |
| Strawberry jam | 31p | 31p |
| Bread | 39p | 69p |
| Ham | £1.69 | £1.49 |
| Cheese | £3.65 | £3.99 |
| Tomatoes | 75p | £1.59 |
| Tortilla chips | 43p | 48p |
| Pizza | £1.20 | £1.09 |
| Baked beans | 25p | 37p |
| Six pack yogurts | 79p | 79p |
| Macaroni cheese (ready meal) | £1.18 | £2.15 |
| Coffee | 75p | £1.69 |
| Chocolate chip cookies | 39p | 41p |
| Apples | 90p | 90p |
| Total cost | £14.97 |
£18.43 |
With an Asda Essentials shop of 15 items, you could save around £4 - allowing for some different sizes of packs. In the Asda budget range, their muesli cereal, bread, cheese, tomatoes, macaroni cheese ready meal and instant coffee were far cheaper than Aldi's range.
That being said, a few items were either the same price or cheaper at Aldi, with the pizza and packet of ham being cheaper, however with the latter, the portion size was different. The total cost of the Asda shop came to nearly £15 while the one at Aldi was just over £18.
There is no doubt that Asda Essentials has won in this contest, and with 293 products in the budget line, including fresh meat, fish and poultry, bakery, frozen, cupboard staples and household products, it couldn’t have come at a better time with the cost of living crisis.
READ NEXT:
