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Manchester Evening News

Entertainment

Hana Kelly

I bought the same seven value range items from Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda and the Co-op to find out who was cheapest

Everybody wants the best deal on the big food shop.

With stock shortages being a possibility and ranges constantly changing, it’s great to know where you can still get a deal.

We all do the weekly shop differently, with some people buying the essentials in the ‘big shop’ and topping up from locals throughout the week, and others shopping around to get the best deals.

But one thing's for sure, essential items differ in prices across major retailers.

We decided to buy seven items - from supermarkets' value ranges - to find out which store is cheapest for your essential needs.

The Manchester Evening News shopped at Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Co-op.

We bought salted butter, carrots, white sliced bread, baked beans, pasta and toilet paper.

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There were some variations as Co-op does not have its own brand of baked beans or butter. These items were not purchased.

Similarly, bags of carrots come in different sizes. Some quick maths was done to help with comparisons.

Oddly, all the loaves seemed to be a standard size of 800g, but, Morrisons is only 720g. It is vegan though.

This is reflected in the price.

A loaf from Morrisons will only set you back 32p, but bread from the other four shops are at least 20p more expensive.

Out of the big four - Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s - Tesco came out as the cheapest, with a total of £4.37 for the seven items.

Sadly, they did not have their star Spring Force toilet paper in a four pack in stock. Instead, a nine pack had to be purchased for £2.09.

The most expensive shop came from Morrisons, with a total of £5.66.

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Supply chain issues have been a worry for a while, with a lack of HGV drivers causing issues.

So let’s break this down.

At Tesco, a pack of four Spring Force toilet paper costs just £1 (if it was in stock).

The price for two-ply toilet paper at all other shops was nearly double that, and in the case of the Co-op, the price was 60 per cent higher - at £2.10.

The difference between a four pack at Co-op and a nine pack at Tesco is 1p.

Pasta - a lockdown favourite - was readily available at all the shops, with lots of variety.

Tesco, Asda, and Sainsbury’s all offer a discount-own-brand pasta.

At Tesco and Asda, 500g of spaghetti and pasta shapes cost just 20p.

Sainsbury’s version of pasta shapes is only available in 1kg bags, costing 40p. But this is still cheaper than the 500g bag of penne.

Similarly, buying carrots is a minefield. You have wonky carrots, unloved carrots, organic carrots and carrots who just want to end up in a casserole.

You can also get carrots in 500g and 1kg bags, costing roughly the same.

In Asda and Co-op, the carrots came in 500g bags and cost 30p and 42p respectively.

Whereas a kilo of wonky carrots in Morrisons is 35p.

This means you’re paying 3.5p per gram of carrot in Morrisons, but 6p per gram in Asda.

Butter was a pretty consistent purchase, costing £1.48 at Tesco and Sainsbury's and £1.45 at Asda and Morrison's.

The standout price in the baked beans category was Sainsbury's, charging 35p for their product, while the other big three only ask for 22p.

By comparing these essentials we can see that the differences are a matter of pennies, and weight and availability has to be taken into consideration.

I am not someone who weighs my bread and would see a loaf on sale for 32p and think it is a bargain.

After counting the slices, you actually get more from Morrisons with 24 medium slices to Asda's 19.