With the cost of living crisis continuing to have a huge impact on households, many have turned to their weekly food shop to see where they can cut back amid rising prices.
As the cost of groceries continues to climb, lots of people have switched up their regular supermarket and started shopping around to find their food essentials for less. But with several competitors out there all claiming to offer the best prices, it can seem virtually impossible to find the time to compare them all.
The Liverpool Echo carried out a test to see which shop is the cheapest when it comes to some of the most basic essentials so that you don't have to. The reporter picked up two pints of milk, a loaf of bread, a bag of at last six apples, a bag of potatoes and a tin of beans at 12 different stores and compared the prices between them - finding a difference of £3.22 between the priciest option and the cheapest for the five items.
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The comparison included shops that aren't known for their fresh produce, such as Iceland and Heron Foods, as well as stores that aren't typically associated with groceries like Home Bargains, as well as the big names including Asda, Sainsbury's, Aldi and M&S. The reporter tried to get like-for-like products in each store wherever possible and bought the next-closest thing if an exact match was not available, so some pack sizes varied.
Shoppers should bear in mind that while this list looks at smaller product sizes, buying in bulk can often work out cheaper per item overall - such as buying a multipack of beans - and special offers, loyalty cards and coupons can also help to bring your food shop cost down. Here are the full results from all 12 supermarkets, from most expensive to cheapest:
Waitrose
- Milk - £1.75
- Bread - 75p
- Apples - £2.50p
- Potatoes - £1.25
- Beans - 55p
Total: £6.80
Marks and Spencer
- Milk - £1.30
- Bread - 85p
- Apples - £1.85
- Potatoes - £2.30
- Beans - 50p
Total: £6.80
Iceland
- Milk - £1.30
- Bread - 79p
- Apples - £1
- Potatoes - £2.25
- Beans - 50p
Total: £5.84
Heron Foods
- Milk - 95p (only one-pint cartons available)
- Bread - £1.29
- Apples - £1.49
- Potatoes - £1
- Beans - 79p
Total: £5.52
Farmfoods
- Milk - £1.55
- Bread - 82p
- Apples - 99p
- Potatoes - 69p
- Beans - £1.40
Total : £5.45
Home Bargains
- Milk - £1.15
- Bread - £1.09
- Apples - £1
- Potatoes - £1.09
- Beans - £1.09
Total: £5.42
Lidl
- Milk - 1.30p
- Bread - 79p
- Apples - 85p
- Potatoes - £1.49
- Beans - 26p
Total: £4.69
Sainsbury's
- Milk - £1.30
- Bread - 39p
- Apples - £1.70
- Potatoes - £1.05
- Beans - 25p
Total: £4.69
Aldi
- Milk - £1.30
- Bread - 39p
- Apples - 99p
- Potatoes - £1.59
- Beans - 26p
Total: £4.53
Tesco
- Milk - £1.30
- White loaf - 39p
- Apples - 85p
- Potatoes - £1.19
- Tin of beans - 27p
Total: £4
Asda
- Milk - £1.30
- Bread - 39p
- Apples - 65p
- Potatoes - £1.15
- Beans - 26p
Total: £3.75
Morrisons
- Milk - £1.30
- Bread - 39p
- Apples - 65p
- Potatoes - 99p
- Beans - 25p
Total: £3.58
While Morrisons was found to be the cheapest of the 12 supermarkets for these items overall, the shop has come under fire from some customers for its "nonsense pricing". One shopper was "staggered" by some of the price hikes seen in-store on the likes of chicken, butter and gravy - meaning that it may be worth shopping around for your groceries if you can to save money on your food shop.
Of the shops put to the test above, for example, Home Bargains had the cheapest two pints of milk, whereas Asda and Morrisons had the cheapest bag of apples and Farmfoods offered the cheapest bag of potatoes. The cheapest tin of beans could be found at Morrisons and Sainsbury's, while Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco had the joint-cheapest loaf of white bread.
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