Morrisons made it a double success this week as it undercut Asda by a mere penny to break its rival’s seven-week stranglehold at the top of the price chart. 

Despite offering the cheapest price on just four items, a 60p saving over Asda on fresh beef, and a 54p saving on Lavazza coffee meant that at £46.19, Morrisons provided a cheaper basket by 1p.

Morrisons matched or bettered Asda on 15 prices and although there were precious few reductions across the basket of goods, only one item, the Soreen malt loaf, increased in price by more than 10%.

Asda paid the penalty for some hefty price increases, most notably on the coffee where a 94p increase to £3.07 made the item 32p more expensive than at any of its rivals.

Asda was also the most expensive retailer for the Birds Eye garden peas, but it did manage to better the competition on seven items and slash 50p off the price of the red seedless grapes. 

Sainsbury’s narrowed the gap on the top two in a week of numerous price fluctuations. It dramatically dropped the price of Brussels pâté, seedless grapes and Frijj Classic Shake, but these savings were countered somewhat by hikes on the coffee, fresh beef and ketchup. 

At £46.60, the Sainsbury’s basket was just 41p dearer than Morrisons, suggesting it could well be a contender for top spot in the weeks to come.

Tesco’s failure to follow its rivals’ lead in discounting the red grapes, meant that at £4.49, they were priced a whopping £2.25 more than at Sainsbury’s and £1 more than at Waitrose

It failed to deliver the best price on any item, despite matching or bettering Asda on 21 products. Stuffed green olives were the only item to fall significantly in price, down 17p to 82p.

Waitrose matched or beat Asda on ten items and reduced the grapes by £1.50. 

However, 16 items were priced higher than at its competitors, yielding the most expensive basket at £50.38, £4.19 more than the equivalent at Morrisons.