morrisons

Morrisons claimed victory in this week’s Grocer 33 pricing survey - on paper at least - to draw level with Asda and Tesco.

In what is shaping up to be one of the tightest battles yet for the annual pricing award, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco now have three wins each, with guest retailers Iceland and Aldi bagging one win each.

Morrisons’s £86.51 basket was 74p cheaper than Sainsbury’s, which claimed a surprise second place. (Sainsbury’s lofty position was slightly skewed by its price for the Riemann sunscreen. At £20 it was at least £4 cheaper than any of its rivals.)

It was also £3.45 cheaper than third-placed Asda, despite offering the exclusively cheapest price for six items compared with Asda’s 10. The key lines making a difference for Morrisons were the Total Greek yoghurt, Dr Oetker Chocolate Hearts and pak choi.

Asda paid a hefty price for not beating its supermarket rivals this week. Our shopper was awarded a voucher worth £10.69 to spend on her next shop as part of the Asda Price Guarantee.

Our Tesco shopper also enjoyed a large discount via its Brand Guarantee initiative. After providing a full quota of 33 items, Tesco deducted £4.73 from the £90.38 bill. This was £3.87 more expensive than Morrisons but after the discount was factored in Tesco actually came out 86p cheaper than its Bradford-based rival, so in ­practice it was the winner.

Waitrose’s £95.75 total was £9.24 more expensive than Morrisons. Unusually for the upmarket retailer, it offered the lowest price for seven lines, five of which were exclusively cheapest, including the Schär ciabatta rolls, San Pellegrino Limonata and the Galbani Dolcelatte. It’s also offering 25% off wines if you buy just three bottles, which is an escalation of the usual six-bottle promo.

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