Asda returned to winning ways in this week’s price comparison survey with a £74.02 basket.
It was cheapest on 15 items and exclusively so for 10 including Jason’s sourdough, Always sanitary pads and mozzarella.
But it’s not having an easy ride. The gap between Asda and two of its rivals was narrower than the “5%-10% cheaper” target set by chair Allan Leighton.
Tesco was in closest pursuit. Its £75.27 basket was 3.8% cheaper than a month ago while Asda’s fell by 0.8%. That left Asda 1.7% cheaper than Tesco. It was cheaper than Morrisons (£76.60) by 3.4% and Sainsbury’s (£79.88) by 7.3%.
Whitworths dried apricots illustrate retailers’ pricing approaches. At Asda a bag cost £2 a year ago, or two for £3.20. After a rollback to £1.68 in February it reverted to £2 and then settled on a permanent £1.68 ‘Asda Price’ in August. Tesco and Morrisons meanwhile raised the price of a single bag from £2 to £2.10 and introduced a two for £3.40 promotion in May. So if you want one bag of apricots, Asda is 42p cheaper than Tesco or Morrisons. If you buy two, Asda is 4p cheaper. Sainsbury’s Nectar members can get them for £1.70 this week.
NIQ data showed till sales slowing to 3.2% growth [4 w/e 1 November 2025] with only fresh lines in unit growth. In response Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose leaned on volume-boosting multibuys, all offering as many or more multibuys than straight price cuts, while Sainsbury’s stuck exclusively to price-only promos.
When multibuys are pro-rated, Asda’s winning margin would shrink to just 14p ahead of Tesco.
Our basket included ingredients for a pizza: Loyd Grossman bases, Mutti passata, grated mozzarella and pepperoni totalled the least at Morrisons, at £7.11. Waitrose was some 59% dearer at £11.29.
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