tesco staff worker veg shopper (2)

Source: Tesco

Tesco picked up the win in this week’s Grocer 33 pricing survey, and it didn’t even need to rely on Clubcard Prices to do so.

Based on shelf-edge prices alone, Tesco’s £74.83 total was £1.76 cheaper than rival Asda. Tesco offered the lowest price for 15 items and was exclusively cheapest for three – the apples, celeriac and John West salmon.

The UK’s biggest grocer did of course also have a number of Clubcard Prices, which would have saved a further £4.36 and extended its lead over Asda to £6.12.

Asda was cheapest for 16 items and exclusively so for the eggs, Marigold gloves and New Covent Garden soup.

Sainsbury’s was £2.54 more expensive than Tesco at the shelf edge. It offered a slightly bigger discount to its loyalty scheme members – of £4.91 – but this still left it £1.99 more expensive than Tesco once Nectar Prices and Clubcard Prices were factored in. It did, however, make Sainsbury’s £4.13 cheaper than Asda.

Sainsbury’s was exclusively cheapest for the brioche loaf, Food Heaven plant-based cream and Taylors of Harrogate coffee.

Morrisons offered the lowest price for 16 items and was exclusively cheapest for five. These included the celery, cherries and the pimento-stuffed olives. However, it still came in £2.82 more expensive than Tesco at £77.65.

Last week, Waitrose claimed a surprise runner-up spot with a much more competitive basket. That did not continue this time, as the upmarket retailer came in £10.92 more expensive than Tesco at £85.75. It was, however, exclusively cheapest for the own label premium pizza, the Itsu Bao’buns and the This Isn’t Beef Burgers.

Annual inflation on this basket across all five retailers was, for once, higher than the official figures, at 5.6%, while prices were up 1% month on month.