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Source: Asda

Baking potatoes saw the biggest year-on-year price increase, at 55%

A third of all products in our Grocer 33 pricing survey were on deal as supermarkets continue to unleash promotions to keep the lid on rampant inflation.

Overall prices were 13.4% higher than March 2022 and 2.5% up on last month. However it is clear these figures would have been significantly higher had it not been for the total of 56 offers across the five retailers we visited this week.

The biggest percentage jump was on the baking potatoes – up 55% compared with 12 months ago. The Mr Kipling Angel Slices cost 47% more, while the Sharwood’s curry sauce (see right) was up 43%. A further three lines increased in price by more than 30% and seven more were at least 20% pricier than last year.

Sixteen deals at Asda meant almost half of its lines were on promotion. This helped the Issa brothers-owned retailer provide the cheapest overall basket by a clear margin compared with its rivals.

At £60.42, Asda came in £6.50 cheaper than second-placed Sainsbury’s. It offered the lowest price for 20 items, with the exclusively cheapest price for 11. These included the Aero chocolate mousse, celeriac and stone baked chicken pizza.

Sainsbury’s had five exclusively cheapest items including the baby corn and king prawns.

Morrisons came in £10.67 more expensive than Asda at £71.09. It was exclusively cheapest for the Fanta Zero and mango two-pack.

Tesco came in £10.84 more expensive than Asda, but its Clubcard Prices would have reduced the gap to £6.05. It was exclusively cheapest for chicken chow mein and Quorn mince.

Waitrose was the cheapest retailer for the frozen strawberries, but little else. It also matched the lowest price for the Volvic, but overall it came in almost £20 more expensive than Asda at £79.62.