Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in February 2024

Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in February, with Lidl less than £3 behind.  

We compared the prices of 72 popular grocery items throughout last month and found that the total cost would have averaged £125.43 at Aldi and £128.19 at rival Lidl. 

Read on to find out how your supermarket compares in the analysis, and where was priciest. 

Waitrose 30% pricier than Aldi

We checked the prices of 72 popular groceries, including Heinz baked beans, milk and cheese, at the UK's eight biggest supermarkets every day throughout February to see how they compared.

The chart below shows how much our shopping cost on average:

Aldi was the cheapest overall at £125.43 on average, beating rival discounter Lidl by just £2.76. 

The same shop at Waitrose was £162.94, making it £37.51 – or 30% – more expensive than Aldi.

Of the 'big four' supermarkets, Asda was the cheapest at £140.51.

We also run our analysis on a larger list of groceries. This includes a greater number of popular branded items, and doesn't include Aldi or Lidl as they only stock a limited range of branded goods. 

To find out how the traditional supermarkets compared on this bumper list, see our monthly supermarket price comparison guide.

How Which? compares supermarket prices

We track the prices of hundreds of grocery items at eight major supermarkets every day throughout the year, using an independent price comparison website.

For each supermarket, we work out the average price of each item across the month, then we add those up to get each store’s average price. We include special offers, but we don’t count multibuys or loyalty scheme discounts such as Nectar or Clubcard prices.

Our shopping list comprises the country's most popular and widely available groceries, based on extensive market analysis.

It includes branded items such as Heinz baked beans and Dolmio sauce, as well as own-brand products such as apples and lettuce.

Own-brand items won’t be identical across supermarkets, but we’ve ensured everything we’ve compared is as similar as possible based on a number of factors, including quality and weight.

• Find out more: how to spend less at the supermarket 

What's happening to grocery prices?

Food price inflation fell in February to its lowest rate in nearly two years, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shop price index.  

In February the price of food was 5% higher compared to the previous year. This food price inflation rate was down from 6.1% in January and also represented the lowest year-on-year rise since May 2022. In a nutshell, this means that prices are still rising, but at a slower rate. 

The BRC said that some foods - including meat, fish and fruit - had dropped in price compared with the previous month, driven by easing input costs for energy and fertiliser. It also pointed to fierce competition between retailers to keep prices down. 

Our own inflation tracker shows that, while year-on-year inflation is falling, grocery prices are still substantially higher than they were two years ago. 

• Find out more: Which? food and drink inflation tracker

Clearer pricing calls move forward 

Our Affordable Food For All campaign launched just over a year ago as the country faced the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.

Last week, after months of Which? campaigning, Tesco announced that it would be adding unit pricing to its Clubcard price promotion labelling - a huge step forward for clearer grocery pricing. 

It was also revealed in December 2023 that the Price Marking Order (PMO), which sets out the rules for unit pricing (the price per 100g or 100ml), will be reformed.

The Department for Business and Trade said the proposed changes would ensure unit pricing was more consistent, better helping shoppers compare like-for-like in order to work out the best value.

Meanwhile the Competition and Markets Authority has published a short guide for shoppers on unit pricing.

• Do you want to see your supermarket take action? Sign our petition