Which was the cheapest supermarket in April 2024?

Aldi has continued its reign as the UK's cheapest supermarket in April 2024, with Lidl close behind. 

We compared the prices of 67 popular grocery items in April and found that the total cost would have averaged £112.90 at Aldi – £2.33 less than at Lidl. 

Read on to find out how your supermarket compares in the analysis. 

Waitrose remains priciest supermarket

Every day in April, we checked the prices of 67 popular groceries, including Heinz baked beans, milk and cheese, at eight of the UK's biggest supermarkets to see how they compared.

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

Aldi was the cheapest overall: our shop cost £112.90 on average, meaning it beat rival discounter Lidl by just £2.33. 

The same shop at Waitrose was £144.13, making it £31.23 – or 28% – more expensive than Aldi.

Of the Big Four supermarkets, Asda was the cheapest, at £126.98.

Of course, price is just one factor when you're deciding which supermarket to shop at. We also survey shoppers on product quality, customer service, store experience, online deliveries and a range of other factors to reveal the best and worst supermarkets.

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

How Which? compares supermarket prices

We look at 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 for 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.  

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: supermarket price comparison over time

What's happening to grocery prices?

Grocery price inflation fell to 3.2% over the four weeks to April 14 – the 14th monthly drop in a row, according to market analyst Kantar. 

It found there was an increase in the amount shoppers were spending on groceries on promotion: items on offer made up 29.3% of supermarket sales.

Prices are rising fastest for things such as sweets, chocolate and chilled fruit juice. They're dropping fastest for toilet tissue, butter and milk.  

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

Supermarket bosses grilled by MPs

Earlier this week, MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee grilled supermarket bosses on their profits, supply chains and pricing practices. 

Members of the committee shared examples of shrinkflation and skimpflation uncovered by Which? and quoted examples from our loyalty pricing investigation.

Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy, said: 'It's good to hear MPs take supermarkets to task for some of the examples of shrinkflation and confusing unit pricing Which? investigations have uncovered. 

'Our research has found that one in eight households are skipping meals as the cost of food crisis continues to bite, so it's important supermarkets are doing everything they can to support their customers. 

'Supermarkets and manufacturers must be more upfront with consumers by making sure that any changes in the size or ingredients of popular products are clear, and by ensuring that unit pricing is prominent, legible and consistent in-store and online so that shoppers can easily compare prices across different brands and pack sizes.'

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