I shopped at supermarkets for essentials which were cheaper than Lidl and Aldi

There is one supermarket that has been the cheapest for essential shopping for over a year now and that is Lidl.

Week after week, it has consistently been the cheapest place for a shopping basket of eight essential items that we have tracked across six major supermarkets for over two years; usually only a few bucks outside of Aldi.

So it came as a bit of a surprise when Morrisons took the lead earlier this month, despite previously being the most expensive product.

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With that in mind, I decided to open a large store there to see how prices were doing overall.

In February the supermarket announced it would launch its own Aldi and Lidl Price Match, matching the cheaper retailer’s price on more than 200 items. While this may result in some prices falling, the price match only applies to a small percentage of Morrisons’ total stock.

In fact, only five of the 38 items I purchased this week were paired with affordable stores. These were milk, ground meat, chicken breast, carrots and pasta.

There’s also the Budget Savers line, which offers more than 200 low-cost products, from freezer fillers to cupboard staples like bread and rice.

But what impressed me the most was the number of offers on many other products, especially branded ones; making it cheaper in many products from the likes of Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

For example, a nine-pack of Warburtons bread was just £1, while at Tesco and Asda it was £1.25 and at Sainsbury’s it was £1.35. A pack of four Dutch pies is on offer for £3.75, while at Tesco you’ll pay £4.40.

Birds Eye Chunky Fish Fingers are on offer from £3.50 to £3, a two-pack of Jaffa Cakes is on offer from £2 to £1.35 and Mr Kipling apple tarts are on offer for £1.50, twice as much as elsewhere much.

Many shoppers know how much the price of extra virgin olive oil has increased in recent months and that it is even cheaper here; A 250ml bottle of Filippo Berio is available for £3.50, while at Tesco and Asda it costs £4.30 and £5 respectively.

Even without the offer, the price of some items had dropped compared to previous Morrisons stores I’ve been to both last year and a few months ago.

For example, the price of 450 grams of Flora Çakmak dropped from £2.49 in March to £1.50. Asda and Sainsbury’s sell the same tub for £2.50, while Tesco sells it for £1.60, slightly more than Morrisons.

I didn’t purchase any Heinz products this time, but I did notice that some of them were starting to drop in price.

While last year four 400g tins of Heinz Beanz were £4, you can now pick up four larger 415g tins for £3.75. A 480g bottle of Heinz BBQ sauce used to cost around £3.40, but is now down to £2.49.

It was particularly notable that many of the deals were no longer only valid for multiple purchases; This is an advantage for those with limited budgets.

There are still some you might want to take advantage of – like two berries for £3, Ambrosia Custard for £1.99 a tin, or two for £2.50 and two Hovis loaves for £2.50 – but it was good to see others. Products such as Lloyd Grossman pasta sauce and Sharwood’s Tikka Masala Sauce are now £1.49 a jar, whereas last year they were around £2.15 each, or cheaper if you bought two.

And the price of 500g fusilli pasta bags has dropped from 95p to 75p, largely due to Aldi and Lidl price matching, whereas previously you had to buy a multi-buy two for £1.60 to get them cheaper.

Of course, not everything is cheaper. Another product that has increased is potatoes, and since March Morrisons’ 2kg pack of Maris Piper potatoes has risen from £1.65 to the current price of £1.89. Aldi’s and Tesco’s are just 10p cheaper, suggesting they are rising overall.

With better offers, more Savers products and a select number of products matching Aldi and Lidl, perhaps there are more reasons to shop at Morrisons.

My full Morrisons store

Offer

• Dutch pies reduced from £4.40 to £3.75

• £3 on fruit – grapes 400g / blueberries 150g

• 9 Warburtons Crumpets reduced from £1.25 to £1

• Wafer thin honey ham 170g £1.75 off £2

• Corned beef 100g reduced from £2 to £1.50

• Birds Eye 38 chicken scoops reduced from £5.69 to £3.50

• Ambrosia pudding 2 costs £2.50 or £1.99 each

• Mr Kipling apple tarts reduced from £2.99 to £1.50

• Walkers Baked Sea Salt crisps 6-pack reduced from £2.20 to £1.50

• Warburtons Bagels 5-pack reduced from £1.85 to £1.35

• Jaffa cakes two pack 220g reduced from £2 to £1.35

• Onken yoghurt 450g reduced from £1.95 to £1.50

• Sharwood’s Tikka Masala Sauce reduced from £2.50 to £1.49

• Lloyd Grossman pasta sauce reduced from £2.99 to £1.49

• King Size Pot Noodle 99p from £1.39

• Bird’s Eye Chunky Fish Fingers 360g £3, down from £3.50

• Goodfella’s pepperoni pizza 332g reduced from £3 to £1.50

• Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil 250ml reduced from £4.30 to £3.50

• Richmond Skinless Sausage 2 packs £12 4

Aldi Price Match

Others

• Cathedral City lighter cheese 350g £2.75

• Flora Lighter 450g £1.50

• Preservative apple juice 1L 99p

• Orange juice 1L £1.29

• Maris piper potatoes £1.89 for 2kg

• Eggs 12 x large free range £2.95

• Hovis thick white soft £1.45 and Hovis thick wholewheat 800g £1.45 (2 for £2.50)

• broccoli 79p

• Morrisons fat free Greek yoghurt 500g £1.10

• Morrisons Mighty Malties 625g 95p

• Soft white rolls 89p

• 4 5% fat beef burgers £4

Total £75.35