The quest to find the cheapest supermarket in the UK continues as food prices continue to soar. Finding cheaper alternatives when it comes to food shopping remains a hot topic as the overall price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose a whopping 25% between January 2022 and January 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics. These food prices are set to rise even further with shoppers being even more keen to find the number one cheapest places to buy food in the UK.

Our sister website Manchester Evening News analysed six main supermarkets' tracking prices, which have been monitored by the publication for the last three years. These results were shared with one surprising retailer found to be the cheapest overall when it came to selling a basket of essentials.

The publication surveyed costs at Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Tesco, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s when it came to everyday items, including bread, milk, coffee, tea, beans, chicken, and mince.

They concluded that the UK’s most popular supermarkets, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, were found to be the most expensive, closely followed by Morrisons.

The third-cheapest supermarket for everyday items was Asda, which slipped out of top position after increasing the price of its bread and mince.

Despite Aldi increasing the price of their 500g 25% mince recently from £2.75 to £2.89, the supermarket worked out to be the second cheapest overall.

That means that Lidl was found to be the UK’s cheapest supermarket for everyday items despite also recently increasing their 500g 25% fat beef mince from £2.85 to £2.95.

The changes mean that Lidl is working out cheapest overall, with a bill of £13.02, followed by Aldi's £13.07 and Asda's £13.09.

Aldi, however, has argued that Manchester Evening News’ analysis does not take into account how quality often impacts prices. The supermarket holds its own Diplomat Red Label tea bags, and its coffee is equally labelled as being 'higher quality' compared to other retailers' comparative products.

“Our promise to customers is that they will make significant savings every time they shop with Aldi, which is why we’ve been named Which? Cheapest Supermarket of the Year for four years running,” added an Aldi spokesperson.

Asda also disputed the publication's analysis, stating that its small sample of products does not provide a fuller picture of prices and does not take into account Asda’s deals.

Asda also stated that its Just Essentials range was found to be the cheapest and largest available across the board, alongside Aldi’s.

But Manchester Evening News argued that when it came to meat products, its comparison included the cheapest packs of mince from each retailer, with Aldi and Lidl, along with Morrisons, including their 25% fat pack.