Margaret Canning takes a look at research from Which? on the price of basics throughout 2024
Instead, research by consumer watchdog Which? said Aldi, also a discount grocer, was the cheapest grocer for all 12 months of 2024.
Each month during 2024, Which? tracked thousands of grocery prices across eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets (Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose) to find out how much each shop was charging for everyday items.
Only four of those — Asda, Lidl, Sainsbury’s and Tesco — operate in Northern Ireland.
But since they are the four biggest supermarkets in the province, the Which? research does give us an indication of which supermarkets offer the best value for money for shoppers in NI.
Lidl is just over £1 behind rival Aldi in race to be UK’s cheapest supermarket, according to research by consumer watchdog Which?
Which? found shoppers who stocked up at Aldi stores in Great Britain would have saved £393 on average compared to the most expensive alternative over the course of the year.
The results for the final month of the year in December showed a shopping list of 56 groceries was £100.29 on average at Aldi.
But Lidl was hot on Aldi’s heels, as it had been every month in 2024. A shop in Lidl cost £1.19 more (£101.48) with the supermarket’s loyalty scheme Lidl Plus and £1.27 more (£101.56) without.
Lidl now has 43 stores in Northern Ireland, opening its latest in Carryduff Shopping Centre last month.
The list of 56 items analysed by Which? in December included both branded and own-brand items, such as Birds Eye Peas, Hovis bread, milk and butter.
The analysis includes special offer prices and loyalty prices where applicable, but not multibuys.
Each month, Which? also compares the cost of a larger trolley of more than 150 items. This includes a larger number of branded items and does not include discounter supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, as they do not always stock some of these products.
Asda was the cheapest supermarket for a larger trolley for nine months of the year, but it has been facing a strong challenge from Tesco Clubcard prices, which have made Tesco cheaper in three out of seven months since Which? began including loyalty prices in its analysis from June 2024.
In December, for a bigger shop of 158 items, Tesco (with a Clubcard) was the cheapest on average at £410.40, followed by Sainsbury’s (with a Nectar card) at £412.14. Morrisons was number three, while Asda came fourth in December with a trolley costing £415.56.
Lidl opened its 43rd store in NI last month with the help of chef Gemma Austin. She was joined by Kurtis Dickson, mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and Ivan Ryan, Lidl Northern Ireland regional managing director
Which?’s pricing analysis demonstrates that shoppers can make considerable savings on their groceries depending on where they buy their food.
Harry Rose, editor of Which? magazine, said: “Our research shows Aldi has retained its crown as the UK’s cheapest supermarket in 2024.
“A shopper would have saved £393 on average, over the course of a year by choosing to shop at the German discounter rather than the most expensive alternative.
“After the added expense of the festive period, many households will be looking to cut costs.
“Our analysis shows that by switching supermarkets, shoppers can make significant savings, highlighting the advantages of shopping around where possible.”
According to the latest data from information company Kantar, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Lidl continued to occupy the top spots in the NI grocery market, in that order, over the year to December 1, 2024.
Tesco holds 35.9% of the market, while Sainsbury’s holds a 16.7% market share.
Asda holds 16.4% of the market, while Lidl has a 9.1% market share. On Friday, Lidl UK-wide revealed that sales increased by 7% year-on-year, as turnover surpassed £1bn over the four weeks to December 24. It said it was a “record” festive period for the retailer.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s will shed light this week on how they fared over the key Christmas period amid pressure on shoppers’ budgets.
They will both provide third-quarter updates for investors and analysts, where they will reveal their sales for the weeks running up to Christmas.
Both grocers are expected to reveal another strong period of growth as recent investments in pricing continue to pay dividends and win them more shoppers.
However, the updates also come as a raft of cost increases linked to the autumn Budget cast a shadow over their potential profitability for 2025.
Tesco, the UK’s largest bricks-and-mortar retailer, will update its shareholders on Thursday.
Sainsbury’s will also report its Christmas trading on Friday. In its previous update in October, Tesco bosses said consumers were in “reasonably good shape” moving towards Christmas, as it said cuts to food prices helped to drive strong sales volumes.
Total sales across the group grew by 4% to £31.5bn over the 26 weeks to August 24, compared with the same period a year earlier.
This came despite an easing of food and drink inflation.
However, shoppers still face significant pressures on their budgets, with millions still witnessing rises to rents and mortgages, alongside increases in utility costs.
Industry data from experts at Kantar last month estimated that Tesco saw sales growth of 5.2% over the 12 weeks to December 1.
This significantly outstripped the wider grocery market, which saw 2.4% growth, helping Tesco to increase its market share even further.