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UK’s cheapest supermarket revealed

A shopper puts fruit in her basket in a supermarket in London, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. The UK inflation rate has hit 10.1% in the year to July, new figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown. The figure is up from 9.4% in June and is at its highest level in more than 40 years. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
A shopper puts fruit in her basket in a supermarket in London. Photo: Frank Augstein/AP Photo (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Aldi has been named the UK's cheapest supermarket in November, beating six other major retailers, including Lidl and the traditional "Big Four" supermarkets.

Consumer group Which? looked at the prices of a shop consisting of 48 popular groceries at eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets.

The cheapest supermarket was Aldi, where the basket of goods was £77.21 on average. The same shop at Waitrose was £104.11 on average, making it £26.90 more expensive in comparison.

Read more: Cost of living: Minimum wage rates leave under 21s out of pocket by £2.5bn

Which? also compared the cost of a larger trolley of 149 items — the original 48, plus 101 more. This shop included a larger number of branded items, such as Andrex toilet paper and Cathedral City cheese, and did not include discounter supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, which do not always stock some of these products.

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Asda cost the least for this larger trolley of groceries, continuing its winning streak, which started in January 2020, as the cheapest traditional supermarket. It cost £355.34, on average, for this shop, beating the next cheapest, Sainsbury's (SBRY.L), which came in at £366.83, by £11.49.

Waitrose was £38.03 more expensive than Asda, coming in at £393.37, on average, for the trolley of comparable goods.

Full list of basket results. Table: Which?
Full list of basket results. Table: Which?

“No one wants to overpay for basic groceries, especially in the build-up to the festive season when many household budgets will be stretched,” Reena Sewraz, Which? retail editor, said.

“Our findings show that while prices are going up, some supermarkets are significantly more expensive than others. As well as choosing a supermarket that is cheap overall, other ways to save include swapping from branded to supermarket own-brand products, sticking to a shopping list, and resisting the temptation to pick up special offers you don’t need.”

Read more: Christmas shopping slow as customers put off by strikes and cost of living

Which? recently launched its Affordable Food For All campaign, calling on supermarkets to provide the support people around the country desperately need in order to keep food on the table during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

A Waitrose spokesperson told Yahoo Finance UK: "We’re working hard to make sure we offer great value, while continuing to deliver industry-leading animal welfare standards, fresh produce grown with care and fair deals for farmers. For instance, our Waitrose Essential range is popular with customers looking for outstanding value and quality.

"Which's price comparison excludes multibuy offers which are extremely popular amongst our customers for both our branded and own-branded products."

Watch: Cost of living: Aldi overtakes Morrisons as fourth-largest supermarket as food inflation hits new record