Aldi was the UK’s cheapest supermarket in April, the latest analysis from consumer group Which? has revealed – the 18th month in a row it has held on to the crown as the UK’s cheapest grocer.

Aldi saw off competition from discounter rival, Lidl, beating its Lidl Plus loyalty prices by just 69p across a selection of 79 popular branded and own-brand grocery items, according to analysis by the consumer watchdog.

While Aldi came in cheapest against Which?’s 79 item basket at £135.95, Waitrose came in as the most expensive at £184.19, over a third (35.5%) higher than the prices in the Aldi shop, equating to over £48+ more.

Supermarket	Average price for 79 items
1. Aldi	£135.95
2. Lidl (with Lidl Plus)	£136.64
3. Lidl (without Lidl Plus)	£136.65
4. Asda	£150.06
5. Tesco (with Clubcard)	£151.11
6. Sainsbury’s (with Nectar)	£152.57
7. Tesco (without Clubcard)	£152.59
8. Morrisons (with More card)	£157.15
9. Sainsbury’s (without Nectar)	£158.49
10. Morrisons (without More card)	£158.61

“If shoppers want to save money on groceries, then Aldi is the place to shop,” Julie Ashfield, Chief Commercial Officer at Aldi UK, commented. “We’re proud to continue our our eighteenth consecutive month as the number one retailer for value; offering shoppers consistently low prices, whilst maintaining quality.”

Discounter switching remains rife

Despite claims the supermarket wars are heating up, with Sainsbury’s and Tesco both committing to delivering value for loyalty members and discounter price matching in their latest financial statements, Aldi and Lidl appear to still be out-maneuvering the Big Four on pricing. And in spite of intensifying price competition, traditional supermarkets are continue to lose market share to discounter rivals, according to Pricer’s recent poll.

Original research of over 1,000 UK shoppers by Pricer showed that last year almost two thirds (65%) had switched some or all of their food shop to Aldi or Lidl, a rise of +4 percentage points year-on-year.  Over half (51%) said they had switched some of their food spend to the discounters, while 13% said they now do their entire food shop with either Lidl or Aldi.

Regionally, Londoners were the most likely to change their allegiance away from the traditional grocers and swap to Aldi or Lidl (81%) – perhaps why Lidl included affluent London neighbourhoods, including Chelsea and Mayfair, in its ‘wishlist’ of 250 potential new store sites published earlier this month.