Asda named UK's "cheapest" supermarket

Asda has retained its title as the UK's cheapest supermarket ahead of rival Tesco, according to new research.

15:48 11 June 2005

Asda has retained its title as the UK's cheapest supermarket ahead of rival Tesco, according to new research.

The chain came out on top in the annual report produced by trade magazine The Grocer, which compares the cost of household items in each of Britain's major stores.

Mystery shoppers purchased a basket of 33 products on ten occasions over the past year, with Asda coming out cheapest eight out of ten times.

The findings were backed up by an additional weekly comparison of prices for 100 products, which took place from July.

Asda again came out the cheapest, at an average of 167.60 per basket.

The average cost of 100 goods at Tesco was 170.64, while researchers paid an average of 174.23 at Morrisons, 177.91 at Sainsbury's, 189.14 at Somerfield and 192.14 at Waitrose.

But although Asda beat its rivals in terms of cost, the basket of 100 goods is more expensive now than it was last July in each of the stores except Sainsbury's, where the price has fallen by 2.5 per cent.

Asda president Andy Bond said he was "thrilled" the store had been named the cheapest for the eighth year in a row.

"As the only holder of the title, there's no better proof that that Asda's commitment to Britain's lowest prices is unshakeable," he said.

But rivals Tesco claim the Grocer survey does not truly reflect which is Britain's cheapest supermarket.

"We think checking 10,000 prices independently each week gives a far better indication of who is cheapest than a survey of 100 products in a trade magazine," said a Tesco spokesman.