Three supermarkets cheaper than Aldi for these shopping essentials for second week running

Aldi is a go-to supermarket for many households looking to save money amid the cost of living crisis.

Like rival Lidl, it's known for its budget prices and says shoppers have been turning to it in their droves to keep costs down. But while it has always been among the cheapest in our weekly comparison of basic items, it's now slipped to fourth place behind Lidl, Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Our comparison has tracked the prices of the same essentials since March 2022. The basket includes milk, bread, coffee, tea bags, butter, beans, chicken and mince.

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Last week we reported how Sainsbury's - which had previously shared its vision to become 'as cheap as Aldi' - had taken the lead over the retailer, while Tesco and Lidl are also cheaper for those basics.

There's not much in it, with Tesco, Sainsbury's and Aldi, just pennies apart and in many ways it's evidence of the ongoing price war to attract shoppers in.

But it's a big deal for Sainsbury's, which says it's pulling in more customers than ever thanks to initiatives such as Aldi Price Match, Price Lock and My Nectar Prices, and is keen to spread the message about its mission to not only match the prices of budget supermarkets, but beat them at their own game.

Aldi disputes that shoppers' heads are being turned and says the items we are comparing each week are not necessarily like-for-like.

It says its teabags, for instance, are 'better quality, and 100g heavier than Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s' and the beans 20g heavier than Sainsbury's. And it says that Aldi exclusive brands are 'benchmarked against the leading brands in each category' – meaning they closely match the key ingredients of the biggest and most