Aldi named cheapest supermarket for September as Tesco Clubcard beats Nectar
A basket of 93 groceries cost £159.48 at Aldi in September, £2 less than Lidl with Lidl Plus and £63.90 less than at Waitrose, according to Which?.
Aldi was the UK's cheapest supermarket in September 2026, according to the latest monthly analysis by consumer group Which?. A list of 93 everyday branded and own-brand groceries cost £159.48 on average at Aldi, £2 less than at Lidl with a Lidl Plus loyalty card (£161.48) and £2.36 less than Lidl without one (£161.84).
Asda came third at £186.71. In the loyalty-price battle between the big two, Tesco with Clubcard (£187.71) beat Sainsbury's with Nectar (£188.95) by £1.24, having fallen behind in recent months. Morrisons with its More card cost £192.93. Ocado (£208.64) and Waitrose (£223.38) were the most expensive.
The loyalty card gap
Without a loyalty card, the same list cost £193.45 at Tesco, £195.01 at Sainsbury's and £193.13 at Morrisons. Which? found 46 loyalty discounts on its list in September: 22 at Tesco, 21 at Sainsbury's, two at Lidl and one at Morrisons. On average, a card saved 3.11% at Sainsbury's, 2.97% at Tesco, 0.22% at Lidl and 0.1% at Morrisons.
What this means for you
The gap between the cheapest and dearest supermarkets is large. On Which?'s list, the Aldi basket was £33.97 cheaper than Tesco without a Clubcard and £63.90 cheaper than Waitrose. Which? also notes that grocery inflation edged up from 2.1% to 2.3% in the four weeks to 6 September, according to Worldpanel by Numerator, and that the Food and Drink Federation has warned food inflation could approach 4% by the end of the year.
Ways to save
- Sign up for the free loyalty schemes at the supermarkets you use. At Tesco and Sainsbury's, shoppers without a card paid around £6 more for the same list.
- Try a discounter for the basics. Even if you can't do your whole shop at Aldi or Lidl, buying staples there and topping up elsewhere can cut the bill.
- Use price promises. Which? reports that Morrisons now pledges to match or beat prices at Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Sainsbury's and Tesco on 500 core lines, and that Waitrose has cut prices on more than 370 items by around 11% on average. If you shop online, compare your basket at Ocado too, as some online grocers run their own price-match schemes; check the current terms first.
- Compare own-brand ranges. Swapping a few branded items for own-label alternatives is often the quickest saving in any store. For store-cupboard staples, clearance sites such as ClearanceXL sell short-dated and surplus food and drink.
Sources: Which?
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