ASDA has been crowned the cheapest supermarket of 2016, beating the likes of Tesco and Morrisons.
All six of the UK supermarket giants were compared on a basket of 80 branded items, including Nescafe Gold Blend, Dolmio Sauces and Warburton’s bread.
Consumer group Which? who compiled the report found that Asda had the cheapest basket of items, at an average cost of £154.14.
The same basket cost £160.19 at Morrisons, £162.11 at Sainsbury’s and £164.37 at Tesco.
Unsurprisingly, Ocado and Waitrose had the most expensive baskets, at £170.35 and £172.27 respectively.
German discounters Aldi and Lidl often come out on top in independent price tests were not included in the analysis as they do not sell enough of the branded products in the basket.
To compare supermarket prices across the year, Which? monitored the cost of popular branded products using data from independent shopping website MySupermarket to work out the average expense.
It found that Asda was consistently cheaper, in 11 out of 12 months.
February being the exception, when Morrisons came top in the table of cheapest supermarkets.
The research is helpful if you only buy branded items although if you have your favourite supermarket that has a price match promise you needn’t worry.
Tesco promises to match prices at Asda, Morrisons and Sainsburys if you buy 10 or more different branded products.
Which? magazine editor Richard Headland said: “With increasing concern over rising food prices, our research shows that some supermarkets are consistently cheaper than others for popular branded items.
“It could be worth switching supermarkets, or shopping around, if you want to trim your shopping bill.”
