One point of housekeeping before the numbers, because it matters and this site is built on getting it right. These are not our prices. The August comparison below is Which?’s monthly supermarket price analysis, published on 3 September 2026, which prices the same list of 92 everyday groceries at ten retailers. Where our own tracked basket differs in scope, we say so. Where we are reporting somebody else’s basket, we say that too.
Five items.
1. Aldi is cheapest again, for the eighth month running
3 September 2026. The 92-item list cost £159.36 at Aldi in August, the eighth consecutive month it has come out cheapest in this comparison. Lidl was £1.74 behind at £161.10. Nothing else was within £24.
Why it matters: the discounter gap has been stable all year, which means it is structural rather than a run of promotions, and it is large enough to survive most people’s shopping habits.
2. The full ladder, top to bottom
| Retailer | 92-item basket | More than Aldi |
|---|---|---|
| Aldi | £159.36 | – |
| Lidl | £161.10 | £1.74 |
| Asda | £185.21 | £25.85 |
| Sainsbury’s, with Nectar | £185.55 | £26.19 |
| Tesco, with Clubcard | £189.45 | £30.09 |
| Tesco | £192.97 | £33.61 |
| Morrisons | £194.11 | £34.75 |
| Sainsbury’s | £195.33 | £35.97 |
| Ocado | £207.62 | £48.26 |
| Waitrose | £223.75 | £64.39 |
Waitrose to Aldi is £64.39, which is 40.4% on top of the Aldi total for the identical list.
Why it matters: that is the widest spread in the table by a distance, and it is the number that gets quoted everywhere without the qualification in item five.
3. Loyalty prices are worth much less than the branding suggests
Two schemes, two very different numbers. Sainsbury’s Nectar prices took the basket from £195.33 to £185.55, a saving of £9.78, which Which? puts at 5.01%. Tesco Clubcard prices took it from £192.97 to £189.45, a saving of £3.52, or 1.83%.
Why it matters: on this list, a Nectar card was worth nearly three times what a Clubcard was, and even the better of the two left Sainsbury’s £26.19 above Aldi.
4. The official food inflation figure is running below headline inflation
19 August 2026. The ONS put CPI at 2.9% in the 12 months to July 2026, up from 2.6% in June. Food and non-alcoholic drink inflation was 1.3%, the lowest reading since September 2021. Housing and household services were the largest upward pressure in the month, not food.
Why it matters: food prices are not what is pushing the headline number up at the moment, which is the opposite of how the last three years felt and the opposite of how it is usually discussed. The food and non-alcoholic drink series is published monthly and is the number to watch rather than the headline.
5. The £64 gap is not £64 in your pocket
The qualification that belongs on every one of these comparisons. The gap is measured on one fixed list of 92 items priced at every retailer. A real household does not buy that list. It buys what is on offer, substitutes own-label for branded and back again, buys some things in bulk, and shops at more than one place.
Why it matters: switching every shop to Aldi does not hand you £64.39. It moves you to a store where the same list costs £64.39 less, and what you actually save depends on how close your shopping is to the list.
What the table is good for, and what it is not
It is good for one thing: it is the same list, priced in the same month, at every retailer, by someone with no commercial interest in the answer, and the method is published alongside it. That controls for the thing that makes supermarket price claims so slippery, which is that everybody compares a basket they chose themselves.
It is not good for telling you what your shop will cost. Ranges differ, own-label quality differs, and the 92 items are chosen to be comparable across ten retailers rather than to represent any one household.
The honest summary is that the ordering is reliable and the magnitudes are not personal. If you want your own number, price your own ten most-bought items in two shops on the same day. That takes about twenty minutes and tells you more about your budget than any national basket can.
The counterweight
Two things worth saying for the retailers at the expensive end of the table.
The comparison is on price alone. It does not measure range, and both discounters carry a far narrower one, which is part of how the price is achieved. If your shop depends on items Aldi does not stock, you are making two trips, and the second trip has a cost that never appears in a basket comparison.
And the loyalty figures above are the saving on this particular list. A scheme that discounts heavily on categories the list happens to under-represent would look worse here than it performs in a real trolley.
Frequently asked questions
Who priced these items? Which?, in its monthly supermarket price analysis published on 3 September 2026, covering August. The Plate is reporting that comparison, not its own.
How many items are in the list? Ninety-two everyday groceries, priced at the same ten retailers.
Is Aldi always the cheapest? It has been in this comparison for eight consecutive months, with Lidl consistently close. Which? has recorded months where the ordering differs on a larger basket or on branded goods specifically.
Are loyalty prices worth having? On this basket, Nectar saved £9.78 and Clubcard £3.52. Both are real. Neither closes the gap to the discounters.
Updated on 11 September 2026.
Sources
- Which?, cheapest supermarket of the month, published 3 September 2026
- Which?, supermarket price comparison 2026
- ONS, consumer price inflation, published 19 August 2026
- ONS, CPI food and non-alcoholic beverages time series
The Plate reports what things cost. It does not recommend where to shop and does not give financial advice.…