Britol-based mum-of-four, Chloe Bavin, has decided to see if Aldi is truly the cheapest supermarket by doing her weekly food shop in different supermarkets – and one ended up being a lot cheaper
A mum-of-four decided to put Aldi to the test to see if it was truly the cheapest supermarket to do her weekly shop in, and she was soon left gobsmacked by one other unassuming supermarket that ended up being cheaper than Aldi.
Every month, Which? compares the average price of a shop consisting of popular groceries at eight biggest supermarkets every month. The analysis includes special offer prices and loyalty prices where applicable, but not multibuys. Aldi is often declared as the cheapest overall supermarket, with Lidl closely followed in second place. But how accurate are these tests truly to the average family?
This is what Chloe Bavin wanted to find out, as she set out on a mission to see if she was already doing right by only doing her weekly shops in Aldi in order to save money. So as an experiment, she decided to try one new supermarket every week to see how much of a price difference it is compared to Aldi, which is often named the cheapest supermarket in the UK.
“I’m a bit worried, because today is Sainsbury’s,” she said in her video, explaining that her usual weekly shops, despite it being different every week, come to about £160-180 each time, and that she was nervous about how Sainsburys would compare.
She then got out of her car and brought her viewers with her into her local supermarket as she went on to do her food shop as normal. She was seen packing her shopping bags with fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables for the week.
She was also adding in dairy products, like butter, milk and yoghurt, as well as fresh snacky bits, like sausage rolls. It was then time to move on to the cupboard staples, adding in things like rice, noodles, and soy sauce to her trolley. Chloe also made sure to make use of Sainsbury’s own brands, as she replaced her branded tortilla breads with Sainsbury’s budget Stamford Street brand.
She also stocked up on toiletries, like deodorants, body wash, and shampoo and conditioner for her husband, opting for the supermarkets own brand that cost 79p each per bottle.
As she was happy with her trolley full of groceries, having added breads, sweet treats, and crisps, she walked over to the till to see what the total came to.
Having gone back to her car, Chloe said: “I’m actually so shocked to the core at how much this came to. It came to £119.78 – that’s about £50 cheaper than my normal food shop.”
She went on to say that she kept thinking that she’d missed ‘something massive’ in the store that would explain the big difference in price, however soon said she indeed had gotten everything on her weekly food list.
“The only thing I didn’t have to buy was washing tablets, they’re about £5-6,” she said, before exclaiming: “Sainsbury’s might be the one, guys.”
And Chloe wasn’t the only one with these thoughts, as viewers soon took to the comment section to share similar experiences.
One person commented: “I’ve been shopping at Sainsbury’s most of this year instead of Aldi and I love it! Also with getting your nectar points feels like a bonus! I’ve got over £40 in points that I’ve been saving since January to go towards Xmas food shop!”
“The nectar points as well, we’ve racked up £128 so far for Christmas and still got 3 months to go – best points rewards scheme in my opinion,” another person agreed.
“This was so interesting !!!! How on earth was it less than Aldi??? I’m shocked!!!” someone else wrote, while another viewer added: “I did the same… Sainsbury’s was about £40 more expensive than Aldi so not sure how this works.”