A weekly price comparison of basic items like bread and milk from Aldi and Lidl typically reveals one of these two as the cheapest among the six main supermarkets for a small basket of essentials. But what about when it comes to a larger shop?
Emma Gill, a reporter from Manchester Evening News, decided to conduct an experiment by purchasing the exact same items from both stores to compare their prices.
It’s common knowledge that they are similar in terms of cost, but it’s only when you do a direct comparison shop at both that you realise just how alike the products appear – and how closely they mirror each other.
It’s not by chance that both sell pepperoni pizzas weighing exactly 313g, for example.
Both also offer their own versions of major brands like Lurpak – and not only do they resemble the real thing, but the packaging of Lidl’s Danpak and Aldi’s Norpak, along with many other items, are practically identical.
Numerous other products are comparable too, such as cheese packs, egg boxes, bean tins and thick white bread loaves – which are their takes on the Warburtons Toastie. Even the toilet roll packs look identical.
In total, Emma purchased 40 of the most commonly bought products by shoppers, including essentials like milk, bread, eggs, meat, fruit, vegetables, and some cleaning and household products.
She revealed: “Overall it was Aldi that worked out cheaper with a bill of £63.26 compared to £63.89 at Lidl – and that was even with using the Lidl Plus card which gave me a 15 percent discount on two of the products.
“Of the 40 products I bought, 28 were exactly the same price, nine were cheaper at Aldi and three were cheaper at Lidl, including the two Lidl Plus offers on sausages and latte sachets and the 2kg bag of potatoes, which was £1.35 at Lidl compared with Aldi’s £1.79.
“Lidl’s trolley would have worked out slightly cheaper had its budget chopped tomatoes been in stock, but even with those, Aldi would have still worked out the cheapest overall.”
Items that were cheaper at Aldi included a litre of apple juice, chocolate digestives, kidney beans, skin-on fries, ice cream lollies, Jive and Titan chocolate bars (Aldi’s versions of Twix and Mars), and its prosecco, currently discounted from £5.45 to £4.75.
This isn’t the first time Aldi has outperformed Lidl in terms of pricing. In a larger comparison conducted a year ago, Aldi also proved to be the cheaper option for the same 31 products.
Interestingly, several products are now cheaper than they were last September. For instance, the 650g pack of chicken breasts, previously priced at £4.69, is now £4.49 in both supermarkets.
Similarly, a 1kg pack of fusilli pasta has dropped from £1.39 to £1.29, and cheese has decreased from £2.55 to £2.45.
Some products have indeed seen a price hike; for instance, the cost of wheaties cereal has risen from 79p to 85p a box, butter from £1.79 to £1.89, and bleach ascended from 60p to 65p per bottle.
An Aldi representative boasts: “Our promise to customers is that they will make significant savings every time they shop with Aldi, which is why we’ve been named Which? Cheapest Supermarket of the Year for three years running. Which? has also named Aldi the UK’s Cheapest Supermarket every month this year, even in its latest analysis including loyalty prices.”
On the other hand, a Lidl spokesperson highlighted an alternative comparison, saying if their more economical tinned tomatoes and the XXL bag of penne pasta, costing just 82.5p per kg, were considered, the total bill would match Aldi’s pricing.
They further mentioned: “Those who use our Lidl Plus app get a free bakery item when they spend £10 and then another free fruit item when they spend £50. Meaning that anyone purchasing this shop can pick up some fresh fruit and one of our bakery sweet treats such as our Ultimate Chocolate Brownie (75p) or the Chocolate Hazelnut Croissant (69p).”
Product prices Aldi / Lidl
- Carrots 1kg 69p / 69p
- Potatoes 2kg £1.79 / £1.35
- Onions 3-pack 89p / 89p
- Red grapes 500g £1.69 / £1.69
- Beef mince 5% fat 750g £4.99 / £4.99
- Pork sausages 8-pack £1.79 / ££1.79 or £1.52 Lidl Plus
