Which Supermarket Brand Is The Cheapest?

Maintaining a balanced budget when shopping for essentials such as groceries is essential. One effective way to cut expenses is to choose the supermarket's brand products. Own brand items, or store or value brand products, are items produced or sourced by the supermarket, usually at a lower price than named brands. The packaging is often very simple to cut down on the costs and show the products as purely essential instead of flashy, pretty marketing.

Many own-brand products are of similar or even identical quality to named brands. Frequently, they even come from the same manufacturer but are labelled differently. Buying store-brand medicines, in particular, can lead to huge savings compared to named since medicines are highly regulated and contain practically the same ingredients. For example, ASDA 200mg ibuprofen tablets are priced at just 40p for 16 while a pack of 8 Nurofen 200mg ibuprofen tablets is £1.15, almost triple the cost for half the tablets at a similar dosage, so remember, always read the packet!

Before we start, it’s good to know that some brands, such as Tesco’s Stockwell & Co. or Hearty Food Co, aren't always straightforward and listed under the supermarket name. But rest assured, they are value brands and are usually some of the cheapest brands but with more attractive packaging. Aldi, in particular, rarely uses their brand called Everyday Essentials, instead opting to sell 'branded' products owned by themselves.

Brands To Look For

Tesco - Tesco has its essentials range, usually styled in plain packaging with the Tesco logo on it. However, they also have several brands made under the Tesco name, which are effectively own-brand items, such as Stockwell & Co. and Hearty Food Company.

Sainsbury's - Sainsbury's, like Tesco, has also moved many of their brand items under 'named' brands owned by themselves. So you'll find most of their value items under Stamford Street, Hubbard or Sainsbury's.

Morrisons - Morrisons has some of the most noticeable, albeit sad-looking, value ranges. It's called the Savers Range and is packaged in plain white boxes or tins with yellow writing. The packaging leaves much to be desired, but what's in the tin counts, and what's in the tin is cheaper due to the low-cost packaging.

ASDA - Shockingly, ASDA has moved away from its famously named Smartprice brand and replaced it with the Just Essentials range. They also own the brands Hero and Tiger for pet food and Shades for toilet rolls.

ALDI - ALDI are a weird one. They are famous for selling products that taste and look incredibly similar to popular name brands., but ALDI themselves own the majority of these products. Each category has several different 'ALDI brands', so it's difficult to list them here. Generally, go for the cheapest option as ALDI is one of the most affordable supermarkets. Some brands under the ALDI umbrella include Harvest Morn, Alcafé, Just Essentials, Lacura and Belmont.

Ocado/M&S - You may be like me, from a working-class background and have only shopped at an M&S a handful of times, thinking it is still a bastion of middle-class groceries. However, you'd be presently surprised to know that M&S have a value brand called M&S, which is very competitively priced and frequently cheaper than its 'Big Four' competitors. Plus. M&S food is generally better quality and fair trade, so I recommend looking if you find yourself close to one. M&S also work with Ocado, so if you're a regular shopper there, you may be able to slip in a handful of M&S branded essentials and save some money. However, the downside is that neither has a large range of own-brand toiletries, so it's better suited for quick food top-ups.

Price Comparison

Below, we list several commonly bought day-to-day store brand goods with prices to determine which supermarket's brand is the cheapest option for your shop. The list below is also vegetarian-safe, but if you’re looking for a more veggie-tailored list, check out our guide to which supermarket has the cheapest vegan shop. 

The Verdict

So there we have it, folks. ASDA is first for the cheapest selection of own-brand products. However, ALDI's brand products have bigger portions and amounts, which makes them the winner when factored in, but the savings can only be achieved by going into a store rather than online. M&S are very competitively priced for groceries, but washing tablets are far more expensive than competitors, but they're still worth a visit. It also shows how much you can get for around £15 if you stick to supermarket brands instead of named brands.

So, if you’re a budget-conscious shopper, and colourful packaging and names don’t mean much to you, I wholeheartedly recommend shopping for value products. Your wallet will thank you for it, and if you’re interested in maximising your savings, check out our guide to supermarket reward schemes. And for our cost-conscious parents, why not visit our guide to kids’ lunchboxes on a budget?