Sunday, June 14, 2009

The Grand Experiment: Week Eleven

Another week, another trip to Asda. This week, my only complaint was that they didn't have my preferred brand of toothpaste. Oh no, how will I survive?!

The list:
  • Irn Bru (24 cans), £6.00
  • Shredded Wheat (16), £1.60
  • Rolls (12), £1.00
  • Yoghurts (6), £2.88
  • Bread (2 loaves), £1.74
  • Lamb Fillet, £6.95
  • Fruit Juice, £2.50
  • Shampoo (2), £3.36
  • Basil, £0.68
  • Peanut Butter, £1.57
  • Onions (3), £0.81
  • Tinned Tomatoes (4), £2.00
  • Garlic, £0.68
  • Cress, £0.24
  • Avocado (2), £1.38
  • Spring Onions, £0.64
  • Tomatoes (6), £0.88
  • Lettuce, £0.50
  • Toothpaste, £0.94
  • Yoghurt, £0.78
  • Cheese (200g), £1.66

There was nothing on the list that I couldn't get, and there was nothing that I got that wasn't on my list. Additionally, there are no deductions to make from the total this week, which stood at £38.79.

This brings the total for Asda to 120.52. Given that the total for Tesco came to £123.36, I think it's fair to say that Asda won't be coming out as the cheapest supermarket.

I must say, I'm more than a little surprised by this result; not so much that Tesco came out on top, but rather that there's going to be quite a significant difference once the totals are tallied. I'll going to have to go through and make sure there hasn't been a mistake here - Asda have just won the award of being Britain's cheapest supermarket for the twelth year running, so it seems odd that they've just been thrashed mercilessly by their rival. I'll do that analysis next week.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

In fairness, the benchmarking isn't "Steph/ven's shopping list".

So it could be right!

Steph/ven said...

I've spent some time with the lists and a spreadsheet. The results are... interesting.

It seems that the major difference between the supermarkets is Irn Bru - I bought 24 cans at Tesco, but 48 each at Morrisons and Asda. So, although Tesco is the most expensive per can, it still gets a fairly significant boost in the final numbers.

Otherwise, the results are pretty much what you might expect: each supermarket is the best for some things, the worst for some others, and in between for the rest. There doesn't seem to be any pattern, nor any great amount in it.

Which suggests three conclusions:

1) I suck at sums. It turns out the total for Tesco was £133.63 for the four weeks. This is still better than Morrisons, and likely better than Asda, but it higher than previously quoted, and does make a difference.

2) I'm using entirely the wrong brand of toothpaste. Macleans cost £1.95 at Tesco or £1.94 at Morrisons, but Colgate cost £0.94 at Asda.

3) It probably doesn't matter which supermarket you actually go to, but you should go to the biggest branch available locally. They're more likely to stock a bigger range, and therefore most likely to result in the cheapest shopping experience.

Captain Ric said...

I don't know how you came to conclusion 3. Isn't Morrisons significantly more expensive than Tesco/Asda even with the Irn Bru correction?

Steph/ven said...

It appears to be a bit more expensive, but not as much as was previously thought. However, where faced with the choice between a huge Morrisons and a tiny Asda or Tesco, the former is likely to work out cheaper. That said, there don't seem to be many places where that is the case - usually one of the other two is the biggest.