The best supermarket value ranges / essential ranges

Have you discovered the best supermarket value ranges yet? Cost of living rising by the day, energy cap revealing some pretty eye watering predictions and the government seemingly taking a back seat, many of us will be thinking about practical steps we can take to reduce our outgoings. For our family, food is a big expense. With many of us wondering which supermarkets offer the best range of basic / essentials range and which supermarket is cheapest, I thought it would be helpful to share some information on the best budget-friendly supermarket ranges as we approach the energy price cap rises in October. It’s worth bearing in mind that supermarkets will be doing a LOT over the coming months to try and support this cost of living crisis, so expect the supermarket budget ranges (and their availability over the coming months) to be a bit of a moving beast. You can also expect a lot more deals and offers as each supermarket tries to do their bit to support their customers.

What are the Best Supermarket Value ranges called?

First up, you’d think that finding the budget ranges for your supermarket would be straight forward right? WRONG. Some supermarkets such as Asda and Aldi use specific branding and an obvious name choice that makes their value supermarket ranges really stand out on the shelves. Others, like Tesco and Sainsburys, prefer to use their own exclusive names for their budget ranges, which is all well and good for making them sound authentic; but can make it tricky for savvy shoppers trying to feed their family on a budget.

Here are the supermarket value ranges you need to be looking out for:

Aldi Essentials range

Already well known to be the UK’s cheapest supermarket overall, Aldi also have a budget range called Aldi Essentials where you pick up the most common household groceries for incredible prices. Aldi are also home to the Super 6, where every two weeks every two weeks they pick 6 specific fruit and vegetables to sell as super low prices, which is great way to ensure your family get some essential vitamins and fresh foods without breaking the budget.

Aldi also have weekly offers on meat (not available via click and collect).

Aldi have their own brand range that looks and tastes very similar to the big brand names at a fraction of the price – with many customers claiming not to be able to taste the difference. For example, why spend £1.99 on a box of Kelloggs Cornflakes when you can pick up Aldi’s Harvest Moon box of the same size for just 59p? Why spend £4.50 on a tub of Lurpak spreadable, when you can get Nordpak for £2.19?

Asda Just Essentials range

The ASDA Just Essentials range has had a bit of a mixed reception in the press, with some claiming that the bright yellow packaging is ‘poor shaming’ however we absolutely disagree. Of all the supermarkets value ranges, these really stand out on the shelves, making it far easier to pick out affordable food during your shop. With an exetensive range of affordable food and drink including fruit and veg, frozen food, fresh and chilled and cupboard essentials you can pick up beans for 25p, dried spaghetit for 23p, bread for 39p and 12 fromage frais for packed lunches for just 88p.

The biggest challenge from Asda’s range is the availability, a lot of the popular choices like the Just Essentials fish fingers, chips and chicken nuggets are selling out fast, with many in store shoppers claiming to see big yellow gaps on the aisles where the Just Essentials range has sold out.

Elsewhere in the store, you can earn rewards as you shop where instead of earning points you earn cash back on selected star purchases around the store. They also have locked in prices for the rest of the year at selected stores.

Morrisons Savers

Whilst Morrisons also have a range of own brand value items, the Savers range is their biggest range of affordable groceries. With a more muted colour palette than the yellow Asda Essentials, it is still recognisable on the shelves so can easily find what you can afford. They have a range of recipes on the website where you can feed your family for under £6.

The Morrisons Savers range is fairly extensive, with over 240 great quality products across the store, from Cheese to cereals, washing powder to toilet roll.

Which is the cheapest supermarket?

Consumer champion Which compare prices at all UK supermarkets each month, and it certainly appears that the German owned Aldi and Lidl are up there with the cheapest when they compare a standard weekly shop.

Which is the best supermarket value range?

The best supermarket value range will ultimately depend on your eating habits, but in our opinion Aldi and Asda are fairly close runners for the top spot. We’re actually all for the yellow branding – which makes it far easier to see whether it is in stock.

Don’t forget – the budget supermarket ranges aren’t necessarily always the cheapest!

Don’t automatically assume that the budget / essentials ranges will be the best price. Look out for in store offers before you commit – sometimes 3 for 2 offers or BOGOF (buy one get one free) offers on big brands actually work out cheaper. Make sure you look at the quantities too, some bigger packs work out cheaper when you work out a cost per meal e.g. bigger boxes of cereal, larger boxes of frozen food.

A polite reminder….

Whilst we’re all trying to save money at the moment, please remember that at the moment for some households, supermarket value ranges are the difference between their family having a meal and not. If you can afford to buy items from elsewhere in the supermarket, please try and save the stock for those who really need it.