It's official: Aldi is still our cheapest supermarket

Shoppers will get more in a basket for their buck at Aldi, with new research from Choice showing Australians can save up to $80 compared with shopping at Woolworths and Coles.

More than 70% of shoppers are feeling the pinch at the checkout, according to Choice's latest Consumer Pulse survey.

Coles came in at most expensive for a basket of brand items, at $170.54, compared with $168.74 at Woolworths.

Shoppers can save by switching to supermarket brand products, which would set them back just $102.50 at Aldi compared with $112.89 at Woolworths and $113.10 at Coles.

The big savings could be found on budget baskets, which cost $91.76 at Aldi, a saving of $5.55 over Woolworths and $7.64 over Coles.

"Although the big supermarkets make a lot of very loud claims about value, it's clear Aldi is Australia's cheapest supermarket and it is forcing the big two to compete on price," says Godfrey.

"But Aldi's offering won't be for everyone, with the German raider lagging behind Coles and Woolworths when it comes to stocking leading brand items and products with some Australian ingredients."

Of the 28 food items in the sample basket, Choice found the Coles supermarket brand basket had 22 containing at least some Australian ingredients, Woolworths had 21 and Aldi had only 17.

Supermarkets are continuing to use copycat and phantom brands, designed to mimic leading brands, he says.

"When it comes to phantom brands such as GoldenVale, Trimat, Clean and Goliath, which are all owned by the big retailers, it seems some retailers are desperate to create the illusion of choice on their shelves."

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