Why it pays to shop around – in the SAME supermarket

It sounds mad. But our test proves you really can pay less for a product depending on which aisle you pick it up from. Read this guide and start saving!

Most shoppers know that if they want a bargain, they need to shop around. What they may not realise is that, when it comes to supermarkets, they should not only check prices in rival chains, but also shop around in the store. For often the same or similar item can be found cheaper in the same supermarket, just in a different aisle, maybe a mere ten yards away.

After the website Mumsnet pointed out that it was cheaper to buy nuts in the bakery aisle rather than the snacks section, we investi- gated what other items can be found cheaper within the same supermarket.

in all cases, the products, though usually packaged differently, are identical or very similar. All comparable items were bought on the same day, on the same trip, in the same supermarket. here, HARRY WALLOP shows why

it pays to shop around:

COTTON BUDS, WAITROSE

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Essential Waitrose cotton buds x 200, £1.50 (0.8p each) AISLE: Health & Beauty CHEAP VERSION: Essential Waitrose cotton buds x 200, 90p (0.5p each) AISLE: Baby Both are 100 per cent pure cotton tips. the only difference is the cute picture of the infant on those in the Baby aisle. Yet the buds in health & Beauty are 66 per cent more expensive. Maybe Waitrose knows mothers tend to be savvier shoppers.

DESICCATED COCONUT, WAITROSE

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Whitworths desiccated coconut, 200g, £1.99 (£9.95/kg) AISLE: Baking CHEAP VERSION: East End desiccated coconut, 200g, £1 (£5/kg) AISLE: World Foods Each are premium brands that taste the same. But the World Foods version, used for curry, is nearly half the price of that used in cake.

CUT-UP FRESH PINEAPPLE, WAITROSE

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Waitrose Good to Go pineapple fingers, 160g, £1.35 (84.4p/100g) AISLE: Grab & Go CHEAP VERSION: Waitrose sweet, juicy & refreshing pineapple, 120g, £1 (83.3p/100g) AISLE: Fruit & Veg You would expect the small version to be the more expensive. But not in the topsy-turvy world of supermarket pricing — a premium is charged for items in the ‘Grab & Go’ section, aimed at shoppers buying lunch.

COTTON WOOL BALLS, SAINSBURY’S

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Sainsbury’s Little Ones cotton wool balls x 100, £1.30 (1.3p each) AISLE: Baby CHEAP VERSION: by Sainsbury’s cotton wool balls x 100, £1.20 (1.2p each) AISLE: Health & Beauty Confusingly, whereas Waitrose’s baby section has bargain cotton buds, in sainsbury’s it is the other way around. here, the baby cotton wool balls are charged at a premium, despite appearing to be the same.

CASHEW NUTS, SAINSBURY’S

EXPENSIVE VERSION: by Sainsbury’s oven baked unsalted jumbo cashews, 200g, £2.60 (£1.30/100g) AISLE: Snacking CHEAP VERSION: by Sainsbury’s cashew kernels, 200g, £2.50 (£1.25/100g) AISLE: Baking Are ‘ jumbo’ cashews more generously-sized than kernels? it’s hard to say. they look and taste the same. But those in the snacking section are pricier than in the baking section, often at the back of the shop.

APRICOT JAM, SAINSBURY’S

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Sainsbury’s apricot glaze,by 220g, £1 (45.5p/100g) AISLE: Baking CHEAP VERSION: by Sainsbury’s Pr i n te d Pr e s s R e a d e r. c o m • ORIGINAL COPY • ORIGINAL COPY • ORIGINAL COPY • ORIGINAL COPY • ORIGINAL COPY

apricot jam, 454g, 75p (16.5p/100g)

AISLE: Jams IN THIS case (unlike the nuts) the baking version is considerably more expensive.

This is described as ‘ glaze for pastries and cakes’, but the small print says it is a ‘smooth jam’ and the ingredients in both are almost identical.

The only difference is the glaze has 35g of fruit per 100g versus 45g in the jam.

PRUNES, TESCO

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Tesco soft prunes, 250g, £1.85 (74p/100g) AISLE: Fruit & Veg CHEAP VERSION: Tesco soft pitted prunes, 250g, £1.30 (52p/100g) AISLE: Baking TESCO has a large dried fruit, nuts and seeds section in its fresh fruit and veg aisle, near the front of the store.

The prunes there are significantly more expensive than those in the baking section (which, oddly, say ‘delicious as a snack’). The baking aisle ones also contain the preservative potassium sorbate.

DRIED APRICOTS, TESCO

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Tesco Ready to Eat apricots, 250g, £2.50g (£10/kg) AISLE: Baking CHEAP VERSION: Tesco soft apricots, 250g, £2.05 (£8.20/kg) AISLE: Fruit & Veg NOW, this is getting most odd. The baking section had the cheap dried plums. With dried apricots, it has the expensive version. Baffling.

COCOA POWDER, TESCO

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Tesco cocoa powder, 250g, £2 (80p/100g) AISLE: Baking CHEAP VERSION: Tesco cocoa powder, 250g, £1.99 (79.6g/100g) AISLE: Hot drinks OK, THE price difference is tiny, but why is there any difference at all? The different containers both have 250g of pure cocoa powder.

SALMON, ASDA

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Asda Fishmonger’s selection salmon fillet, £7.01 (£17.97/kg) AISLE: Fish counter CHEAP VERSION: Asda Fishmonger’s selection, three salmon fillets, £5.95 (£17.50/kg) AISLE: Fish IN BOTH cases, the fillets are prepacked — but buying from the fish counter (filleted in store) rather than off a nearby shelf costs more. Granted, some would pay more for a large fillet over three individual ones, but the fish is the same.

FRESH COCONUT CHUNKS, MORRISONS

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Morrisons Market St coconut, 100g, £1.25 (£1.25/100g) AISLE: Prepared fruit CHEAP VERSION: Morrisons Farm Fresh Market St coconut chunks, 100g, £1 (£1/100g) AISLE: Grab & Go THIS defies logic. Usually ‘Grab & Go’ has higher prices. Here, freshly- cut coconut in the fruit section is more expensive. They seem identical apart from the tub wording.

APPLE JUICE, ASDA

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Asda apple juice from concentrate, 1L, 79p (79p/L) AISLE: Chilled fruit juice CHEAP VERSION: 100 per cent pure apple juice from concentrate, 1L, 69p (69p/L) AISLE: Ambient juices IF JUICE is chilled many shoppers think it is ‘fresher’, but if it is from concentrate it often has a four or five- month shelf life. The Asda chilled juice has a best before of July 2017. The unchilled version (or ‘ ambient’ in supermarket jargon) lasts only slightly longer.

SUNFLOWER OIL, TESCO

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Tesco pure sunflower oil, 5L, £5.50 (11p/100ml) AISLE: World Foods CHEAP VERSION: Tesco pure sunflower oil, 3L, £2.95 (9.9p/100ml) AISLE: Cooking oils YOU’D expect the larger container to be cheaper. But not here. In the World Foods section, Tesco printed ‘sunflower oil’ in Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Arabic, too. Perhaps translator fees add to the cost!

RICE FLOUR, MORRISONS

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Natural Days ground rice flour, 500g, £1.22 (£2.44/kg) AISLE: Baking CHEAP VERSION: KTC rice flour, 500g, 78p (£1.56/kg) AISLE: World Foods THE brands may be different, but the flour is nearly identical. Yet the price is radically different.

STILTON, MORRISONS

EXPENSIVE VERSION: Morrisons Market St Stilton, strength three, 274g, £2.47, (£9/kg) AISLE: Cheese counter CHEAP VERSION: Morrisons Blue Stilton, strength three, 200g, £1.72 (£8.60/kg) AISLE: Cheese AGAIN, a larger pack size is not cheaper, and the fresh cheese, meat or fish counter — even when pre-packed — is more expensive. WHAT THE SUPERMARKETS SAY: ALL the supermarkets denied they are in any way trying to mislead shoppers, and insiders defend their more expensive versions as usually being higher quality, taking longer to process or package, or meeting higher specifications — even if you can’t always spot the difference.

Tesco says: ‘We do review where there may be discrepancies. We will look into flagged examples.’

Morrisons says: ‘The coconut difference is a mistake. We have plans to correct this. The slight difference in cheese is because one is cut to a customer’s requirements by a cheesemonger. The rice flour brands’ specifications will vary.’

Waitrose says: ‘Our prices are in line with competitors. The very slight difference for the pineapple is due to how the fruit is cut — with fingers taking longer to process.’

Sainsbury’s says: ‘Many factors influence a product’s price, such as where it comes from, quality and number of production stages.’

Asda says: ‘We know our customers like to shop in lots of different ways and choice is a key factor.’