How Aldi and Lidl cut cost of a holiday supermarket trip

THE Aldi effect has seen budget supermarkets drive down food costs at home – and now holidaymakers can also benefit from the price cuts.

Aldi and Lidl’s new stores around holiday resorts on the Continent have sparked supermarket price wars, helping British families on selfcatering breaks make big savings.

The German chains’ expansion in Portugal’s Algarve, for example, has led to a fall of more than a quarter in the average cost of a basket of food essentials, according to research by the Post Office.

Buying enough food to see a family through a week of meals at a large super- market in the Algarve now comes in at £41.04 – 26.5 per cent less than a year ago.

And the discount store effect, coupled with the strength of the pound against the euro, will mean that British families taking a self-catering holiday in Europe this year could see their money go much further.

The study of ten popular destinations found that Spain’s Costa Blanca offers the lowest prices for self- catering holidaymakers. There the average shopping basket – covering everything from bread, milk and teabags to cheese, wine, coffee and tomatoes – came in at £36.69, 37.9 per cent less than a year ago.

The Algarve prices were second cheapest at £41.04, ahead of Spanish destinations such as Majorca and the Costa del Sol. The more expensive resorts were Greek islands Corfu at £63.23, Crete at £ 64.64, and Marmaris i n Turkey at £68.67.

Limassol on the island of Cyprus came top of the price league at £68.97 – almost 90 per cent more than a similar basket of items on the Costa Blanca. The research also found that families who use large supermarkets rather than small resort mini-marts can make savings.

The biggest difference was in Crete, where the cost of 20 food and drink staples was £103.96 at a mini-mart compared to £64.64 at a supermarket.

In the Costa del Sol, a mini-mart shop costs more than 50 per cent extra – £65.24 compared with £43.32. And in the Algarve, the mini-mart mark-up came in at almost 49 per cent with a total of £61.03 compared to £41.04.

A Post Office spokesman said: ‘Echoing UK trends, cost- cutting Aldi and Lidl supermarkets have sprung up and this has resulted in a fall in prices.’

The Post Office Travel Money report Self-Catering on a Shoestring found one in five families will be taking a trip this

‘A great way to save money’ ‘Fierce competition for business’

summer where they have to provide their own meals. And the strength of the pound against the euro will mean that other holiday costs – such as restaurant meals, drinks and visits to attractions – will also be substantially lower this year.

This year, Waitrose will try to target Britons on holiday, signing a deal to sell 100 products across supermarkets on the Continent.

Their range includes mature cheddar, organic strawberry jam and ginger beer.

Post Office Travel Money spokesman Andrew Brown said: ‘It’s not just restaurants and bars that are cutting costs to attract custom.

‘The same is happening in shops where there is fierce competition for business – especially in the western Med.’

He added: ‘Self-catering can be a great way to save money, so the price falls are good news for families on a budget.’