Price Monitor · August 2026 · own-label products
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Tesco is on average 3.5% cheaper than Sainsbury's

Likely range: Tesco 1.2% to 5.9% cheaper.
ⓘIf we had drawn a different but equally fair set of basket products, the figure would fall inside this range 95 times out of 100. Products that share a shop product are drawn together, so a shared price never counts twice.

Read the other way: Sainsbury's is on average 3.6% dearer than Tesco (a percentage changes with the shop you start from).

Based on 853 products in the Price Monitor's basket that both shops sell, matched to 534 different pairs of shop products. Below are 75 of those pairs, spread across categories by household spending. For the full list, email research@allsupers.co.uk.

Tesco was dearer on 188, cheaper on 328 and the same price on 337 of these 853 products. These counts show direction only; the average above also weighs how large each difference is and each category's share of spending.

Each row starts from a product in our basket. At each shop we take the most similar own-label product, confirmed by our automated matching check. One shop product can be the closest match for several basket products, so it can appear in more than one row.

How we compare prices

We compare the price per kilo, per litre or per item, so pack sizes do not distort the result. Items sold by the piece are only compared with a similar number of pieces. Own-label means each shop's own brands, whatever their name; premium ranges rarely pass our matching check, so these are mostly standard lines. Prices as of 31 August 2026; where a cheaper promotion was running, we use that price.

How the figure is worked out

For each spending category we average the price differences of the products both shops sell, then combine the categories by their share of household spending. The ranking on the Price Monitor page compares all shops at once, through every other shop as well, so it can differ from this two-shop figure; for these two shops the ranking gives Tesco 3.9% cheaper. Categories with fewer than 10 products both shops sell: personal care: 3 products, 4% of the weight, fish: 7 products, 3% of the weight. They count at their full share of household spending, like every category, so they can move the figure more than their few products suggest.

The badge shows the price difference per unit for Tesco.

Sainsbury's
Tesco
Same price per litre
Same price per litre
Tesco 13% cheaper per kg
Same price per kg
Tesco 14% cheaper per kg
Same price per kg
Tesco 6% cheaper per kg
pack sizes differ
Tesco 2% cheaper per kg
Tesco 9% dearer per kg
Tesco 3% dearer per kg
Same price per kg
Same price per kg
Same price per kg
Tesco 2% cheaper per kg
Same price per kg
Same price per kg
Tesco 30% cheaper per kg
Tesco 25% dearer per kg
Tesco 32% cheaper per item
Same price per kg
Tesco 5% cheaper per kg
Tesco 1% cheaper per kg
Tesco 11% cheaper per litre
Tesco 3% cheaper per kg
Tesco 10% dearer per kg
Tesco 14% dearer per litre
Tesco 30% cheaper per litre
Tesco 5% cheaper per kg
Tesco 27% cheaper per litre
Tesco 29% dearer per litre
Same price per litre
Tesco 18% cheaper per kg
Tesco 40% cheaper per kg
pack sizes differ
Same price per kg
Same price per litre
Tesco 94% dearer per litre
pack sizes differ
Same price per litre
Tesco 17% dearer per kg
Tesco 13% dearer per litre
Tesco 10% dearer per kg
Tesco 2% dearer per kg
Tesco 1% dearer per kg
Tesco 8% dearer per kg
pack sizes differ
Tesco 23% dearer per kg
Tesco Lean Beef Steak Mince 5% Fat 500g
£10.10/kg
500g · £5.05
Same price per kg
Tesco 6% cheaper per kg
Tesco 3% cheaper per kg
Same price per kg
Tesco 64% cheaper per kg
pack sizes differ
Tesco 4% dearer per kg
Tesco 2% dearer per kg
Same price per kg
Tesco 17% dearer per kg
Tesco 40% cheaper per kg
Tesco 1% dearer per kg
Tesco 8% cheaper per litre
Tesco 5% cheaper per litre
Tesco 17% dearer per item
Same price per litre
Tesco 10% cheaper per kg
Same price per litre
Tesco 7% cheaper per kg
Same price per kg
Tesco 3% cheaper per kg
Same price per kg
Same price per item
Same price per kg
Tesco 17% cheaper per kg
Same price per item
Tesco 45% cheaper per item
Tesco 2% cheaper per kg
Tesco 18% dearer per kg
Same price per item
Tesco 19% dearer per item
Tesco 33% dearer per kg