The Real Basket: who's actually cheapest right now?

Everyone argues about which supermarket is cheapest. So we stopped guessing: on 25 July 2026 we priced the identical basket of 10 everyday items at Tesco, SuperValu and Dunnes — the three big Irish supermarkets that publish prices online — all on the same day. Here's exactly what we found.

Just €0.40 separates the dearest from the cheapest — a spread of about 1.5% across the whole basket.

Green = cheapest for that item. ✓ = cheapest total. Prices captured from each retailer's website on 25 July 2026; they can change daily and with promotions.

What this actually tells you

On the brands you know, the big three are almost identical. Milk, butter, tea and eggs came out to the exact same price at all three — national brands are largely sold at a set price across the big grocers. Where a gap opened at all, it was on just a handful of lines (Baked beans, Chopped tomatoes, Granulated sugar, Kellogg's Corn Flakes) — never enough that swapping your whole weekly shop between Tesco, SuperValu and Dunnes would save you much.

So where are the real savings?

• Own-brand, not the store. The own-brand lines here (pan, eggs, tomatoes, potatoes) are a fraction of the branded ones — that €0.85 sliced pan versus a €2+ branded loaf is the real lever. See the own-brand swaps that save 30–50%.
• Aldi and Lidl — cheaper again. They're not in this table because they don't sell groceries online in Ireland, so we can't price them live. Independent surveys consistently put them 20–30% below all three above. See the honest breakdown.
• Snap your own receipt. Want to know if you overpaid? Photograph your shop and we'll check it against these very prices.

How we did it (and why you can trust it)

We searched each retailer's own website on 25 July 2026 and recorded the shelf price of the same product and pack size at each. Where an item is own-brand, we used each store's equivalent standard own-brand line. We take no money from any supermarket — no ads, no affiliate links — which is exactly why almost nobody else publishes this. Online prices can differ slightly from in-store and change with promotions, so treat this as a dated snapshot. We refresh it and grow the basket over time.

General information, not financial advice. Prices captured 25 July 2026 from tesco.ie, shop.supervalu.ie and dunnesstoresgrocery.com and may since have changed. Aldi and Lidl are excluded because they do not sell groceries online in Ireland.

Know your own number first

Before you chase pennies between stores, find out whether your total shop is high for your household — that's the number that actually matters.

See what your weekly shop should cost →