The cheapest supermarket revealed - a third cheaper than the priciest

Aldi has triumphed in a Grocer price league table, ranking six of Britain's biggest supermarkets. The magazine regularly surveys supermarket prices, but it doesn't usually include Aldi. In its report on Sunday it included the budget chain - and it dominated - identified as the cheapest for 31 of the 33 items.

The magazine looked at prices at Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose. Aldi was an impressive £10.68 cheaper than its nearest rival, at £40.28.

Second place went to Asda. It has held on as the cheapest of the large traditional supermarkets, but evidence from this study suggests that the gap is narrowing. After the test shop, Asda was just £1.10 cheaper than Morrisons.

The mystery shopper was therefore able to go online after their shop and use the Price Guarantee to get a voucher for £2.59: the guarantee promises to refund the difference if Asda isn't at least 10% cheaper. It's a reflection of how Morrisons has been slashing prices in an effort to compete more effectively.

Fourth place went to Tesco, which was initially priced at £53.90, and reduced to £52.06 with an instant refund through the Brand Guarantee scheme. It's a useful illustration of how although the Brand Guarantee can secure a discount, it's no guarantee that you're not paying more for your unbranded shopping.

Sainsbury's was a distant fifth at £57.95, and Waitrose came in as the priciest at £61.64 - more than £20 more expensive than Aldi.

Quality?

The traditional supermarkets would argue that they are charging a fair price for high quality. However, Aldi has silenced on this front too, by beating all-comers in the Grocer's Own Brand awards.

It took home 19 gold medals, while Lidl and Tesco managed an impressive 12 each, and Asda scooped 9. Further down the table Marks & Spencer only managed five golds, The Co-operative three, Iceland two and Morrisons One.

Aldi's golds included prizes for cheddar, cereal, pizza and tomatoes. It also picked up 21 silver medals. This came hot on the heels of news on Friday that it was offering the most affordable of the International Wine Challenge winners too.

Given that Lidl got the joint-second biggest haul of gold medals for the quality of its own brands, it's a shame it was not included in the price comparison by the magazine. However, when we compared prices for our Christmas special, Aldi and Lidl were neck-and-neck on almost every item, (except Aldi sneaked under the wire with a particularly keenly-priced Christmas pudding). It means it's well worth trying both of the discounters to see what you think of their own-brand items - and where you could save the most.

But what do you think? Are you tempted by high quality and cheaper prices? Or are you attached to your traditional supermarket? Let us know in the comments.