Aldi and Lidl are the cheapest, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer the dearest, and Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons sit between them. The more useful rule is this: the small "Express", "Local" and "Metro" branches that fill central London are priced above the same chain's big stores, and a great many shelf prices are only available to people holding a UK loyalty account. Both of those cost a visitor real money.
British supermarkets are one of the best things about eating cheaply in London. They sell a made-up lunch for a few pounds, a decent bottle of wine for less than a glass costs in a bar, and ready meals that a hotel room with a microwave can deal with. What they do not do is explain themselves, and the pricing has two layers that are invisible if you have never shopped here.
This page explains the chains, the meal deal, the loyalty-price trap and the law that lets you compare anything with anything. For low-cost eating out rather than shopping, see cheap eats in London; for assembling a park lunch or cooking in a flat, see picnic supplies and self-catering.
The short version
- Cheapest
- Aldi and Lidl. Narrow range, mostly own-brand, few central branches
- Dearest
- Waitrose, and Marks and Spencer Food
- Most convenient
- Tesco Express, Sainsbury's Local, Co-op, Little Waitrose. Also the most expensive per item
- The trap
- Two prices on the shelf edge. The lower one needs a UK loyalty account
- The tool
- The unit price, printed by law on the shelf edge: price per 100 g, per kg or per litre
- Sundays
- Large stores may trade for only six hours between 10:00 and 18:00
Four kinds of supermarket, and which is which
The discounters. Aldi and Lidl carry a deliberately narrow range, almost all own-brand: fewer products, bigger volumes, plainer shelves. Both have far fewer central London branches than their rivals, so they are worth a detour only if you are staying near one.
The big four. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons are full-range supermarkets with budget, standard and premium own-brand tiers. In central London they appear mostly as small-format shops rather than superstores.
The premium end. Waitrose is the John Lewis Partnership's supermarket and is noticeably dearer than the big four. Marks and Spencer Food is not a supermarket in the ordinary sense: it sells almost entirely its own products, is strong on prepared food and weak on ingredients, and its station branches are aimed at people buying dinner on the way home.
The convenience shops. Co-op, Tesco Express, Sainsbury's Local, Little Waitrose and Morrisons Daily are small shops with a superstore's name on them: long hours, limited stock, higher prices. Alongside them sit thousands of independent corner shops, some under symbol-group signs such as Nisa, Premier or Londis, which are independent businesses buying through a wholesaler rather than branches of a chain.
Photo: Acabashi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized
The meal deal, which is the best lunch in Britain
Almost every large chain and several pharmacy chains sell a "meal deal": one main item, one snack and one drink from marked fridges for a single price, lower than buying the three separately. It is the default lunch of working Britain and the cheapest filling meal a visitor can buy in central London.
Prices sit in a band of roughly £3.50 to £6.00 depending on the chain and on whether you hold its loyalty card, with station and airport branches at the top. That is our estimate for September 2026 rather than a published figure; every chain sets its own price. Look for the shelf sign in the chilled section near the front, which states the price and which fridges count.
Two things to know. Sandwiches, wraps and salads are made up in advance and dated, so the choice is best before about 13:00. And eating a cold item on the premises adds 20 per cent VAT to a price that carries none if you take it away, which is why some shops quote two figures.
Buy lunch before you reach the attraction, not at it. A meal deal from a supermarket two streets away costs a third of what a sandwich and a coffee cost sitting down beside a major sight, and the parks are free to sit in. Fill a bottle at a refill point as well; our page on tap water and refill points has the map.
Two prices on one label: the loyalty trap
Walk down a Tesco or Sainsbury's aisle and many shelf labels show two figures: a higher price for everybody and a lower one for members of Clubcard or Nectar. This is the single biggest thing a visitor loses money on in a British supermarket.
The Competition and Markets Authority reviewed the practice and published its findings on 27 November 2024. It analysed around 50,000 products on loyalty promotion and found very little evidence that supermarkets were inflating the usual price to make the offer look better: members almost always make a genuine saving, averaging 17 to 25 per cent on promoted products across the five supermarkets examined. It also found that 77 per cent of regular grocery shoppers hold a Tesco Clubcard and 57 per cent a Nectar card, and asked the supermarkets to consider shoppers who cannot easily join.
The practical consequence for a visitor is simple. The loyalty price is real, and you are paying the higher one. Signing up usually needs a UK mobile number or postcode, and on a short trip it is rarely worth the trouble. What is worth doing is noticing which figure you are reading before deciding something is cheap.
The unit price, and how to use it
British shops must show, under the Price Marking Order 2004, both the selling price and, for most goods, a unit price: the price per kilogram, per litre or per 100 grams, in small type on the same shelf label. It is the only honest way to compare a 250 g pack with a 400 g pack, an own-brand with a brand, or a small branch with a large one.
Learn to read that one number and the whole shop becomes legible. It also settles whether the Express branch on your corner is dearer than the superstore twenty minutes away: compare the unit price on the same product in both. The chains do not publish the difference and we have not measured it, so distrust any figure that claims to.
The unit price is the small number, and it is the one that matters. Two packs of the same cheese at £3.00 and £4.20 tell you nothing until you see £12.00 per kg against £8.40 per kg. Certain categories are exempt from unit pricing, and so are some price-reduced lines, so it will not always be there. Where it is, it is the fastest decision you can make in a supermarket.
Opening hours, Sundays and Christmas
Large shops in England, meaning those with more than 280 square metres of sales space, may open for only one continuous period of six hours between 10:00 and 18:00 on a Sunday. Most superstores therefore run 11:00 to 17:00 or 12:00 to 18:00. Small shops are not restricted, which is why a Tesco Express can open at seven in the morning on a Sunday and the superstore down the road cannot.
Large shops must also stay closed on Easter Day and on Christmas Day. Boxing Day and New Year's Day are ordinary trading days with reduced hours. Our pages on opening hours and Sunday trading and bank holidays and opening hours have the dates for 2026 and 2027.
Alcohol is sold under each shop's own premises licence, so the hours differ from branch to branch and a shop can be open while its alcohol aisle is closed. You must be 18 to buy it, and most chains operate Challenge 25, meaning staff ask for photo identification from anyone who looks under 25. A passport or a national photo ID card works; a photograph of one on your phone usually does not. See alcohol laws and drinking in public.
A picnic in ten minutes
If you have one supermarket stop and twenty minutes, this is what to put in the basket. It comes to well under £20 for two people and needs no kitchen.
- Bread. A baguette or a sourdough loaf from the in-store bakery rather than a sliced loaf.
- Cheese. Cheddar, Wensleydale or a Cornish brie, all of which travel in a bag for a few hours.
- Something cured. Ham, chorizo or a pork pie, which is the genuinely British answer and needs no plate.
- Tomatoes, grapes and a bag of salad, plus a jar of pickle or chutney. Piccalilli with cheese is worth trying once.
- Crisps, in a flavour that will surprise you, and a bar of chocolate.
- Drinks. Wine or beer from the same shop is a fraction of bar prices; check the local rules before drinking it in a public space.
Cutlery, napkins and a bag will not be handed to you. Single-use carrier bags cost a minimum of 10 pence in England, charged by retailers of every size since 21 May 2021, so bring something to carry it in.
Self-checkout, cards and the security gates
Most central London branches are heavily weighted towards self-service tills, and several smaller ones have no staffed till at all. Alcohol, knives and some medicines need a staff member to approve the sale, so the machine stops and waits. Contactless is universal and the usual limit is £100 per transaction, although that now depends on your card issuer; our guide to card payments in Britain explains PINs, surcharges and refused foreign cards.
One thing catches visitors out: several central branches now have entry gates that need a card tap, or exit gates that need a receipt. This is theft prevention, not a membership scheme, and staff will let you through if a gate refuses your card.
What to buy that you cannot get at home
British supermarkets are unusually strong on a few things. Own-brand vegan ranges are extensive and clearly marked; see vegan and vegetarian London. Free-from aisles carry gluten-free bread, pasta and biscuits in every large store; see gluten-free eating in London. Tea, marmalade, digestive biscuits and Marmite are all cheaper here than in any airport shop.
For ingredients the chains do not carry, the specialist shops are better and cheaper. The Chinese supermarkets in Chinatown and around Queensway sell noodles, frozen dumplings and chilli oils at a fraction of supermarket prices. The delis in our guide to Polish and eastern European food are the place for rye bread, cured sausage and curd cheese. South Asian grocers sell spices in bags rather than jars, which is where the gap is widest.
One change coming
From 1 October 2027 a deposit return scheme starts in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Single-use plastic bottles and steel and aluminium cans between 150 millilitres and three litres will carry a refundable deposit, paid at the till and returned when the empty is handed back. The amount is to be set by the scheme's management organisation and had not been published in September 2026.
For how shopping fits into a daily budget, see what a day in London costs, and for the high-street names that are restaurants rather than shops, London's chain restaurants explained. If your room has a kitchen, apartments and short lets covers what to expect in it. And when you want cooked food without a restaurant bill or a service charge, our guide to London's food halls is the closest thing to a supermarket you can sit down in.
Frequently asked questions
Which supermarket is cheapest in London?
Aldi and Lidl, which carry a narrow, mostly own-brand range. Waitrose and Marks and Spencer Food are the most expensive, with Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons between. Whatever the sign says, compare the unit price on the shelf edge, because the small convenience branches of every chain cost more than their big stores.
What is a meal deal?
A main item, a snack and a drink from marked fridges for one price, sold by most supermarket and pharmacy chains. Expect roughly £3.50 to £6.00 depending on the chain, the branch and whether you hold its loyalty card. The shelf sign states the price and which fridges are included.
Why are there two prices on the shelf in Tesco and Sainsbury's?
The lower one is for members of Clubcard or Nectar. The Competition and Markets Authority found in November 2024 that these are genuine savings, averaging 17 to 25 per cent on promoted products, rather than inflated usual prices. Without a UK loyalty account you pay the higher figure.
What time do London supermarkets close on Sunday?
Large stores may trade for only six continuous hours between 10:00 and 18:00, so most run 11:00 to 17:00 or 12:00 to 18:00. Small convenience branches are exempt from the rule and open much longer. Large shops must also close entirely on Easter Day and Christmas Day.
Can I buy alcohol in a London supermarket at any time?
No. Each shop has its own premises licence setting the hours it may sell alcohol, so a branch can be open while its alcohol aisle is shut. You must be 18, and most chains ask anyone who appears under 25 for photo identification such as a passport.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk - The Price Marking Order 2004, articles 4 to 7A on selling price and unit price (checked September 2026)
- Competition and Markets Authority - Groceries: loyalty prices offer genuine savings, 27 November 2024 (checked September 2026)
- Competition and Markets Authority - Review of loyalty pricing in the groceries sector, executive summary (checked September 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk - Sunday Trading Act 1994, Schedule 1 (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Carrier bag charges: retailers' responsibilities in England (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Deposit Return Scheme: drinks producer and retailer responsibilities (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Alcohol and young people: the law (checked September 2026)
- HM Revenue & Customs - Catering and takeaway food (VAT Notice 709/1) (checked September 2026)