Living near a Waitrose may boost your home's value - but you'll also pay a 'posh premium' to shop there, analysis reveals
Living near a Waitrose may boost your home's value – but you'll also pay a 'posh premium' to shop there.
Customers pay up to 40 per cent more for branded goods at the store than at Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, research shows.
A basket of branded items bought from Waitrose was found to cost nearly £9 more than the exact same goods at other supermarkets. The basket included 20 household items, which came to a total of £72.16 at Waitrose.
The average total across the Big Four retailers was £63.33.
Waitrose shoppers were found to pay an average of 44p more per item (stock photo)
The research, which was carried out by the Mail, compared the cost of items including Heinz baked beans, Hovis bread and Fairy washing up liquid
The starkest price difference was a large box of Persil non-bio washing powder costing £7.50 at the other supermarkets and 40 per cent more in Waitrose at £10.50.
James Daley, from Fairer Finance.com, said: 'Everyone knows that Waitrose is more expensive than its competitors but its loyal shoppers might be shocked to find out just how much more expensive it is.
'It's difficult for people to compare how much their weekly basket of shopping might cost elsewhere and so most people just get in the habit of sticking with what they're used to.'
The research, which was carried out by the Mail, compared the cost of items including Heinz baked beans, Hovis bread and Fairy washing up liquid, across the five supermarkets. The products were the same size and not part of multi-buy deals. Only the full retail price was taken into account rather than prices available to loyalty card holders.
Waitrose shoppers were found to pay an average of 44p more per item. A 350g packet of Cathedral City mature cheddar cheese cost £4.25 at Waitrose. But it was £3.50 at Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's and just £2.75 at Morrisons.
A Waitrose spokesman said customers enjoyed its extensive range of own-brand products and its highly rated customer service (stock photo)
Only two Waitrose products out of the 20 items cost less than the Big Four average price.
A Waitrose spokesman said customers enjoyed its extensive range of own-brand products and its highly rated customer service.
The spokesman added: 'This research isn't representative of the prices across our full range of branded products, which are competitive and often cheaper than other supermarkets.'
On the plus side, previous research has found that living near a Waitrose can raise house prices by up to £36,000.