Before we get into this, I would just like to clarify that I don’t class myself as some sort of “supermarket expert”. However, due to the fact they were the only thing open for quite some time during 2020 for essential items, I do feel like I have a little bit of authority to rate them, seeing as I visited so many.

Morrisons

Yellow happens to be my favourite colour, but I don’t know what it is, the whole aesthetic of Morrisons puts me off. It’s just so “in your face”. I like my supermarkets to subtlety tempt me into spending a week’s wages in one morning, not be all yellow and loud and screaming “ONLY 99p” in my face before I have even had my second coffee. It probably doesn’t do my perception of Morrisons any favours that it used to be the supermarket next to a job I hated for 6 months (turns out I have too much of a conscience to work in medical recruitment and send Doctors I know are terrible to A&E wards).

Waitrose

For someone who loves department stores like John Lewis as much as I do, you’d think I’d have a soft spot for Waitrose, but I just can’t bring myself to like a supermarket that charges you a fiver for two salmons. Everyone always classes M&S as the “posh” supermarket, but you’d be genuinely surprised at how reasonable some of the prices are. Waitrose is just a dog whistle for people who would like to be seen as middle class. Sure, you can harp on about the quality being better all you want, but everyone knows they use the same supplier as Aldi.

M&S

I do like quite a few things from M&S, especially their cheese straws, but all in all, I had to put them quite low on the list. The thing is with M&S is, it’s a great supermarket, but the atmosphere isn’t great. I don’t know about anyone else’s M&S, but in my local one if I wander about listening to techno on my massive headphones I get some fairly judgy looks from people. I just want to listen to my music and buy my steak in peace people.

Asda

I didn’t think Asda would be this far down on my list, but looking at the supermarkets I prefer it has ended up here due to its lack of consistency. The thing that is crazy is that sometimes you won’t get a product for weeks and weeks in Asda then it will appear. We have two in our town and things you can’t get in one you can get in the other. Makes no sense. Also, their pharmacy in my local store is stunningly unhelpful.

Aldi

Getting into my top tree now. You’ve just got to love Aldi, haven’t you? Fillet steak for under a fiver? Sign me up. Yes it’s always busy, and yes sometimes you can’t always get what you want, but at their prices, it’s worth taking the bad with the good.

Tesco

The reason I love Tesco is that it is dependable. Good, stable Tesco. You can always find what you want. If you get into the groove of how and when your local one gets busy, you can always find a time where you can wander around a gloriously empty-ish supermarket at your leisure. I think everyone can agree, big Tesco is more of a day out than a weekly shop. Reasonable prices. Very nice colour scheme, red and blue, kind of British but not so British you feel like you are in flag-shagger territory. A truly wonderful shopping experience.

Sainsbury’s

Now we come to my favourite; Sainsbury’s. I have a payday ritual, where every payday I get up early and go to Sainsbury’s for all of the little bits and bobs I buy outside of normal shopping. It’s a very peaceful supermarket. Is it a bit posh? Maybe, just a bit, but not TOO posh like Waitrose. Some people think Sainsbury’s is expensive but I promise you, if you look hard enough you will find some absolute bargains. I’m not sure if this is a “theme” of all stores but my local one has lovely wide aisles that mean you don’t need to come into the breathing space of the person opposite you. My winner!

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