I compared the fruit and veg aisles in Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Lidl - one was 9/10

Many of us have our favourite supermarkets that we go to every week for our shopping hauls. However, it is important to look around for the best deals on fresh fruit and vegetables to save some cash.

Government data shows that fruit and vegetable prices have increased in the UK this year, with the average household spending 4.4% more on their weekly food shop. In June, the cost of gooseberries rocketed by 243% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the price of blackberries increased by 25% while raspberries were 15% more expensive. The price of apples also increased by 7% while strawberries were up 3%.

British farmers warned that harvests have been impacted by extreme weather. This includes both droughts from hot and dry conditions as well as periods of heavy rainfall.

Other figures, released in the same month, showed that most people in the UK are not eating the recommended five portions of varied fruit and vegetables every day. On average, children aged 11 to 18 eat 2.8 portions per day while adults average 3.3 to 3.7 portions.

Meanwhile, only 9% of children met the '5-a-Day' recommendation. For adults, this figure was 17% which equates to less than one in five.

With this in mind, I visited four UK supermarkets to compare the fruit and vegetable offerings, including their freshness, availability and affordibility. I visited each shop between 4pm and 6pm on a Thursday evening.

Aldi

The first stop on my supermarket tour was Aldi, known for its affordable prices. Over 90% of products at the discount store are their own in-house lines which, according to Aldi, allow customers to stock their kitchens with healthier, high-quality items that won't break the bank.

In terms of the fruit and vegetable aisles at my local store, the first thing that stood out was the variety on offer. I could see everything from onions and shallots to bananas, apples and carrots.

However, the quality of some of the items seemed a bit hit-or-miss. Some of the fresh fruit, including bananas, was bruised or soft.

If you're shopping at Aldi, I recommend eating your fruit and vegetables within a couple of days of purchasing. The bananas that I bought started to soften less than 24 hours after my visit.

The pack of six Organic Fairtrade bananas cost me £1.49, equating to 24.83p per banana. This was actually the most expensive supermarket I visited.

That said, the Aldi Super 6 offer does offer great value to customers. The promotion sees six fruit and vegetable products offered at a special low price every fortnight.

Sainsbury's

I'm a regular Sainsbury's shopper so I knew exactly what I was getting in during my latest visit. The shelves are often well-stocked with fresh and appealing fruit and vegetable options.

However, after browsing the shelves one thing stood out to me and seemed strange. Some of the items did not have "best before dates".

Sainsbury's decided to remove the dates from products such as pears, apples, pineapples, onions and other citrus fruit to stop customers from throwing food away needlessly. They hoped the move would encourage people to use their own judgement on freshness.

That being said, all of the items that I saw seemed fresh and of high quality. I purchased a pack of eight Fairtrade Bananas for £1.30, equating to 16.25p per banana. 

Although this was cheaper than Aldi, the bananas were slightly smaller. However, they had a slightly sweeter and fruitier flavour which I prefer.

Like Aldi, there was a good choice of ripe and unripe bananas in Sainsbury's. Sometimes it's nice to grab an item to eat immediately while other times you may be looking for something to last a few days.

Waitrose

Waitrose probably seems somewhat of an outlier in these four supermarkets. The chain is known for its premium and high-quality products, which tends to equate to higher prices and an upscale shopping experience.

According to Which?, Waitrose is consistently the most expensive supermarket in the UK. However, I thought it was important to throw it into the mix as some people may be happy to pay slightly more for their fruit and vegetables if it guarantees better quality. 

From the naked eye, Waitrose had the biggest variety of fruit and vegetables on offer out of the four supermarkets that I visited. It sold perfectly ripe mangoes, large passion fruits, Waitrose-own brand dragon fruits and figs.

Although these exotic fruits looked appealing, I still opted for my trust bunch of bananas. I was able to grab five Fairtrade Bananas for £1, equating to 20p per banana.

Despite being slightly pricier than Sainsbury's, the difference between the two products the following day was fairly noticeable. The Waitrose bananas remained more yellow and ripe while the Sainsbury's bunch had started to darken already.

Lidl

Until this point, I was fairly impressed by every supermarket that I had visited. Each offered something slightly different but I could see a justification to shop at every one.

I then walked into Lidl. It's worth noting that this was the last shop that I visited, meaning it was now close to 6pm and the shelves were naturally dwindling.

While there was still a decent selection, many of the boxes of fruit and vegetables seemed sparse if not empty. There was a distinct lack of availability, which was disappointing.

That being said, Lidl seemed the cheapest supermarket overall. There were also a number of deals on offer, including the "Pick of the Week" deals, which currently include pomegranates and organic British carrots for 79p each. 

However, due to a lack of options, I had to buy seven Funsize Bananas for 88p, equating to 12.5p per banana. They were also a bit soft and mushy, and easily the smallest of the bunch.

Lidl does have a "Fresh Promise" and has won the Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year award multiple times, including in 2024. I may have just visited at a bad time.

Conclusion

After visiting and reviewing the four supermarkets (and being left with 26 bananas), it's time to rank the fruit and vegetable aisles in each (and Google recipes for banana bread).

Here are my overall rankings out of 10:

Aldi - 7

Sainsbury's - 9

Waitrose - 8

Lidl - 5