Customers could be paying more than double what they need to for major crisp brands, a Which? investigation has revealed.
The consumer group analysed Kettle, Pipers and Tyrell’s salted crisps in major supermarkets across 2020 to find the products “you should never pay full price for”.
Prices for all three brands regularly went up and down over the year, a practice known as “high-low” tactics.
For example, Waitrose’s pack of Pipers sea salt crisps varied from £1.50 to £2.50, while Asda’s Kettle lightly salted crisps fluctuated between £1 and £1.99 at four-week intervals.
READ MORE: Pimms & Aperol beaten by supermarket own-brands in Which? test
Consistent price-flipping meant you could buy Kettle crisps for under £1 in at least one major grocer for 95 per cent of the year.
Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons had the highest price for Kettle crisps at £2, while Morrisons shoppers ended up paying the most for Tyrell’s, at £2.30.
At its lowest point, Asda was cheaper for both brands, at 90p and £1.15 respectively.
Pipers crisps were significantly pricier at Waitrose, costing £1 more than the same product at Ocado or Tesco.
The findings have been newly released from a Which? grocery study last month, which analysed 493 products to reveal supermarket “pricing secrets”.
It found that some shoppers were paying up to four times what they needed to for certain items.
“Our research reveals just how wildly food and drink prices can fluctuate from day to day, meaning people are at risk of massively overpaying for branded groceries,” Which? retail editor Ele Clarke said.
“We would recommend keeping an eye on the prices of your favourite products and stocking up when they’re discounted to avoid paying over the odds.”
The survey analysed the prices at Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Waitrose and Ocado, but did not include the discounters Aldi and Lidl, which sell fewer branded goods.
