In round five of Grocery Gazette’s ‘Battle of the Grocers’ series, we ask our panel of retail and FMCG experts which UK supermarket is top of the league when it comes to budget own-brand ranges.

Which supermarket will come out on top – Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, M&S or Waitrose?

Sainsbury’s Stamford Street

Offer, range and pricing

Paul Stainton: “The range comprises of 193 products. Sainsbury’s has added 10 herbs and spices, a category not featured strongly in other value tiers. Of the 193 products, 84 have increased in price between January 2024 and January 2025.”

Peter Cross: “The range is wide and the quality is all there as you’d expect from Sainsbury’s, but how it landed on the Stamford street brand escapes me.”

Vineta Bajaj: “The products lean heavily towards UPF [ultra processed food] such as packaged meat, ready meals, and jarred and tinned goods as well as everyday household items.”

Phil McMahon: “Sainsbury’s Stamford Street range is smaller than several competitors’ own-label value ranges. I think shoppers would welcome an expansion of the range.”

Marketing

Paul Stainton: “Sainsbury’s does not have any specific Stamford Street Co. signage at the front of stores, nor does it currently have any shelf messaging for the range. However, the pack design stands out reasonably well and products can be easily found.”

Vineta Bajaj: “Products are grouped together for higher impact, and there is a custom page on the website.”

Phil McMahon: “The brand unsurprisingly relies primarily on in-store visibility and Sainsbury’s’ digital channels, but doesn’t optimise either.”

Peter Cross: “The brand name was apparently the location of the companies old Headquarters before demolition – a peculiar choice for a value line and, I would guess, something of a challenge for the marketing team.”

Brand recognition and distinctiveness

Vineta Bajaj: “The Stamford Street brand is clearly recognisable, with the white and yellow packaging distinctive against Sainsbury’s other non-value products.”

Phil McMahon: “Visually, the branding is distinctive, but it doesn’t clearly communicate ‘value tier’. Why not have a Stamford Street aisle in-store to build brand recognition, while making it easier for shoppers on tight budgets to locate all the lowest price lines?”

Paul Stainton: “Stamford Street carries great heritage for Sainsbury’s. I would argue that it doesn’t mean much to their customers and does not convey the message of “price” or “value” in the way that Just Essentials and Savers do.”

Peter Cross: “Is it clear to the uninitiated that this is a value line? With so much pressure on price right across the sector, I would guess that a rebrand is on the cards to bring the range in line with competitor equivalents.”

Asda Just Essentials

Offer, range and pricing

Vineta Bajaj: “The range is slightly wider than Sainsbury’s Stamford Street including a larger proportion of fresh products alongside the ubiquitous ready meals but it also includes clothing and home items.”

Paul Stainton: “The range count now stands at 242 but over the last year Asda has followed Morrisons’ strategy of not offering all the range online. Of the 242 products, 109 have increased in price between January 2024 and January 2025 – the highest percentage of price increases across the value tiers included here.”

Phil McMahon: “The breadth of selection across food and household categories is impressive.”

Peter Cross: “I like the look of Asda essentials but as the range has been progressively trimmed back since launch, it appears the in-house team aren’t quite so sure.”

Marketing

Phil McMahon: “Asda rightly brushed aside some criticism about the distinctive yellow packaging being a poverty marker and maintained a focus on driving brand awareness. The timing of the cost-of-living-crisis may have been fortuitous, but the range has been an undeniable success.”

Paul Stainton: “Asda really pushed the Just Essentials range during the cost-of-living crisis, but since then there has been little above-the-line marketing on the range.”

Peter cross: “Marketing appears to have shifted over comprehensively to Rollback (and Joe Wicks).”

Vineta Bajaj: “There has been consistent social media presence using the hashtag #JustEssentials.”

Brand recognition and distinctiveness

Paul Stainton: “You simply cannot miss the bright yellow packs as you make your way down the Asda aisles. They don’t try to hide the products either – many appearing at eye level on the shelves.”

Peter Cross: “I like the brand, it’s fun, quirky, stands out on the shelf or in the fridge and says value without suggesting the customer doesn’t value themselves. Fresh, modern and consistent.”

Phil McMahon: “The name and distinctive yellow packaging delivers a clear value message and strong visual impact. When it was launched shoppers couldn’t miss it. It is the easiest own-label value-tier range to spot in any supermarket.”

Vineta Bajaj: “Some have declared the branding as potentially “too obvious” as supply has struggled to keep up with demand, with 114% sales uplift in the first year.”

Morrisons Savers

Offer, range and pricing

Paul Stainton: “Morrisons has increased its Savers range from 185 to 205 SKU’s (Jan 25 vs. Jan 24). However, 57 of the lines are not available online, potentially disadvantaging the home delivery customer. These 57 include baked beans, tomato ketchup, jam, and canned tomatoes.”

Phil McMahon: “Coverage across categories is strong and pricing is competitive, with a growing number of lines included in its Aldi & Lidl Price Match scheme. Quality is quite good across all fresh lines, which is key.”

Peter Cross: “Value at Morrisons has pivoted away from any focus on individual ranges to a sweeping focus on the More card. In this context, the Savers range gets a bit lost.”

Vineta Bajaj: “A limited selection of the Savers products are available in the Morrisons Daily convenience stores, the first supermarket to offer this.”

Marketing

Phil McMahon: “The cost-of-living-crisis prompted a re-brand which improved visual taste cues on food lines and did a reasonable job of breathing new life into the brand.”

Vineta Bajaj: “During the relaunch, the Savers range focused heavily on in-store promotions and events with a mixture of traditional and digital advertising.”

Paul Stainton: “There is no specific marketing of the brand in the store entrance, nor in the aisles. Some Savers products are used in the Aldi & Lidl Price Match and therefore get the appropriate shelf sign. Morrisons also calls out a few Savers products on shelf with its “Low Everyday Price” flash. No reference to Savers is made on the Morrisons online home page.”

Brand recognition and distinctiveness

Paul Stainton: “Morrisons updated its Savers branding in 2023. Whilst adding a dash of colour to each design, it remains somewhat dull and does not stand out on shelf. Most Savers products are merchandised on the bottom shelf, and I get the feeling Morrisons does not really want to sell much volume.”

Phil McMahon: “The Savers brand is recognisable, albeit not particularly inspiring. The white packaging with simple design elements communicates basic value, but not much else. It won’t age well.”

Peter Cross: “The Savers rebrand is a step up on the old identity.”

Vineta Bajaj: “Whilst still more subtle than the Asda bright yellow, the large Savers typography ensures the range is clear and unambiguous to consumers.”

How does value at the upmarket retailer’s compare?

Both Waitrose and M&S offer ranges that look to provide value and quality. However, as noted by Bajaj, the value of Waitrose Essentials and M&S Remarksable are comparable only within their existing pricing structures and are “not intended to compete with the open market”.  

Waitrose Essentials

Offer, range and pricing

Vineta Bajaj: “The range contains a far larger selection of fresh produce such as fruit, fish, meat, dairy and veg compared to the non-premium supermarkets alongside household and pet supplies and everyday essentials. It also has the largest range of any supermarket with over 900 items available.”

Paul Stainton: “Waitrose revamped its 11-year-old Essentials range in 2020. Unsurprisingly, as the range is pitched at standard-tier quality the pricing of the range is nowhere near as low as other value-tier ranges. In fact, prices are higher than the equivalent standard-tier own label prices elsewhere.”

Phil McMahon: “It’s a huge range, and is much more competitively priced than shoppers may assume. The breadth of choice and above-expected quality for a value-tier range feels too good to be true. There is nothing ‘basic’ about its positioning.”

Peter Cross: “Cleverly positioned as a line with all the quality and shelf appeal of Waitrose at a fraction of the cost, Essential Waitrose is the daddy of value brands.”

Marketing

Peter Cross: “Brilliantly and confidently marketed at launch, Essential Waitrose has such a strong presence in the store, it now markets itself.”

Phil McMahon: “Quality you’d expect at prices you wouldn’t sums it up perfectly. Waitrose is clearly proud of this range and rather than rely on shelf-presence alone, they have invested in strong campaigns to shout about it.”

Vineta Bajaj: “Waitrose has strongly promoted its Essentials range across a multiple range of channels to highlight the taste, ethics, value and quality of its products. There is also a dedicated page on its website.”

Paul Stainton: “The range is used tactically in price led adverts but does not appear to be the spearhead of Waitrose’s marketing strategy, which tends to focus more on the quality of their overall range.”

Brand recognition and distinctiveness

Paul Stainton: “The predominantly white pack design does stand out well in store, especially in the canned category where almost an entire bay is devoted to the brand.”

Vineta Bajaj: “The packing is very subtle and doesn’t overtly indicate value in the way the less premium supermarkets do.”

Peter Cross: “With striking photography, bold graphics and a quality feel, Essential Waitrose created a new standard for the sector overnight.”

Phil McMahon: “Waitrose cleverly includes its name upfront in the brand name; another indicator of pride. The simplicity of the branding should make the it feel basic, but instead it leans into the grocer’s reputation for quality to remind you who you are buying from. It’s terrifically clever.”

M&S Remarksable

Offer, range and pricing

Vineta Bajaj: “Launched in 2019, it is a much smaller range with just over 100 products and is just one of its three value labels.”

Phil McMahon: “As with Waitrose, there may be a misconception that it is more expensive than it is. Quality standards align with M&S brand expectations (particularly for M&S Food), but range breadth is noticeably limited compared to elsewhere.”

Paul Stainton: “Whilst M&S match the price of milk exactly (even to Aldi and Lidl), in most cases its Remarksable price is a few pence above the equivalent price in, say, Sainsbury’s.”

Marketing

Paul Stainton: “The Remarksable Value campaign forms part of M&S’s overall marketing proposition at appropriate times, such as the Tom Kerridge Remarksable Value Meal Planner campaign during the cost-of-living crisis in 2022. It has certainly been a key ingredient in the recipe for M&S’ recent success, bringing the element of “value and price” into the M&S customers’ minds.”

Phil McMahon: “It’s not branded separately as ‘Remarkable Value’ which avoids confusing shoppers and lends it the benefit of M&S’ brand reputation. M&S has done a great job of leveraging its social media channels to create a ‘wow factor’ by doing things such as showing shoppers how much they can buy for under £20.”

Vineta Bajaj: “M&S has made use of traditional and online media channels to promote its Remarksable value proposition, including social media using Status Quo’s hit song “Savin’ all over the store.”

Peter Cross: “As we know, you cant buy M&S food on M&S.com but a quick search for Remarksable on Ocado gave zero results.”

Brand recognition and distinctiveness

Paul Stainton: “As there is no Remarksable Value specific pack design, recognition and distinctiveness of the range is probably the lowest of all the supermarkets compared here. However, M&S does a reasonable job in-store of highlighting the range via shelf strips, strong shelf talkers, and, on occasions, freestanding displays dedicated to Remarksable Value products.”

Phil McMahon: “It’s not distinctive from the broader M&S brand architecture, so there is perhaps more it could do to raise awareness.”

Vineta Bajaj: “The signage is subtle and in the original M&S dark green. This allows more flexibility to be applied to the range as the Remarksable pricing can be completely fluid.”

Peter Cross: “Tricky to pronounce and easy to mis-say. Was it ever meant to last this long?”