Aldi has been crowned the cheapest supermarket for school lunchbox essentials, with a basket of 17 common items costing $14 less than its major competitors.

Consumer group CHOICE compared prices across Australia’s major supermarkets, testing staples including milk, apples and chicken, plus popular lunchbox snacks like yoghurt pouches, cheese slices, Vegemite and chips.

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The results were clear cut. Without specials, the basket at Aldi came to just under $76. The same items cost $14 more at Coles and Woolworths, and a whopping $25 more at IGA.

The findings wrap up CHOICE’s quarterly surveys for 2025, which revealed grocery prices continue to climb. The cost of a basket of essentials rose by around 7 per cent from March to December.

Aldi crowned cheapest supermarket for school lunchbox essentials in new survey Credit: 7NEWS

While milk, chicken and carrots had the smallest price increases, apples jumped by nearly 50 per cent over the period.

The survey used 100 undercover shoppers to gather pricing data across the country.

Next quarter’s results are expected to reveal the impact of the war in the Middle East on Australian grocery prices.