Waitrose - Gluten vs Gluten Free Basket Comparison

Table of Contents

• Porridge oats

• Box of cereal

• Loaf of white/brown/seeded bread

• Pack of 4 white/brown/seeded bread rolls

• Pasta

• Spaghetti

• Plain flour

• Digestive biscuits

• Gravy Granules

• THE RESULTS!

If you don’t know what our Glee basket comparison is all about, then click here to read the introduction!

So far, we’ve compared the prices at Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and most recently, M&S, so make sure you check out the other blogs on our website before you read this week’s.

A reminder, we’re comparing the price of 9 gluten free products with their gluten containing version across 8 of the UK’s major supermarkets to see where the cheapest place to shop for gluten free is.

Of course, we know that cheap isn’t always best (especially for gluten free) but this comparison will allow us to clearly highlight the price differences between basic gluten and gluten free items and see how prices vary between the supermarkets.

We’ve created a dedicated comparison page on our website to keep track of the supermarket prices we’re reviewing. Click here to see the leaderboard 🏆

Waitrose, you’re up! 🕺🏼

Porridge oats

Waitrose normal porridge oats are £1.25 for a 1kg pack vs gluten free oats which are priced at £2.10 for 400g.

So, shopping at Waitrose for gluten free oats, you’ll be paying  85p  more for the gluten free oats which is a  68%  increase in product price.

However, taking into account that the gluten free oats are more than half the weight of the normal oats, per 100g, the gluten free oats are  40p  more, which is  320% more expensive than what you get price per 100g for the regular oats.

We’re not off to a good start here Waitrose…

Box of cereal

So it seems that Waitrose only stock gluten free branded cereal and don’t have their own range, so we’re comparing Waitrose own corn flakes to the branded Doves Farm gluten free corn flakes. Own branded corn flakes are £1.00 for 500g and the gluten free branded ones are £3.25 for 325g.

So, comparing the product price first, buying the gluten free cereal means you have to spend  £2.25  more which is a  225%  increase!

As always, this is why it’s important to look at what you’re getting per 100g, because, even though already the gluten free cereal is miles more expensive, you’re getting 125g less. Per 100g, gluten free cereal is  80p  more and  400% more expensive than the normal corn flakes.

Loaf of white/brown/seeded bread

A gluten filled 400g multigrain loaf at Waitrose will cost you £1.15, whereas a 400g gluten free seeded loaf will set you back £2.95; way more than double the price of the standard loaf!

Buying the gluten free loaf means you’re spending  £1.80  more, which is a percentage increase of  157% .

Per 100g, the gluten free loaf costs  45p  more and that’s another  157%  increase.

Pack of 4 white/brown/seeded bread rolls

The 4 pack of normal rolls cost £1.20 whereas the 4 pack of gluten free rolls cost £2.90.

That’s a price increase of  £1.70  for the gluten free rolls which is  142%  more expensive than the gluten product even though you’re getting the same amount.

So, per 100g, the gluten free rolls cost  54p  more with an  126%  increase.

Pasta

Waitrose own branded standard pasta had been discounted from 95p to 75p for 500g. The 500g gluten free pasta also had a ‘New Lower Price’ sticker on but the discount of 25p was the price going from £2.00 down to £1.75 so not really anything to shout about to be honest.

The price of gluten free pasta at Waitrose is  £1.00  more than it’s normal range pasta and that is a  133%  increase, matching the prices of M&S pasta.

Per 100g, the gluten free pasta is  20p  more and is  133%  more expensive than the normal pasta.

Spaghetti

The spaghetti prices are exactly the same as the pasta, with the normal spaghetti priced at 75p but gluten free at £1.75, both weighing 500g. The price of the standard own brand pasta and spaghetti match a lot of the other supermarkets on price but with them leaving the gluten free pasta at a much higher price, it means that the price increase is even more obvious.

Again, that means that the gluten free spaghetti costs  £1.00  more and is  133%  more expensive than the normal spaghetti.

Per 100g, the gluten free spaghetti costs  20p  more and is a  133%  increase.

Plain flour

We’re back to looking at the Doves Farm flour for Waitrose gluten free because they don’t do their own brand. It’s priced at £2.00 for 1kg but their own branded standard flour comes in more than half the price at 85p for 500g more.

So the gluten free flour is  £1.15  more and that’s  135%  more expensive than the standard flour.

But, when you consider the prices per 100g, the price increases even more; the gluten free flour is  14p  more expensive which is a large 253%  increase.

Digestive biscuits

Digestives are back at it being ridiculously more expensive per 100g for gluten free?! Also, I’m not sure why, but my Waitrose (and online) didn’t stock any plain digestives, I could only find chocolate ones. Too fancy!

There also wasn’t the option to buy own branded gluten free digestives so I’ve had to use Schar as this was the option for digestives in the free from section. The chocolate digestives are 90p for 300g and the gluten free Schar ones, £1.90 for half the amount, 150g.

That means that you’re spending  £1.00  more having to buy gluten free digestive biscuits which is a  111%  increase on price per product.

As always, the increase get’s bigger when you check the price per 100g. The gluten free biscuits are are  97p  more expensive per 100g with an eyebrow raising percentage increase of  322% .

Gravy Granules

Waitrose didn’t offer their own brand version of gluten free gravy granules but they did have this ‘Marigold’ brand which is vegan and gluten free. The gravy granules containing wheat will cost you £1.00 and the gluten free branded, £1.80, both 170g.

For gluten free gravy, you’re spending 80p  more for the product and that’s an  80%  increase on the gluten containing tub.

Per 100g, that’s  47p  more expensive and an increase of  80% , when you’re buying gluten free.

THE RESULTS!

So, the shop has been done, the baskets filled and the total price has been calculated. At Waitrose, the basket containing all of the normal gluten containing products comes to £8.85. It will cost you a massive  £11.55  more however, to buy the 9 gluten free items, which has totalled up to £20.40. That’s more than double the price with a basket price increase of  131% .

If we look at the baskets in quantity/weight, the total price per 100g for each item in the gluten basket comes to £2.29. The gluten free basket however, is almost TRIPLE the price that at £6.45 which is  £4.17  more expensive and the biggest price difference we’ve seen between a gluten basket and a gluten free basket at  182% .

I think we all assumed that Waitrose was going to be up there with the expensive places to shop in general. But surprisingly, Waitrose has actually come out cheaper than Morrisons in both price product and price per 100g for it’s normal range.

However, the Waitrose gluten free basket has turned out to be the most expensive of the baskets so far. That could be because we had to use a few brands in there, but when there’s no other option but to buy branded, you’ll be paying the higher price.

Similar to Sainsbury’s, Waitrose has some explaining to do in terms of how they can justify such an enormous price difference of £11.55 for 9 basic items just because they’re gluten free?! 🥵

Does this shock anyone or were you expecting it?

Now that we have 4 supermarkets ticked off the list, make sure you check the supermarket leaderboard by clicking here!

According to the answers to our poll that we asked a few weeks ago, the most popular supermarket to shop at for gluten free is up next so, Tesco shoppers, you won’t want to miss this one!