How Much Does Cheese Cost in the UK?
Short answer: on October 19, 2026, own-label mature cheddar cost £2.45 for 400g at Tesco (Creamfields) and Aldi (Emporium), and £2.95 for 400g at Sainsbury's and Asda. The branded Cathedral City 350g block cost £2.99 at Aldi and £3.75 at Sainsbury's.
Cheese is where branding does its heaviest work in the basket. The per-kilo range in this week's check runs from £6.12 to £10.71 for mature cheddar that most households use identically.
The prices we verified
Tesco Creamfields Mature White Cheddar 400g: £2.45 (£6.12/kg), the cheapest verified block. Aldi Emporium British Mature Cheddar 400g: £2.45 (£6.13/kg). Tesco Mature Cheddar 400g: £3.20 (£8.00/kg).
Sainsbury's British Mature Cheddar Cheese 400g: £2.95 (£7.38/kg). Asda British Extra Mature Cheddar 400g: £2.95 (£7.38/kg), also on an any 2 for £5 offer this week, which brings it to £6.25/kg if you buy two.
Cathedral City Mature Cheddar 350g: £3.75 at Sainsbury's (£10.71/kg) and £2.99 at Aldi (£8.54/kg). The identical branded block differs by 76p depending on where you buy it. Asda also has a Cathedral City high protein half fat 300g block on Rollback at £2.00 this week, down from £3.42.
What is a good deal on cheese?
Our guidance: own-label mature cheddar at or below £6.50/kg is a good price, and the £6.12 to £6.13/kg blocks at Tesco and Aldi sit there now. Branded cheddar at or below £8.50/kg, where Aldi prices Cathedral City, is the branded deal line.
Paying £10.71/kg for the same branded block at a different supermarket is the single clearest avoidable overspend in this week's basket. Cheese keeps for weeks and freezes passably for cooking, so the Aldi run is worth batching.
Why cheese prices move
Cheese sits in the ONS milk, cheese and eggs class, down 0.2% in the year to August 2026. Dairy prices are gently deflating, which is why the own-label blocks cluster at the lower per-kilo band.
The spread between stores and tiers is not cost-driven; it is positioning. The same dairy market produces a £6.12/kg block and a £10.71/kg block on the same day.
How to pay less for cheese
If Cathedral City is your brand, buy it at Aldi (£2.99), not at Sainsbury's (£3.75). Same block, same week, 76p saved.
For cooking and grating, own-label mature at £6.12/kg is functionally the same purchase at nearly half the branded per-kilo price.
Check cheese against our weekly tracker. We reprice blocks per kilo every week, including the multi-buy offers.
The same cheese block varies by 76p between supermarkets in the same week. Track what you actually pay per item with free receipt scans, and Premium will flag when your regular items change price.