SUPERMARKET own-brand products including chocolate are often much cheaper than the classic brands – but are they as good?
The Sun is trying some of the nation’s favourite food items to see which supermarket own-brand products match up to brands.
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This time, we tested how supermarket own-brand versions of Twix bars compare to the real thing on quality and value for money.
We tasted all the chocolate bars and gave them marks out of ten for taste, as well as taking into account how healthy they were based on levels of sugar and saturated fat.
Then we gave them a separate score out of ten for value money.
Here’s how the Twix dupes scored out of 20 overall:
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Twix
- £1.75 for 4 x 40g double bars
- Price per bar (two fingers) = 44p
- Sugar content = 14% / Saturated fat content = 48%
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The Twix bars had a perfect blend of soft caramel, crispy biscuit and chocolate, which blended together well.
The branded version had one of the lowest sugar contents but the highest saturated fat content of all the bars we tried.
It’s a classic but you pay much more for it.
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At £1.09 per 100g, Twix costs more than twice as much as the cheapest supermarket alternative.
- Taste = 9/10, Value for money = 5/10
- TOTAL SCORE = 14/20
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WINNER Tesco Crunchy Caramel
- £1.15 for 5 x 42g double bars
- Price per bar (two fingers) = 23p
- Sugar content = 43.1% / Saturated fat content = 15.1%
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Tesco’s version was a decent alternative to Twix.
The caramel tasted good, although it quickly dissolved in the mouth instead of being chewy.
The biscuit was more crumbly but still tasted good.
This was one of the cheapest Twix dupes we tried, at just 55p per 100g, and it was nearly as good as the real thing.
- Taste = 8/10, Value for money = 8/10
- TOTAL SCORE = 16/20
Asda Caramel Biscuits
- £1.45 for 5 x 42g double bars
- Price per bar (two fingers) = 29p
- Sugar content = 43% / Saturated fat content = 15%
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The Asda bars were let down by the biscuit which was dry and dusty and had a burnt butter taste.
These were one of the most expensive supermarket own-brand versions we tried, at 69p per 100g, and it wasn’t better than the cheapest versions.
- Taste = 6/10, Value for money = 6/10
- TOTAL SCORE = 12/20
Sainsbury’s Toffee Biscuit Chocolate Bars
- £1.10 for 4 x 42g double bars
- Price per bar (two fingers) = 29p
- Sugar content = 40.3% / Saturated fat content = 15.9%
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The Sainsbury’s bars had the lowest sugar and highest saturated fat content of all the supermarket products we tried – but they were a world away from genuine Twix bars.
The biscuit base disintegrated into dust as soon as it was bitten into and the caramel was sickly sweet.
At 65p per 100g, they were one of the more expensive supermarket versions – although still nearly half the price of the brand.
- Taste = 5/10, Value for money = 7/10
- TOTAL SCORE = 12/20
Morrisons BicMix
- £1.15 for 4 x 42g double bars
- Price per bar (two fingers) = 29p
- Sugar content = 43.1% / Saturated fat content = 15.1%
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The Morrisons’ version had a slight salted caramel taste which lifted it.
The biscuit was quite crumbly but not as dusty as some of the other own-brand versions.
At 68p per 100g, this was the second most-expensive supermarket version but it was much cheaper than Twix and gave it a good run for its money.
- Taste = 8/10, Value for money = 7/10
- TOTAL SCORE = 15/20
Aldi Dairyfine Jive
- 99p for 5 x 42g double bars
- Price per bar (two fingers) = 20p
- Sugar content = 45.2% / Saturated fat content = 13%
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Aldi’s bars were not as high quality as Twix – the biscuit was more crumbly and there was a hole in one of the bars we tried.
But there was a pleasant caramel flavour with a hint of salt.
The bar had the lowest saturated fat content but the highest sugar content of all the ones we tested.
At just 47p per 100g, this was a bargain.
- Taste = 7/10, Value for money = 8/10
- TOTAL SCORE = 15/20
Lidl Mister Choc Caramel & Biscuit Minis
- £1.59 for 15 x 23.3g single bars
- Price for two fingers = 21p
- Sugar content = 42% / Saturated fat content = 14%
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At the time of testing, Lidl only had individual bars available in a multipack, instead of the double bars we tried from every other supermarket.
These were a poor alternative to Twix – the biscuit was like power and disintegrated immediately.
The caramel also had a synthetic taste.
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These were the cheapest we tried, at 45p per 100g, but not worth the saving.
- Taste = 5/10, Value for money = 8/10
- TOTAL SCORE = 13/20
Ways to spend less in a supermarket
Grocery inflation means we’re all feeling the pinch but shopping with these points in mind could save you hundreds of pounds a year:
- Avoid shopping at convenience stores – they charge more
- Ask in-store at what times in the day are fresh food items reduced
- Freeze yellow sticker items where you can
- Plan meals ahead
- Try own-label of budget brand alternatives
- Use unit pricings to find the best deals
Visit Which? to find out more.
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