WITH household bills and prices of everyday goods going up, we’re all looking for ways to save where we can.
One way to cut your grocery costs is to swap branded products for supermarket own-brand versions.
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We’ve tested everyday products from all the major supermarkets for you to find out which ones are the closest in quality to the branded version and the best value for money.
Today, we’ve looked at the own-brand instant hot chocolates sold at the major supermarkets – and compared them with Cadbury’s Instant Hot Chocolate to see how they measure up.
To compare the products, we made each one up according to the packet instructions and put them through a taste test, giving marks out of ten.
We’ve analysed the cocoa and milk chocolate content of the drinks and gave them a score out of five for how chocolatey they were.
And we’ve looked at how much you got for your money – the best value products got the highest score out of five.
Here’s how the hot chocolate drinks scored out of 20 overall:
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Aldi Choceur Instant Hot Chocolate, £0.99 for 400g
Cost per 100g = 25p
Cocoa content = 13%
Milk chocolate content = 4%
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The only supermarket own-brand product to contain both cocoa AND Belgian milk chocolate (just like Cadbury’s), this drink from Aldi was by far the best one we tried.
It mixed fairly well into a smooth, thick drink, with just a few small lumps left on the surface.
It tasted chocolatey and luxurious – and as it was the joint cheapest product we tested at just 25p per 100g, it is definitely a great value alternative to Cadbury’s.
Taste: 8/10 Chocolateiness: 4/5 Value for money: 5/5
TOTAL SCORE = 17/20
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Cadbury’s Instant Hot Chocolate, £2.50 for 400g
Cost per 100g = 63p
Cocoa content = 15%
Milk chocolate content = 3.5%
The classic hot chocolate drink is just as indulgent as you would expect.
It’s creamy, smooth and smells deliciously chocolatey – with an extra taste of vanilla.
It was easy to stir the powder into the hot water and it mixed smoothly, without lumps.
This is certainly not the healthiest option – with an astonishingly high sugar content of 61% – but perfect for an occasional treat.
At 63p per 100g, the Cadbury’s branded product was two and a half times more expensive than the cheapest alternatives available at Aldi and Lidl.
Taste: 8/10 Chocolateiness: 5/5 Value for money : 3/5
TOTAL SCORE = 16/20
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Asda Instant Hot Chocolate, £1.04 for 400g
Cost per 100g = 26p
Cocoa content = 12%
Milk chocolate content = 0%
The Asda product made quite a smooth drink – apart from a few large lumps stuck at the bottom of the cup – but it didn’t taste of much.
Certainly nowhere near as chocolatey as the Cadbury’s version, it tasted strangely savoury.
It’s unsurprising that it didn’t taste sweet, but with a 6.4% sugar content, it was the healthiest drink we tried. It was also one of the cheapest.
Taste: 4/10 Chocolateiness: 2/5 Value for money: 4/5
TOTAL SCORE = 10/20
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Morrisons Instant Hot Chocolate, £2 for 400g
Cost per 100g = 50p
Cocoa content = 12%
Milk chocolate content = 0%
This one from Morrison’s tasted very sweet – but not very much like chocolate.
That’s probably because it had the joint lowest cocoa content and no added milk chocolate.
It was easy to mix in though, and the drink was nicely smooth.
It was the most expensive supermarket product, second only to Cadbury’s at 50p per 100g. We didn’t feel it lived up to the price.
Taste: 6/10 Chocolateiness: 2/5 Value for money: 2/5
TOTAL SCORE = 10/20
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Sainsbury’s Instant Fairtrade Hot Chocolate, £1.40 for 350g
Cost per 100g = 40p
Cocoa content = 15%
Milk chocolate content = 0%
Despite having the same cocoa content as Cadbury’s, the Sainsbury’s version didn’t taste that chocolatey and instead had a savoury taste.
It was difficult to mix in and there were lots of lumps on the surface and grit at the bottom of the mug.
We were not impressed that there was only 350g of powder, despite it coming in bigger packaging than most of the other products we tested.
Taste: 5/10 Chocolateiness: = 2/5 Value for money: 3/5
TOTAL SCORE = 10/20
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Tesco Instant Hot Chocolate, £1.60 for 400g
Cost per 100g = 40p
Cocoa content = 13%
Milk chocolate content = 0%
This one was disappointing. The powder was difficult to mix in and left lots of lumps on the surface.
The drink itself tasted thin, watery and a bit bland.
Although a healthier choice with only 7.0% sugar, this was lacking in chocolatey taste.
Taste: 4/10 Chocolateiness: 2/5 Value for money: 3/5
TOTAL SCORE = 9/20
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Lidl Bellarom Instant Hot Chocolate, £0.99 for 400g
Cost per 100g = 25p
Cocoa content = 12%
Milk chocolate content = 0%
Unfortunately, this version from Lidl was downright unpleasant.
The powder was difficult to mix in, leaving lots of lumps.
Unlike every other product we tried, which recommended mixing 28g of powder with 200ml of water, this one asked for 30g in 180ml of water.
But despite it being more concentrated, it tasted thin and a little bit like dishwater.
It also meant you will get slightly fewer drinks out of a packet compared to the other products, meaning it wasn’t as good value for money as the other joint-cheapest product from Aldi.
Taste: 2/10 Chocolateiness: 1/5 Value for money: 4/5
TOTAL SCORE = 7/20
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In another chocolatey taste test, we discovered which are the best supermarket mini rolls.
And we compared own-brand cheese to Cathedral City to find the tastiest cheddar.
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