ICELAND is known for offering good value when it comes to the weekly shop, but is everything worth your money?
We can reveal the items you should stop buying in Iceland if you want to shave some cash off your shopping bill.
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Iceland is known for specialising in frozen food but it has much more to offer than just its freezer section.
Customers can pick up cheap deals on branded food and staples such as milk, eggs, bread and fresh veg.
If you’re not sure where your nearest Iceland is, you can find out by using the store locator tool on its website.
You can also shop online with Iceland on The Food Warehouse website, where it also has all its latest deals and multi-buy offers listed.
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Delivery is free if you spend a minimum of £40 online, and if you want home delivery from the store it is a minimum of £25.
All you need to do is book a delivery time that suits you and wait for your groceries to arrive.
Most of the time the popular retailer is very competitive on price, but there are some items that you might be better off buying elsewhere.
We have listed all of the items that you should stop buying from Iceland if you want to slash your shopping bill, and which bargains you should be stocking up on instead.
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Items to stop buying
Pasta
While Iceland has a good range of branded goods it does not sell affordable own-brand alternatives.
We spoke to shopping expert Andy Barr who has worked in the money-saving industry for nearly 30 years to get his opinion.
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He said: “I’d avoid pantry items like bread, pasta and canned foods.
“While there is a good range of products, Iceland doesn’t sell affordable own-brand alternatives like all of the other supermarkets do, so if you’re looking to test out cheaper ranges to save on your weekly shop, you’re not going to be able to do that here.”
We had a look to see how Iceland stacked up against some of the other supermarket’s own brand offerings on store cupboard staples.
When it comes to bread Iceland has brands such as Warbutons, Mothers Pride and Kingsmill.
It also has its own label where an Iceland 800g thick sliced soft white roll will set you back £1.
This seems like a pretty good deal when you compare to a Warbutons toastie loaf at £1.40.
However, we checked against a thick white Village Bakery loaf, in Aldi which was only 75p for an 850g loaf, giving a 25p saving on the Iceland bread.
Fresh fruit and veg
Another item that you should probably look to buy elsewhere if you want to get the cheapest price is fresh fruit and veg.
While Iceland does have a good range of fresh produce, Andy says that other shops might do it better.
He said: “In contrast to popular opinion, Iceland does have a good range of fresh produce at decent prices.
“That being said, you can certainly find cheaper deals elsewhere; ASDA, Lidl and Aldi often work out cheaper.”
We checked how much a pack of bananas are in Iceland against Aldi.
At the time of writing, a pack of five bananas in Aldi costs 78p, while Iceland’s bananas are priced at £1, meaning Aldi is 22p cheaper.
Toiletries
Shop around before you get toiletries such as shower gel, toothpaste, and deodorant as you may be able to get it cheaper by shopping elsewhere too.
We checked online and while there is a small selection of branded items such as Colgate toothpaste and Radox shower gel there is no own brand alternative.
Also, unlike the grocery and freezer items there did not appear to be any multi-buy deals or offers in the toiletry section of the website at the time we checked.
However, it is important to note that this does not mean there are no offers in store on these products.
A 75ml tube of Colgate whitening toothpaste is £1 in Iceland, whereas buying the same tube in Aldi is 99p.
While that is not a huge saving, other places such as Superdrug often have offers on for its members which can bring the price down significantly so it’s worth keeping an eye out.
Items to stock up on
Big-name brands and dupes
One of the ways you can bag yourself a deal at Iceland is on the big named dupes in the freezer section.
Andy said: “You can’t go to Iceland without taking full advantage of its huge range of frozen products.
“The best items available, in my opinion, are the frozen versions of restaurant and food retailer favourites, such as TGI Friday and Greggs.”
“Not only does this give consumers easy access to foods they know and love, it’s often cheaper than going to the restaurant itself.”
An example is the savings you can make on buying a four-pack of Greggs frozen sausage rolls in Iceland instead of fresh from the bakery.
A four-pack of frozen sausage rolls works out at around 75p each compared to £1.20 if bought fresh from the bakery.
Therefore you are saving 45p each on each sausage roll by buying the frozen pack.
Frozen meat
It is also worth keeping an eye out in the frozen meat section if you want to save a few quid in your trolley.
Andy said: “The frozen meat aisle at Iceland can also be great, especially for big families looking to keep everyone well-fed on a budget.”
Most of the frozen meat has a three for £10 multi-buy offer attached which means you can save even more if you buy three items that are included in the deal.
One of Andy’s examples is a 1.9kg bag of frozen chicken portions for £3.50, which works out at £1.84/kg.
This is significantly less than other retailers like ASDA, where 1kg of frozen chicken breast costs £4.25.
Ice cream
One of the things that Andy recommends looking out for is the vast selection of ice creams on offer.
He said: “The last range I’d recommend checking out is the ice cream. Iceland’s variety of brands and flavours is second-to-none.
“From high-protein ice cream to Terry’s Chocolate Orange, J2O and even Lotus Biscoff-branded products, there’s a massive selection of unique flavours to suit anyone’s tastebuds.”
We had a look at the website and there are 97 varieties and brands of ice cream on offer.
For example, we found Cadbury, Ben and Jerry’s and its own branded Rocket and Sprinkle lollies
Each of the items costs between £2 and a fiver for a box or tub, making it pretty cheap to feed a family.
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We priced up a tub of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food (465ml) which is £3 at the time of checking on the Iceland website.
We found the same tub in Asda for £5.15 meaning that you can make a huge saving of £2.15 by buying this item in Iceland.
How can I save on my supermarket shop?
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
