I taste tested milk chocolate from 8 supermarkets including Aldi and M&S - one bar beat Cadbury
Cadbury may be the nation's go-to chocolate fix, but with prices ranging from £1.50 to £2, it got one reporter thinking about how supermarket own brands stack up against them.
To keep things fair, Angela Patrone – based at Express.co.uk – sampled milk chocolate from both high-end and budget supermarkets, including Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, M&S and Waitrose.
Angela ranked each supermarket chocolate bar and gave them a rating out of 10.
She also shared the cost of each supermarket chocolate bar and how it tasted. This is how each supermarket faired:
Morrisons
Priced at 80p, this was your typical chocolate bar - a bit sweet, a bit creamy, but nothing to write home about, Angela noted.
"The texture was pleasingly smooth, but unfortunately, the flavour didn't follow suit, lacking any standout notes or lingering aftertaste," she said.
Rating: 5/10
Sainsbury's
Described as a step up from Morrisons' chocolate bar, this one melt much more readily in the mouth.
At 75p, it had a "pleasant taste" that avoided the artificial tang some chocolates can have.
Rating: 6/10
Tesco
Tesco's 55p offering reminded Angela of cooking chocolate, and not in a positive sense.
It tasted like a failed attempt to mimic Galaxy and Dairy Milk, complete with an off-putting chemical undertone.
Instead of melting into a luscious pool of chocolate, it quickly thinned out.
Rating: 3/10
Aldi
Aldi is famed for its budget-friendly offerings that won't break the bank, and its Everyday Essentials range is touted as even more affordable than its other in-house brands.
However, at 59p for a 100g bar, the chocolate left much to be desired. It had an oddly salty flavour with a peculiar aftertaste.
Rather than tasting like chocolate, it seemed more akin to overly sweetened confectionery.
Rating: 3/10
Lidl
Following the Aldi experience, Angela wasn't holding out much hope for Lidl's offering, but it proved to be a pleasant surprise.
Known for its low-cost products, Lidl was her first port of call when considering affordable chocolate bars.
Priced slightly higher than Aldi at £1.09 for a 100g bar, it exceeded expectations in terms of taste and quality.
The chocolate was "sweet, smooth, and melted delightfully in the mouth".
It evoked memories of Magic Stars from Angela's childhood and, surprisingly, the chocolate bar surpassed Cadbury in both taste and value.
Rating: 9/10
Asda
In Angela's opinion, Asda's chocolate bar just about edges out Tesco and Aldi.
Priced at 59p per 100g, the chocolate was sweet but lacked the melt-in-the-mouth quality you'd expect from a typical chocolate bar.
Rating: 3.5/10
Waitrose
At £2.75, this was one of the priciest chocolate bars in the taste test, and unfortunately, it also ranked as the worst.
While Angela could appreciate its thick and smooth texture, the overpowering taste was not to her liking.
Rating: 2/10
M&S
M&S was the final supermarket brand on Angela's list, and she had high hopes for this one.
M&S is known for its range of scrumptious chocolate goodies that garner rave reviews all year round.
However, their most affordable milk chocolate left her underwhelmed and she expressed that is unlikely to buy it again.
Priced at £2.75, the same as the Waitrose bar, it "lacked the expected sweetness and creaminess of a good milk chocolate bar".
Rating: 4/10
Cadbury
Finally, we come to Cadbury. The moment you unwrap the bar, you're greeted with a rich, chocolaty aroma.
Milk chocolate often has a fatty layer in the harder centre, something Cadbury usually nails. But how did the iconic brand measure up this time?
Quite well, although for Angela's taste, it was a tad too sweet.
Rating: 8/10
Verdict
After sampling all the chocolate bars, Lidl emerged as the top dog. While the Cadbury bar was enjoyable, the Lidl chocolate bar just pipped it to the post.
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