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Six supermarket food swaps that could save you £430 a year – and you won't be able to taste the difference
SWAPPING branded products for supermarket-own brands can save you a whopping £430 a year.
Some items are so similar you won't notice the difference.
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Supermarkets are tight lipped over who makes their products.
But industry insiders have told The Sun many of Britain's most popular food and drink brands also make own-brand items for supermarkets.
Sometimes, factories will change recipes or ingredients to make cheaper versions for retailers like Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Aldi.
There's no way to tell for sure if the brands actually make the supermarket dupes because these are closely guarded trade secrets.
But there are clues that show there's a good chance they do.
Prices right at the time of publication.
BRAND - Weetabix, £3.48 for 24
OWN BRAND – Asda Wheat Bisks, £1.90 for 24
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THE Weetabix design is patented, which means only the manufacturer of Weetabix is allowed to make cereal products in its special oval shape.
So any supermarket own-brand products in the same shape will be made in a Weetabix factory, or one licensed by Weetabix.
Asda's Wheat Bisks have the same patent number on the box as the original Weetabix.
They contain the same amount of wheat, but more sugar (an extra 0.2 per cent). In taste tests, we couldn't tell the difference.
A family buying a pack a week could save £82 per year by opting for own-brand.
CHEESE – save £42 a year
BRAND – Cathedral City Mature Cheddar, £2.93 for 350g (Asda)
OWN BRAND – Aldi Emporium British Mature Cheddar, £2.79 for 400g (equivalent to £2.44 per 350g)
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ALDI'S cheddar is made in the same dairy as Cathedral City, owned by dairy giant Saputo.
It's hard to tell the difference between the budget supermarket's award-winning own-brand cheese and the more expensive branded version.
All dairy products sold in the UK and Europe must be stamped with a code showing where they were produced – so it's easy to compare your favourite brand with a supermarket version and see if it's worth swapping.
If your household goes through 350g of cheddar cheese every week, you could save £25 per year by swapping to the Aldi version.
BEER – save £146 per year
OWN BRAND - Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Session Ale (3.4% ABV), £1.55 for 500ml
Sainsbury's own-brand session ale reveals on the label it is brewed in Blandford Forum, Dorset.
The only brewery in that area is Hall & Woodhouse, which is the manufacturer of Badger Beers like Fursty Ferret.
The Sainsbury's version is also made by the brewery chain.
The premium Badger Beer Portland Poster Session Ale has the same alcohol content as the Sainsbury's version, although Hall & Woodhouse said it was a 'completely different recipe'.
And both are described as having a balance of bitter and malty flavours.
You can buy 12 x 500ml bottles of Badger Beer for £27 - which works out at £2.25 each.
That makes Sainsbury's beer 70p cheaper per bottle - a saving of £145 over a year, based on buying four bottles a week.
Remember to drink responsibly.
RICE PUDDING – save £29 per year
BRAND – Muller Rice Strawberry Low Fat Dessert, 62p for 170g pot (from Asda)
OWN BRAND – Aldi Brooklea Rice Strawberry Low Fat, 48p for 180g pot
Aldi's Brooklea rice puddings are made by the same dairy that produces the Muller version.
All dairy products sold in the UK must carry a stamp with a code showing which dairy they came from.
The Sun found both Aldi's rice puddings and the Muller ones had the same code - which shows they are made at the same location.
The taste is very similar but Aldi's version has slightly fewer calories per 100g (99kcal vs Muller's 100kcal).
The Aldi version is nearly half the price.
If you buy four puddings per week for your family, you could save a huge £87 per year by switching to own-brand.
POTATO SNACKS – save £81 per year
BRAND – Hula Hoops Original, £2.33 for 6x 24g (Asda)
OWN-BRAND – Aldi Snackrite Ready Salted Potato Hoops, £1.55 for 8x 25g
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There have been several cases where packets of Aldi's own-brand potato hoops were discovered inside multi-packs of regular Hula Hoops.
This led to manufacturer KP Snacks admitting in 2017 it makes both the branded Hula Hoops and Aldi's own-brand version - but to slightly different recipes.
Aldi's version is half the price - and has more bags in the multipack.
Based on a family needing t wo multipacks a week, switching to own-brand could save you £81 per year.
YOGHURT – save £68 per year
BRAND – Yeo Valley Organic Strawberry Yoghurt, £2.25 for 450g
OWN-BRAND – Sainsbury's Stamford Street Low Fat Strawberry Yoghurt, 95p for 450g
Many of Sainsbury's yoghurts are produced by Yeo Valley, including this bargain Stamford Street version.
Although Yeo Valley hasn't officially confirmed it makes own-brand yoghurts, it has been linked to several supermarket lines.
In 2016, a product recall over safety fears saw Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Tesco, Co-Op and Asda all withdraw own-brand yoghurts which were confirmed to have been made by Yeo Valley.
Both Sainsbury's Stamford Street and Yeo Valley strawberry yoghurts carry the same dairy code stamp, which means they were produced at the same factory.
Unlike Yeo Valley, the Sainsbury's strawberry yoghurt is not organic, so is not made to the same recipe.
You could save £68 per year, based on buying one pot of Sainsbury's yogurt instead of Yeo Valley per week.
All the supermarkets and brands have been approached for comment.
How to save money on your 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.
