Great 'disguised Own Brand' Hunt.

Ego_Shredder

SRH wrote: »

I wish for the life of me I could remember (but I can't!) the TV show I saw a couple of years ago about value and premium ranges - think it was BBC or Channel 4.

They took two packs of supermarket own-brand chicken breasts and tracked down the farms they came from.

It turned out both types were from chickens on exactly the same farms - the value ones were cheaper only due to the size and shape of them. So any that were funny shapes or sizes went into the value range.

Unless you are throwing a dinner party (!) then I can see no reason to pay more for chicken breasts that happen to be a uniform shape.

Since then I've just got the Sainsburys Basics chicken and can tell no difference.

This has no doubt been mentioned on this forum before - apologies if it has - but I thought it was worth a mention.

Tonight we had some Taste The Difference Free Range Chicken Breasts, and we normally buy the cheaper stuff but the TTD ones were in a different league altogether; they actually were plump with no fat, and tasted fantastic and were nice and moist. The colour of the meat was far more natural and not pasty white like the cheap stuff. It did not have the usual red/black chicken burn spots either like on the cheap stuff. The cost £5.20 for a pack of two very large breasts.

shammyjack

Ego_Shredder wrote: »

I used to adore Minstrels and then a few years ago maybe ten, they changed the recipe and added a colossal amount of sugar making it taste like poison, and I opened the packet tasted a couple and spat them out quickly in shock and threw the whole packet in the bin. I never bought them again, and infact this has been a general trend right across the main brands and also cereals. So the only chocolate I will touch now is Green & Blacks and Lindt, which are both excellent; I prefer G & B for their milk chocolate because Lindt is shocking for the sugar. For dark chocolate I prefer Lindt as it is smoother and better balanced in flavour and sweetness.

I also find that the main brands of chocolate for the masses, have so much fat in them they are like slime. With so much fat they cannot melt properly in your mouth, and you end up producing that thick saliva which makes you go to a sink to spit it out. Quality chocolate will not have that effect on you.

People often tell me I have expensive taste for buying Green & Blacks or Lindt, but I just buy them on offer and eat a small amount at a time. So I probably spend about the same or less, than when I bought the cheap crap like Cadbury's or Galaxy.

Save some money and give your taste buds a treat ! All the chocolate in Aldi and Lidl is superb in particular the high cocoa content dark varieties from individual producing countries.

LUSH !

jenniewb

Ego_Shredder wrote: »

I used to adore Minstrels and then a few years ago maybe ten, they changed the recipe and added a colossal amount of sugar making it taste like poison, and I opened the packet tasted a couple and spat them out quickly in shock and threw the whole packet in the bin. I never bought them again, and infact this has been a general trend right across the main brands and also cereals. So the only chocolate I will touch now is Green & Blacks and Lindt, which are both excellent; I prefer G & B for their milk chocolate because Lindt is shocking for the sugar. For dark chocolate I prefer Lindt as it is smoother and better balanced in flavour and sweetness.

I also find that the main brands of chocolate for the masses, have so much fat in them they are like slime. With so much fat they cannot melt properly in your mouth, and you end up producing that thick saliva which makes you go to a sink to spit it out. Quality chocolate will not have that effect on you.

People often tell me I have expensive taste for buying Green & Blacks or Lindt, but I just buy them on offer and eat a small amount at a time. So I probably spend about the same or less, than when I bought the cheap crap like Cadbury's or Galaxy.

....erm, not that I don't agree with you re: quality chocolate, but Green and Blacks was bought by Cadburys a few years back (5 or so?) and since people speak about the taste changing and the quality not being what it was...I don't (can't) eat chocolate so can't comment but have read what others have said.

Have you tried "Hotel Chocolat"? Apparently these are very nice. Thorntons apparently make M&S chocolates- if not they are similar enough to have a family member fully lured in!

Ego_Shredder

I know about the Cadbury takeover a few years back and I even emailed them to voice my concerns! I'm no chocoholic or anything but G & B milk chocolate is one I do not want spoiling. Anyway they assured me that no process of making it will remain the same, with the same workforce and factories etc. Time will tell of course but for now they have been true to their word.

bearcub

shammyjack wrote: »

Save some money and give your taste buds a treat ! All the chocolate in Aldi and Lidl is superb in particular the high cocoa content dark varieties from individual producing countries.

LUSH !

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I'm very fussy about chocolate, and can't eat Cadbury now, as their milk choc is overly sweet, and their plain choc is very bitter. I buy Lidl's Bellarom chocolate - the plain is just lovely, and their milk and milk/nut is creamy without being cloying or overly sweet. Beautiful. Both come in large bars, or packs of mini bars.

Ego_Shredder

Another thing that limits what I can buy is that some chocolate contains bad ingredients, like Palm Oil for example. Yes I know chocolate is hardly a health food, but some ingredients are just plain bad for your body. So a lot of products that I get recommended from time to time, are only done so due to how they taste; people do not seem aware of anything else!

Doc_N

On the subject of chocolate, is anyone else in here old enough to remember how much better Rowntrees/Mackintosh chocolate bars (Kit Kat, Smarties, Aero, Caramac for example) were than the fouled-up versions that Nestle now sell?

Used to be quality chocolate bars (well, quality in UK chocolate terms!) but now not worth eating.

jenniewb

Ego_Shredder wrote: »

Another thing that limits what I can buy is that some chocolate contains bad ingredients, like Palm Oil for example. Yes I know chocolate is hardly a health food, but some ingredients are just plain bad for your body. So a lot of products that I get recommended from time to time, are only done so due to how they taste; people do not seem aware of anything else!

Not sure where abouts in the country you are but if your near London or fancied a visit, Wholefoods in High Street Kensington has quite a range of different bars. I can't eat dairy (ok, I can but my body has other ideas and people start to notice not nice things when I do...) so I can't actually comment for whats inside them or even the prices but worth a look if you are nearby.

Also Selfridges -they have a few stores around the country which may also have similar ranges. In London they have at least 2 chocolate counters and many other brands instore.

And then there is always making your own...;)

Ego_Shredder

Doc_N wrote: »

On the subject of chocolate, is anyone else in here old enough to remember how much better Rowntrees/Mackintosh chocolate bars (Kit Kat, Smarties, Aero, Caramac for example) were than the fouled-up versions that Nestle now sell?

Used to be quality chocolate bars (well, quality in UK chocolate terms!) but now not worth eating.

Yes I am old enough I remember them very well. Kit Kats were lovely back in the day but taste very weird now, and again........yep enough sugar to sink a battleship.

terra_ferma

jenniewb wrote: »

Not sure where abouts in the country you are but if your near London or fancied a visit, Wholefoods in High Street Kensington has quite a range of different bars. I can't eat dairy (ok, I can but my body has other ideas and people start to notice not nice things when I do...) so I can't actually comment for whats inside them or even the prices but worth a look if you are nearby.

Also Selfridges -they have a few stores around the country which may also have similar ranges. In London they have at least 2 chocolate counters and many other brands instore.

And then there is always making your own...;)

this must be one of the funniest posts I've seen in this forum.... Selfridges to buy chocolate? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
You obviously don't need MSE...