What are the best and worst basics/value/smartprice own brand products out there?

In_Martin_We_Trust

Its interesting reading your list of whats worth buying in the smartprice section and what isn't. I guess it comes down to individual taste but I don't actually agree with all the things there. Some things like the mince and toilet roll are def not worth it but when i tried the rice pudding i found it to be horribly grainy and had a disgusting after taste to it. I also tried the batter mix and it wasn't worth it. The washing up liquid is useless, blow through the tissues too quickly and hugely irritating to the nose if you have a cold. There crumpets are just air and don't fill you up. Have eat 2 to feel satisfied.Eggs vary between store to store but i don't think there very fresh from my experience.

I don't think any version of lemon curd except my mums is any good coz I have tasted them and there all horrible to me. Maybe I'm spoiled in that regard but its not that difficult to make or very time consuming coz I've made it myself. Only prob is it don't last very long due to egg content.

Then there are things that are ok but wouldn't buy again like baked beans or tinned tomatoes. The soft cheese is now 44p and its ok in cheesecakes or mixed with philly but i don't think i would eat it on its own.

On the other hand the mozzarella tasted better than the extra special version? There instant veg soup is quite good for 15p. More on the plus side if you get there tortilla chips or there own version of skips, discos, hula hoops etc there quite good. As are there snickers bars. (no there not marathons)

Haven't really tried most other stores and although the sainsburies basic mince is all beef unlike asda (60%beef, 40%pork) its grainy and not as nice as normal mince.

simmed

I'm a student and have sampled a huge amount of Tesco value stuff this year, here's my opinion (most of it agrees with stuff already in the OP, some disagrees)

Worth buying:
Tesco value tinned pineapple
Tesco value tinned peaches
Tesco value chopped tomato tin
Tesco value rice pudding (amazing value, 7x cheaper than Ambrosia. It's rice, milk and sugar, no difference in quality - have lived off this stuff)
Tesco value tinned beans & sausages (a little bit worse than Heinz but well worth the vastly lower price)
Tesco value strawberry jam
Tesco value mixed fruit jam (these are fruit made into jam, how much can they possibly diverge from expensive brands)
Tesco value coco-pops (a little bit worse but it's worth it, no idea why supersally01 thinks these are so bad)
Tesco value "totally buttery" spread
Tesco value mixed herbs (amazing value, barely different, if at all)
Tesco value red Leicester cheese (I buy this if there's no other cheese offers on)
Tesco value beef stock cubes
Tesco value instant mash

NOT worth buying:
Tesco value instant noodles
Tesco value pot noodles (both of these are just absolutely disgusting)
Tesco value beans (it's beans, just buy the Tesco own brand beans, they are only 4p more expensive)
Tesco value muesli (taste is too bad to justify the lower price, I always opt to buy a brand in between the very expensive Alpen and the dirt cheap Tesco Value)

SJ32116

Like Simmed I'm also a student so have gone through a lot of the value stuff. I'd agree with everything they've said apart from the instant mash which I'm not a fan of.

I'll also second the noodles being bad, they must exclusively sell them to students getting towards the end of their loan because they really are awful and I'd personally rather starve than buy them again.

I think Sainsburys and Tesco both do a decent own brand pasta sauce which is handy for people like me who eat a lot of pasta and can't afford to keep forking out for expensive sauces. It's certainly not the best sauce ever but it's more than adequate for a quick lunchtime bowl of pasta.

They're being an absolute disgrace with the cost of that mind. It's gone from 19p to 40p in just months. How can they justify over a 100% price rise?

eyelinerprincess

Tesco noodles are rotten, prefer the Lidl 18p spicy prawn ones

Middy

The Basics/Value/Smartprice Muesli is like sawdust. For a few pence more, you can get better quality stuff in Aldi or Lidl.

lmp0507

Other half says the asda smart price packet noodles are better than the branded, unfortunately I wouldn't know as I can't stand them haha

Edwardia

Derivative wrote: »

I tend to only buy non-processed foods from the Value range, beans, peas, etc.

Most of the sauces are full of artificial sweetners or HFCS instead of real sugar.

If you find High Fructose Corn Syrup in a product in the UK please complain as I have it direct from the anti-sugar campaigner Dr Lustig that HFCS is banned in UK and Australia.

Edwardia

Use the ASDA Smartprice onions and they're fine, don't buy a lot of value stuff as shop in Lidl first with ASDA as top up and Waitrose for offers/luxuries. Waitrose Essentials I've tried aren't bad but the Waitrose idea of value stuff isn't the same as Tesco's. I'm half expecting to see Waitrose Essentials Extra Virgin Olive Oil

armyknife

Edwardia wrote: »

If you find High Fructose Corn Syrup in a product in the UK please complain as I have it direct from the anti-sugar campaigner Dr Lustig that HFCS is banned in UK and Australia.

He's wrong, it isn't banned in the UK.

jenniewb

I've tried many of the value ranges in the past and will comment but also will add that they can often change the ingredience at the drop of a hat (different suppliers?) this can render a product brilliant or useless.

The first lot I used to buy about 4 years ago, tried the basics (sainsburys) and value (tesco) ranges, both IMO were similar, you could see there was a difference but they still were as good or as bad as each other.

Bad list:
Noodles
Cornflakes (just too small and didn't hold up to milk- like tissue paper!)
Yohurt. Just yuck!
Bread- too thin and had an overly salty taste with no real texture to bite through. (its better to get the reduced end of day stuff and freeze it).
Diet lemonade/diet coke- too chemical and weak in taste.
Brown Sauce

Good:
Tomato ketchup
Baked beans (if you can get used to the different taste they're fine)
Tuna (when they used to sell it)


The next list are of things I have tried which is more recent (tried within the last year).

Bad:
Sainsburys basics califlower: too fragmented, good for smoothies maybe but thats about it!
Soup. The vegetable version from both supermarkets was just horrible! Like oil mixed with water and a stock cube and strangely coloured grey/yellow.
Ham/chicken or turkey. I know they 'taste' similar but the texture??! Then you look on the back of the packet and see they are only 61% meat!! (and bones, fat, cartilidge, sinew...etc yup, all count as 'meat'!)
Frozen prawns. I know many will disagree with me, yes they are just like normal prawns but only good for sandwiches IMO, they are too small to eat by themselves which is how I prefer to eat them.

Good:
Tesco value frozen veg
Mushrooms
Melon
Apples, oranges, pears...etc though check your local market for even better ones
Tinned or cartoned tomatos
Fresh King Prawns (though if your buying in bulk theres not much in the saving and they all come from frozen anyway, just buy frozen!)
Fresh chicken sliced, OK still only 99% meat but there is less to worry about and they taste convincing, though check your local butcher as they often have better prices.
Medication (paracetamol, asprin, ibuprofen...etc) they all have the same working ingredience and all work for me just the way the expensive stuff does.