MSE Blog: Cheap n’ cheerful choccie almost as good as top shelf

Former_MSE_Helen

"Last month’s National Chocolate Week really got us thinking – we work for a website that prides itself on fighting for the consumer, so surely it’s our duty to take the fight to the supermarket chocolate shelves, right?..."

Read MSE Zorica and MSE Megan's full blog:
Cheap n’ cheerful choccie almost as good as top shelf


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Roger1

That's a pretty selective list, just 4 types.

For a more informed discusssion, how about:

• adding a wider selection?
• telling us who makes Sainsbury's (and other own brand) chocolate?

shammyjack

I cannot believe that MSE have not included some of the best bargains that are to be had at Aldi and Lidl .

Both stock very high quality chocolate for around the cost of a low quality cheapie bar from other supermarkets !

robin58

Sainsburys Basic 2nd place!!

It is one of the most foulest cheap chocolate ever.

Try the Asda basic against it and you can taste the difference.

Can only see that the test was rubbish because the testers were getting free chocolate.

Not I would consider to Which? test standards.

Also tells that MSE Towers does not pay their staff enough money, so they are unable to buy the posher chocolate, so they can educate their taste buds....;);)

Scritti

Agree with all of the above.

Sorry MSE - I love you with all my wallet but that test was absolutely rubbish.

Cadbury's in last place?? Do any of you in MSE towers have any taste buds at all?

I love my choc and Sain's Basics chocolate is absolutely gross.

I've tried all the cheap chocolate and they're all - even Lidl's and Aldi's - terrible. Except Asda's which is miles better and almost Galaxy-like in it's creaminess.

Lidl's mid and top-range chocolate is also great.

Their were so few different chocolates tested that it seemed like a complete waste of time to me. Coupled with the fact that your staff wouldn't know nice chocolate if it melted on their heads means I give this one a massive pass.

I still love you but I'm taking further tests with a pinch of salt. Which your team probably wouldn't be able to taste.

sarah1972

Scritti wrote: »

Agree with all of the above.

Sorry MSE - I love you with all my wallet but that test was absolutely rubbish.

Cadbury's in last place?? Do any of you in MSE towers have any taste buds at all?

I love my choc and Sain's Basics chocolate is absolutely gross.

I've tried all the cheap chocolate and they're all - even Lidl's and Aldi's - terrible. Except Asda's which is miles better and almost Galaxy-like in it's creaminess.

Lidl's mid and top-range chocolate is also great.

Their were so few different chocolates tested that it seemed like a complete waste of time to me. Coupled with the fact that your staff wouldn't know nice chocolate if it melted on their heads means I give this one a massive pass.

I still love you but I'm taking further tests with a pinch of salt. Which your team probably wouldn't be able to taste.

Actually Cadburys came first and last as they own Green & Blacks

maman

I found the reference to top shelf a bit off putting!!:rotfl:


I love Moser Roth 70% chocolate from Aldi so much so that I don't eat Milk Chocolate any more. I tried Cadbury's Bournville few months ago and it was so horrid I actually threw it away.


I love the site too but there have to be more useful things to do than this.

robin58

sarah1972 wrote: »

Actually Cadburys came first and last as they own Green & Blacks

A pointless remark really.

Most major companies own more than one brand in a particular product area like chocolate, so they can expand there presence in a food area to cover all demographics.

robin58

Scritti wrote: »

Agree with all of the above.

Sorry MSE - I love you with all my wallet but that test was absolutely rubbish.

Cadbury's in last place?? Do any of you in MSE towers have any taste buds at all?

I love my choc and Sain's Basics chocolate is absolutely gross.

I've tried all the cheap chocolate and they're all - even Lidl's and Aldi's - terrible. Except Asda's which is miles better and almost Galaxy-like in it's creaminess.

Lidl's mid and top-range chocolate is also great.

Their were so few different chocolates tested that it seemed like a complete waste of time to me. Coupled with the fact that your staff wouldn't know nice chocolate if it melted on their heads means I give this one a massive pass.

I still love you but I'm taking further tests with a pinch of salt. Which your team probably wouldn't be able to taste.

Here!Here!

I remember a time when chocolate was real chocolate.

Not this over sugary mess they now say is chocolate.

Chris25

I'm usually a dark chocolate gal (70%+) but love, love, love Lidl's Amazonas 60%. And it's a good compromise for the rest of the family who prefer milk. I'm surprised though that none of the chocolate from Lidl or Aldi was included in the test.

My mum and husband used to like Cadbury but both say it seems to have changed & is now much too sweet.

Very surprised re Sainsbury basics but, hey, everyone's taste is different!

MerlinMags

If anyone would like a way to save money on their chocolate, I have found an easy way to give the stuff up completely. This has saved me a fortune this year, as I had a genuine addiction before that. I was trying to calculate how much Sainsbury's Basics I'd need to give me an hourly fix from 3pm onwards. I was an idiot.

The way to give up my addiction involved no effort, but it isn't pleasant reading. I will have to write this carefully to avoid coming across as a single-issue-obsessed nutter.

Perhaps it would be better if I didn't explain the issue, but pointed you to a Wikipedia article. Or you can google the subject yourself, to prove this isnt a myth. I haven't found one single website that contradicts this horrible truth of where our chocolate comes from.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_in_cocoa_production

Some UK chocolate manufacturers appear to be committed to ethical sourcing, but few of them seem to make it crystal clear by using the Fairtrade logo on their packaging. I did once try to work out which brands were anti-slavery, but it was just easier to give up chocolate entirely, as online information was incomplete.

If anyone is more knowledgeable on the subject than me I would like to hear from you.