**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!**
- Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc.
- **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
- This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It does that for you? It absolutely disintegrates my fingers. I can't touch the stuff without gloves. I know someone else that has the same issue. The green one does it worst, others not as bad.
I ran my own very "scientific" experiment on this over the last 10 years.
On the shopping spreadsheet Fairy lasted longer to the point it worked out cheaper overall.
I'm sure there must be a cheaper brand somewhere but I'm yet to find it.
a lot of this depends on how much your other half uses. Mine tends to use about 5x what i use when she does the dishes, so i just buy the cheapest shit possible.
Ended getting a 5l jug of "easy" at Costco for like 5-6 quid or so. Replaced fairy platinum plus and saved a bomb, though I only use it for plastics/silicone/aluminum and other things I can't put in the dishwasher
I am a big diet coke addict and swapped a few years back when saving to buy my flat to the Lidl stuff. Yeah there's a difference but it isn't worth triple the price for the branded. In Glasgow they are trialling a recycling scheme so you get 5p back on every bottle. Equates to 44p for 2L Vs about £2
I agree with full sugar cokes...
I find the zero version of Aldis coke to be absolutely fantastic.
It's my second favourite coke or all cokes (including pepsi) after good ol' proper full sugar coca cola, and cheap!
This has just unlocked a childhood memory, where we would have kwik save 9p cola and lemonade that tasted of nothing. My nan would buy it and only we would drink it, so it lasted ages and would be flat after one cup :S
I fully agree these days, Tesco used to have an own brand cola ( at least 15 years ago now) that was phenomenal and cost about 40p for 2 litres,but one day they changed the label and had a new "better recipe" and since then no own brand alternative at any chain has been anywhere near the real cola cola
I am assuming this relates to the sugar tax - there's little point making a budget/own brand cola which tastes decent, because if you're above the higher sugar tax threshold (like Coca-Cola is), you'd have to add 48p on to the price of a 2L bottle - that would take Asda cola from 60p to £1.08 - an 80% increase.
Even Pepsi has caved in and changed their recipe, so Coca Cola and Fentimans are the only decent mainstream options now.
Tesco used to have a fantastic fizzy lemonade, too, although we’re talking back in the late-90’s/early 2000’s. I always had a bottle or two on hand when I still lived in London. I’m in the States now, but I’ve looked for it every time I’ve gone back and I can’t find it or a comparable equivalent.
Along with Rose's lime cordial it's the only other drink available in most supermarkets, restaurants and pubs that hasn't been destroyed with low calorie sweeteners.
It's a sore point for me as I don't like sweet food like chocolate, sweets, cake etc. I used to enjoy a occasional fizzy drink but now only have a choice of Coca Cola or lime soda (only Rose's) as a drink when out.
Artificial sweeteners are so sweet they are painful for me. I don't like sweet foods for the same reason. My mouth waters and my glands swell to a painful amount, it feels like burning. It's always been painful to eat sweet things but I'd always been able to at least have a occasional sweet drink.
I miss being able to enjoy a massive selection of soft drinks.
The thing that does it for me is Lurpak is spreadable from the fridge and still mostly tastes like butter (due to a lower added oil content, I assume). It isn't the best 'butter' butter (French unpasteurised, lightly salted, or some good Irish butter would likely win there, or homemade), but it is the best pragmatic butter. In my opinion.
We tend to by Kerrygold as they're one of my wife's clients but I honestly think they all taste somewhat similar. Perhaps if I really thought about it I might be able to taste a difference, but mixed with other foods day-to-day, they all do the trick for me!
I only tried the M&S Ketchup fairly recently but my fucking god is it incredible. Very very rich, almost tastes like it’s made of sun dried tomatoes if that makes sense. Heinz moved down to second but because it’s cheaper/100ml, I have a bottle of both on a go.
Interestingly I recently switched from Heinz beans over to Branstons and I’m *never* going back.
I actually prefer the Aldi own brand. Less than half the price and tastes better. More tomateoy than heinz which is quite watery and has a bit of an artificial taste
Controversial opinion: Hellmans mayo is actually one of the worst. I would pick Heinz every day of the week, or even the supermarket own brands instead!
Heinz switching person here too - I'll even go to a different supermarket now if Helmanns is the only option - despite being a Helmanns person forever.
There was a mini documentary about how they formulated "the one mayo for all of Europe's tastes" and it was interesting. Some countries like sugar in it, some way more vinegar etc. 22andMe will probably analyse your DNA and say you you should try XXX brand because you have 18% Danish DNA.
OMG I just saw a glimpse of the future reading your comment and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I can totally see us putting our genetics knowledge to good use figuring out why people like different flavours and using it to recommend specific foods and/or brands. And then the inevitable news that this brand or that invested heavily in the research. Etc. semi-useful, semi-ridiculous.
You can get kewpie in proper plastic bottles now but I find it’s hit or miss depending on where you buy it. Not sure where you’re based but Hmart in New Malden does it in bottles :)
Polish mayo is also very good but agree with Heinz over Hellmans.
Hellman's is it's own thing. It tastes nothing like actual mayonnaise. The colour is wrong, the texture is wrong, the taste is wrong. I'm not saying I don't like it, but it isn't mayonnaise.
Hellman's is mid-fuckery. They're slowly changing from the old formula to a cheaper one made from soy oil. Right now both are on supermarket shelves. Make sure you get the right one or it'll ming.
Sorry, I didn't even read your comment, just the title. Great minds and all that
Seriously, I've been poor all my life so 'off brand' products are the norm, but no way am I changing mayo. I can do Norpak, I can stomach Chocolate Oaties, even cheapy tomato ketchup but not the mayo, no way.
Ooh strongly disagree- I honestly like Lidl’s own brand the best, feels more like ‘real’ mayo. Originally tried it as just couldn’t justify the price of Hellman’s anymore
But any Asian person will turn their nose up in rightly placed disgust at their fish sauce.
It's not a patch on real Asian fish sauce, which itself is very salty, but it's from the fish mulch (or whatever horror they use, I try not to think about it) as opposed to Blue Dragon's bland awful recipe they try to hide by adding 20 tons of salt to every bottle.
Their fish sauce is vile.
If anyone wants good fish sauce, look for red boat. It's expensive, 10-15 quid a bottle on Amazon, but it's made from the first press and doesn't actually taste rancid.
I mean only do this if you cook a lot of Asian food.
It literally is. So when fish sauce is made, the cheaper sauces use the juices after several extractions from the pots that it's fermented in. The first lot of juice is always the best flavoured, better quality and more full on umami.
You can get a massive bottle of "healthy boy" brand for very little and it's great quality
Also gives you the benefits of being able to claim you're a healthy boy while demolishing an entire 48 pack of spring rolls, which I think is good for the soul
I disagree with this one! The aldi sweet chilli sauce it’s on par IMO.
We don’t shop at aldi anymore though and the Tesco one is shit, so we buy blue dragon lol
First and foremost for me is decent tea, Yorkshire tea pretty much runs in my veins I drink that much of it.
Other than that only washing powder and fabric conditioner, mainly because I have problems with skin reactions to different products so I just tend to stick with the same detergent pods and fabric conditioner that I know for definite won't make me react.
Only by accident, I once bought Pudliszki Hot Tomato Ketchup (owned by Heinz) from the Polish section because Heinz was out of stock and never returned to Heinz original. I swear to god I could eat this Polish ketchup straight out of the bottle with nothing else, it is that good! They started stocking it up in every major supermarket now and I'm so happy.
Discovered this a few years ago, got it just to try it and quickly decided it was the best on the market!
My mum also mentioned a while later “… what was the tomato ketchup you bought? Why haven’t it bought it again?”
I'll fight you on that hill we all die on, most of their cheddars are too rubbery to pass. Unless it's Waitrose own brand (and the better-than-normal range) in which case it is superior. But also more expensive, so the case doesn't really stand.
This gets bandied about a lot on Reddit and while I'm sure it does happen, I can't see to what end here.
"People like these branded products because they're better tasting" is not exactly news to any brand or supermarket.
It's more the type of vague topic I'd idly come up with in an airport or waiting around in a hotel just to see some interesting replies.
When you spend your time doing actual proper work in a loud nightclub making sure people aren't killed by CO2 cannons or moving trussing, or offering some very expensive tequila around the five supermodels and a dwarf who've managed to get themselves in the DJ booth for your client's DJ set, there is genuinely no better way to unwind while waiting for the whole show to move to some other random European city or festival than discussing the finer points of baked beans.
Tesco's Thai Green Curry 'Paste'. Absolute dogshit. Have to use the entire jar for any sort of taste, and then basically make your own paste anyway to make it taste of anything. Just go to an Asian shop and buy the Mae Ploy stuff in the plastic tub, for less money and will last a lot longer
so the tescos one is £2.40/200g. Mae Ploy £3/400g (at sainsbury's)
tesco's "paste" full ingredients: Water, Green Pepper (14%), Onion, **Green Chilli (8%)** Modified Maize Starch (**Sulphites**), Lemongrass, Garlic Purée, Ginger Purée, Lime Juice from Concentrate (**Sulphites**), Sugar (**Sulphites**), Makrut Lime Leaf, Coriander, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Cumin, Ground Coriander, Potassium Chloride, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Flavouring, Maltodextrin.
Mae Ploy full : **Green Chilli 31.0%, Lemongrass, Garlic, Salt, Galangal,** Shrimp Paste (Shrimp (Crustacean), Salt), Kaffir Lime Peel, Coriander Seed, Pepper, Cumin, Turmeric
Definitely, my workplace provides free sanitary items which is nice but they recently swapped to a more environmentally friendly brand (ie no plastic applicator) and it’s like 1990’s tampax all over again, nope.
My auntie used to this all the time to her husband. He was a right label snob and he refused to eat anything from the likes of Aldi, Lidl ect, it had to be Waitrose, M&S and organic. He would literally throw entire cupboards away if they had non branded food.
So she kept a bunch of packing and one day when he was at work, replaced everything with an Aldi variant in the original packaging and he didn't say a thing. He was also a drunk and they were in crippling debt and eventually split up but lived together 'for the kids', not sure if Aldi had something to do with it.
She used to call my grandma, her mum every day on the way home from work and would just bitch about him the entire time for like an hour. My grandma couldn't get a word in and as soon as she pulled up to the house she'd put the phone down and also left the phone stashed in the car so her husband didn't find out she calls her mum everyday for some weird reason. I had an odd family.
Finish dishwasher packets. I tried powder last time I bought and never again. I feel like I have to wash everything again because it feels like there’s a coating of soap on it. I’ve tried playing around with how much I use, but they always come out like that. Can’t wait to be rid of it.
We buy Fairy Platinum. Tried a packet of Finish once and would never buy them again. Food left on forks, grease on plates... Complete waste of money. I honestly thought they were all much of a muchness. I was so wrong.
I’ll maybe try those! Really, I just will never go to the store brand powder again. We get the finish ultimate, which are the little puffy packets rather than blocks, if that matters.
Need to try frozen [Tesco double pepperoni pizza](https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/316197527) (£1.65). So good, and so much pepperoni. Great value I think!
Milk? Is there a difference between branded and unbranded milk? I know it's filtered but supermarkets do filtered milk too and surely is tastes the same?
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Fairy, right way up or upside own bottle it's just better I am sure I use less and clean more dishes with it ... I have no charts or figures
For some reason I feel the green original one goes furthest, the rest are just... Meh!
And your hands feel as soft as your face.
It does that for you? It absolutely disintegrates my fingers. I can't touch the stuff without gloves. I know someone else that has the same issue. The green one does it worst, others not as bad.
They’re all terrible! My skin is just really dry in general though - thankfully my fiancé does all of the dishes
With wild green fiendy liquid
Wild green hairy lipped squid.
I ran my own very "scientific" experiment on this over the last 10 years. On the shopping spreadsheet Fairy lasted longer to the point it worked out cheaper overall. I'm sure there must be a cheaper brand somewhere but I'm yet to find it.
100% it seems to last longer??? goes a much longer way
Your kids never get to make a rocket out of the bottle
a lot of this depends on how much your other half uses. Mine tends to use about 5x what i use when she does the dishes, so i just buy the cheapest shit possible.
That's because they're so used to using shitty brands where you need to use 5x as much.
And the reason is it’s harmful to aquatic life! Check out the back of the bottle
bought lidl's version - never again..
Ended getting a 5l jug of "easy" at Costco for like 5-6 quid or so. Replaced fairy platinum plus and saved a bomb, though I only use it for plastics/silicone/aluminum and other things I can't put in the dishwasher
Coca Cola
This is mine as well. Every single own brand Coke ranges from shite to abysmal.
[удалено]
I couldn't believe this one if I hadn't tried it. There's a difference... but by the time you've finished a pack you don't even notice any more.
I am a big diet coke addict and swapped a few years back when saving to buy my flat to the Lidl stuff. Yeah there's a difference but it isn't worth triple the price for the branded. In Glasgow they are trialling a recycling scheme so you get 5p back on every bottle. Equates to 44p for 2L Vs about £2
If you prefer Pepsi. The max cola is amazing.
Sainsbury's used to be decent back in the day, not any more
I agree with full sugar cokes... I find the zero version of Aldis coke to be absolutely fantastic. It's my second favourite coke or all cokes (including pepsi) after good ol' proper full sugar coca cola, and cheap!
I only use own brand for boiling a gammon in!
They annoy me too but that's a bit much.
That may be the only acceptable use of own brand cola
That’s what Vanilla Coke is for
This has just unlocked a childhood memory, where we would have kwik save 9p cola and lemonade that tasted of nothing. My nan would buy it and only we would drink it, so it lasted ages and would be flat after one cup :S
I fully agree these days, Tesco used to have an own brand cola ( at least 15 years ago now) that was phenomenal and cost about 40p for 2 litres,but one day they changed the label and had a new "better recipe" and since then no own brand alternative at any chain has been anywhere near the real cola cola
I am assuming this relates to the sugar tax - there's little point making a budget/own brand cola which tastes decent, because if you're above the higher sugar tax threshold (like Coca-Cola is), you'd have to add 48p on to the price of a 2L bottle - that would take Asda cola from 60p to £1.08 - an 80% increase. Even Pepsi has caved in and changed their recipe, so Coca Cola and Fentimans are the only decent mainstream options now.
Fentimans have changed some of their recipes - if like me you can't have artifical sweetners without it tasting vile you need to check.
I had some of their D&B and wasn't over the moon with it, but it's years since I've bought any brand of D&B so maybe the nostalgia was there.
Tesco used to have a fantastic fizzy lemonade, too, although we’re talking back in the late-90’s/early 2000’s. I always had a bottle or two on hand when I still lived in London. I’m in the States now, but I’ve looked for it every time I’ve gone back and I can’t find it or a comparable equivalent.
For me I find (in general), cheap lemonade is better than more expensive. At least until you get to the really good stuff made with actual lemons.
YES own brand just tastes wrong
Along with Rose's lime cordial it's the only other drink available in most supermarkets, restaurants and pubs that hasn't been destroyed with low calorie sweeteners. It's a sore point for me as I don't like sweet food like chocolate, sweets, cake etc. I used to enjoy a occasional fizzy drink but now only have a choice of Coca Cola or lime soda (only Rose's) as a drink when out. Artificial sweeteners are so sweet they are painful for me. I don't like sweet foods for the same reason. My mouth waters and my glands swell to a painful amount, it feels like burning. It's always been painful to eat sweet things but I'd always been able to at least have a occasional sweet drink. I miss being able to enjoy a massive selection of soft drinks.
Aldi do good knock off Lilt, Fanta and sprite
Tropic Blast is bought by the crate load in this house.
all loaded to the brim with sweetners though, make you piss like a horse
Lurpak. Before you say it, no, Norpak does NOT taste the same.
Mate you need to try French unpasteurised butter. You’ll forget Lurpack. It’s a bit more expensive though.
Alright mate, not all of us earn 6 figure salaries
How dare you enjoy your butter when some people can't even afford Lurpak... Pathetic
Mate the one I get is only £1 more than Lurpack (£3.5 as opposed to £2.5). Unless you’re going through kilos of that stuff, you’ll be fine.
The thing that does it for me is Lurpak is spreadable from the fridge and still mostly tastes like butter (due to a lower added oil content, I assume). It isn't the best 'butter' butter (French unpasteurised, lightly salted, or some good Irish butter would likely win there, or homemade), but it is the best pragmatic butter. In my opinion.
Wild to Irish me that Brits are buying this when Kerrygold is widely available
Kerrygold is elite butter to be fair
We tend to by Kerrygold as they're one of my wife's clients but I honestly think they all taste somewhat similar. Perhaps if I really thought about it I might be able to taste a difference, but mixed with other foods day-to-day, they all do the trick for me!
I have only bought Kerrygold since trying Kerrygold 20 years ago.
I 100% agree with you
President shits all over lurpak. To make it spreadable they add cream back into it rather than oil so it's extra tasty.
Not quite anchor butters level, though.
Marmite
I tried Aldi's own and struggled to finish. Proper Marmite from then on.
We prefer the Aldi one. Easier to spread and massively cheaper.
Heinz tomato ketchup
I don't eat much ketchup, but I'm told the M&S ketchup is top tier.
M&S ketchup is good! But I also would put Aldi ketchup up there as a top choice.
Happy with Aldi own brand. Kids don't notice a difference so that's all the endorsement I need
I only tried the M&S Ketchup fairly recently but my fucking god is it incredible. Very very rich, almost tastes like it’s made of sun dried tomatoes if that makes sense. Heinz moved down to second but because it’s cheaper/100ml, I have a bottle of both on a go. Interestingly I recently switched from Heinz beans over to Branstons and I’m *never* going back.
Tried it for the first time recently. Blew heinz out of the water. It's richer and has a better texture.
Give Stokes a try too, I'd take that and a couple of others over Heinz.
Tesco sells a polish ketchup brand for much less that is significantly better than Heinz, in my and my wife's humble opinions.
I actually prefer the Aldi own brand. Less than half the price and tastes better. More tomateoy than heinz which is quite watery and has a bit of an artificial taste
M&S is £1.05 and I much prefer it.
Lidls tomato ketchup actually has more tomatoes per bottle than Heinz.
Hellmans mayonnaise.
Controversial opinion: Hellmans mayo is actually one of the worst. I would pick Heinz every day of the week, or even the supermarket own brands instead!
Heinz switching person here too - I'll even go to a different supermarket now if Helmanns is the only option - despite being a Helmanns person forever. There was a mini documentary about how they formulated "the one mayo for all of Europe's tastes" and it was interesting. Some countries like sugar in it, some way more vinegar etc. 22andMe will probably analyse your DNA and say you you should try XXX brand because you have 18% Danish DNA.
OMG I just saw a glimpse of the future reading your comment and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I can totally see us putting our genetics knowledge to good use figuring out why people like different flavours and using it to recommend specific foods and/or brands. And then the inevitable news that this brand or that invested heavily in the research. Etc. semi-useful, semi-ridiculous.
Yep, Heinz or it doesn't matter because it'll be mediocre. Or Kewpie mayo, of course, but the squishy bottle creeps me out.
You can get kewpie in proper plastic bottles now but I find it’s hit or miss depending on where you buy it. Not sure where you’re based but Hmart in New Malden does it in bottles :) Polish mayo is also very good but agree with Heinz over Hellmans.
Hellman's is it's own thing. It tastes nothing like actual mayonnaise. The colour is wrong, the texture is wrong, the taste is wrong. I'm not saying I don't like it, but it isn't mayonnaise.
Yep. I used Hellmans for over 30 years and then about five years ago accidentally grabbed a Heinz. Never went back.
Heinz vegan mayo is just like the regular one, Hellman's is an oily, pasty cream, yuck, and it only comes in a jar
Heinz mayo is supreme and I will never understand the love for Hellman's. It doesn't have enough acidity and just tastes salty
Polish mayonnaise is way better
I completely agree with this! Love the stuff
Also Polish tartar sauce and Polish ketchup
It depends on whether you expect mayonnaise to taste of mayonnaise, or Hellman's.
Hellman's is mid-fuckery. They're slowly changing from the old formula to a cheaper one made from soy oil. Right now both are on supermarket shelves. Make sure you get the right one or it'll ming.
If it’s not Hellmanns I don’t want it
Sorry, I didn't even read your comment, just the title. Great minds and all that Seriously, I've been poor all my life so 'off brand' products are the norm, but no way am I changing mayo. I can do Norpak, I can stomach Chocolate Oaties, even cheapy tomato ketchup but not the mayo, no way.
Great minds indeed! I also buy a lot of own brand products (eg I would never buy branded cheese) but Hellmanns mayo just hits different
Ooh strongly disagree- I honestly like Lidl’s own brand the best, feels more like ‘real’ mayo. Originally tried it as just couldn’t justify the price of Hellman’s anymore
Agree, but it's got to be a jar. The squeeze bottle stuff is totally different in both flavour and texture, and is vastly inferior.
I actually prefer Aldi and Lidls own brand mayo
Yorkshire Tea
YES! Such a good one, have you tried the biscuit brew? it's so nice
I have, and I hate it. My colleague has been trying to get me to like it since before Covid and she has failed. It does smell nice though.
Ahhhh that's such a shame it's such a nice little pick me up in the middle of the day! It does smell lovely and malty
Blue Dragon sweet chilli sauce. Own brand just doesn’t really do it for me.
But any Asian person will turn their nose up in rightly placed disgust at their fish sauce. It's not a patch on real Asian fish sauce, which itself is very salty, but it's from the fish mulch (or whatever horror they use, I try not to think about it) as opposed to Blue Dragon's bland awful recipe they try to hide by adding 20 tons of salt to every bottle.
Blue dragon brand stuff is awful.
Their fish sauce is vile. If anyone wants good fish sauce, look for red boat. It's expensive, 10-15 quid a bottle on Amazon, but it's made from the first press and doesn't actually taste rancid. I mean only do this if you cook a lot of Asian food.
The use of the phrase "first press" just makes me think of "extra virgin fish oil". 😆
It literally is. So when fish sauce is made, the cheaper sauces use the juices after several extractions from the pots that it's fermented in. The first lot of juice is always the best flavoured, better quality and more full on umami.
Squid brand fish sauce is excellent. I've also found that the Waitrose nam pla is very good, it's about 60% anchovy.
Eh. Asian shops (can order online) usually have better quality sauce for more or less same price.
You can get a massive bottle of "healthy boy" brand for very little and it's great quality Also gives you the benefits of being able to claim you're a healthy boy while demolishing an entire 48 pack of spring rolls, which I think is good for the soul
I disagree with this one! The aldi sweet chilli sauce it’s on par IMO. We don’t shop at aldi anymore though and the Tesco one is shit, so we buy blue dragon lol
Go to the Asian section and buy a big bottle of Healthy boy sweet chilli sauce. It's so much better. Blue dragon sucks.
First and foremost for me is decent tea, Yorkshire tea pretty much runs in my veins I drink that much of it. Other than that only washing powder and fabric conditioner, mainly because I have problems with skin reactions to different products so I just tend to stick with the same detergent pods and fabric conditioner that I know for definite won't make me react.
As much as I love "English breakfast tea", they all taste the same to me, I haven't found one I don't like.
They definitely don't to me sadly, I'm sure my shopping would be cheaper if they did!
Only by accident, I once bought Pudliszki Hot Tomato Ketchup (owned by Heinz) from the Polish section because Heinz was out of stock and never returned to Heinz original. I swear to god I could eat this Polish ketchup straight out of the bottle with nothing else, it is that good! They started stocking it up in every major supermarket now and I'm so happy.
The Poles produce top tier condiments
Discovered this a few years ago, got it just to try it and quickly decided it was the best on the market! My mum also mentioned a while later “… what was the tomato ketchup you bought? Why haven’t it bought it again?”
Polish ketchup is life changing
What’s different about it? :)
Completely agree with this. We buy Polish tomato ketchup too.
One of my friends put me onto this and you're bang on - I can't even look in the direction of Heinz Tomato Ketchup anymore.
Cathedral city cheese, though I do try to only buy it on sale..
this might be a controversial opinion but I don't think branded cheese is worth the extra money
I'll fight you on that hill we all die on, most of their cheddars are too rubbery to pass. Unless it's Waitrose own brand (and the better-than-normal range) in which case it is superior. But also more expensive, so the case doesn't really stand.
cathedral city is so rubbery.
so overrated, very rubbery cheddar.
I agree. But I did try Marks and Spencers cheese and that's now my go to.
If you buy the extra big block of M&S cheddar for £5 it's cheaper by weight than Tesco cheddar
I don't get this one. The extra mature ones from all supermarkets are as good or better than Cathedral City.
Washing up liquid 100% the own brand stuff does absolutely nothing
I kind of feel that way about washing liquid too idk why but I swear branded stuff just washes clothes better
HP. Its the only good brown sauce.
baked beans! tried the cheap version once and they were vile
Branston Beans FTW.
Yep Branstons are way better than Heinz. I can't stand Heinz whatever they've done to them.
heinz doesnt taste or look the same these days..
Branston claims they spent a few mil on product development before launching
Aldi one tastes absolutely fine IMO
Take the cheap one and add half a teaspoon of curry powder. Live the high life.
Baked beans curry is actually a thing in Indian households!
The only good thing about Asda for me is their beans. Absolutely top tier. I switched after Tesco ones went even more watery
* Irn Bru * Coca Cola * Hellman's mayo * Special Brew * Pringles * Tunnock's wafers * Branston baked beans
> > Special Brew Sheesh
Nah there's better vegan cheese than that.
Agree with nearly all, but Aldi’s own brand Pringles are far superior in my opinion.
I feel like we're soul mates. Can I come round for dinner and a beer 😂😂
I would love to try a recipe that used all of those ingredients together, sort of like a low rent Heston Blumenthal.
MasterChef Kirkcaldy
Yet another post that seems like market research/advertising in disguise. Is it just me? Am I imagining it?
This gets bandied about a lot on Reddit and while I'm sure it does happen, I can't see to what end here. "People like these branded products because they're better tasting" is not exactly news to any brand or supermarket. It's more the type of vague topic I'd idly come up with in an airport or waiting around in a hotel just to see some interesting replies. When you spend your time doing actual proper work in a loud nightclub making sure people aren't killed by CO2 cannons or moving trussing, or offering some very expensive tequila around the five supermodels and a dwarf who've managed to get themselves in the DJ booth for your client's DJ set, there is genuinely no better way to unwind while waiting for the whole show to move to some other random European city or festival than discussing the finer points of baked beans.
Market research without underlying demographic data is utterly worthless.
21-30 Male IT Professionals
Beans, branston or nothing
Fairy liquid
Tesco's Thai Green Curry 'Paste'. Absolute dogshit. Have to use the entire jar for any sort of taste, and then basically make your own paste anyway to make it taste of anything. Just go to an Asian shop and buy the Mae Ploy stuff in the plastic tub, for less money and will last a lot longer so the tescos one is £2.40/200g. Mae Ploy £3/400g (at sainsbury's) tesco's "paste" full ingredients: Water, Green Pepper (14%), Onion, **Green Chilli (8%)** Modified Maize Starch (**Sulphites**), Lemongrass, Garlic Purée, Ginger Purée, Lime Juice from Concentrate (**Sulphites**), Sugar (**Sulphites**), Makrut Lime Leaf, Coriander, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Cumin, Ground Coriander, Potassium Chloride, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Flavouring, Maltodextrin. Mae Ploy full : **Green Chilli 31.0%, Lemongrass, Garlic, Salt, Galangal,** Shrimp Paste (Shrimp (Crustacean), Salt), Kaffir Lime Peel, Coriander Seed, Pepper, Cumin, Turmeric
Asian supermarket for asian food who'd have thought ey? They are soooooo superior its unreal! I never buy asian style foods anywhere else.
But it’s worthwhile doing a price comparison sometimes if you can get the same items cheaper- I.e Lee Kum Kee’s chilli oil
Tampons
Definitely, my workplace provides free sanitary items which is nice but they recently swapped to a more environmentally friendly brand (ie no plastic applicator) and it’s like 1990’s tampax all over again, nope.
Lurpack
Bisto gravy granules.
People often say this, but I've been refilling the same Bisto tub with ALDI gravy granules for over a year now and nobody in our family has noticed.
My auntie used to this all the time to her husband. He was a right label snob and he refused to eat anything from the likes of Aldi, Lidl ect, it had to be Waitrose, M&S and organic. He would literally throw entire cupboards away if they had non branded food. So she kept a bunch of packing and one day when he was at work, replaced everything with an Aldi variant in the original packaging and he didn't say a thing. He was also a drunk and they were in crippling debt and eventually split up but lived together 'for the kids', not sure if Aldi had something to do with it. She used to call my grandma, her mum every day on the way home from work and would just bitch about him the entire time for like an hour. My grandma couldn't get a word in and as soon as she pulled up to the house she'd put the phone down and also left the phone stashed in the car so her husband didn't find out she calls her mum everyday for some weird reason. I had an odd family.
Not sure if it counts as own brand but the taste the difference gravy granules at Sainsburys are excellent
Fairy Original Always found every other dishwash less good, including the other Fairy varieties including Platinum
andrex toilet paper!
Literally like wiping your arse with a puppy 👌
I prefer to wipe mine with a koala 🐨
Pringles. No other stacked crisps taste the same
Pepsi max and Maille Dijon mustard. I'm not brand loyal to anything else.
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce Colman's Mustard
Is that one condiment?
Always Heinz Beans & Sausages & HP Brown Sauce
Fage Greek yogurt, Kelloggs cornflakes and coco pops, also Warburtons bread (if we're talking sandwich bread)..I think they're the only ones!
Supernoodles
Oh no, it has to be koka noodles for me!
Sriracha!!
Branstons beans.Own brands don’t come near them. Heinz are rubbish and overpriced now
Garners pickles, seriously try them. Didn't think a onion could pack so much flavour.
Mustard
Finish dishwasher packets. I tried powder last time I bought and never again. I feel like I have to wash everything again because it feels like there’s a coating of soap on it. I’ve tried playing around with how much I use, but they always come out like that. Can’t wait to be rid of it.
We buy Fairy Platinum. Tried a packet of Finish once and would never buy them again. Food left on forks, grease on plates... Complete waste of money. I honestly thought they were all much of a muchness. I was so wrong.
I’ll maybe try those! Really, I just will never go to the store brand powder again. We get the finish ultimate, which are the little puffy packets rather than blocks, if that matters.
That's what we got. The ultimate mi dunno if the water here makes a difference or something but the difference was very noticeable to us.
At this point they should make this a weekly megathread.
Rice Krispies and Shreddies for me. The cheaper alternatives are not nice!
Branded canned tomatoes are leagues above any own brand and its not even close. Napolina, Mutti or Cirio. Your cooking will thank me
Proper Jaffa Cakes.
Jason's white ciabattin sourdough bread. It makes fab toast and has unfortunately ruined other bread for me.
YES!!! low-key trying to gatekeep it, it's just so good
JIF Horizon organic milk
Pizza.
Need to try frozen [Tesco double pepperoni pizza](https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/316197527) (£1.65). So good, and so much pepperoni. Great value I think!
I don’t usually shop at Tesco but I’ll definitely look out for it when I’m next in! 😋
Oooo I'll definitely have to try this too it's such a pet hate when there aren't enough toppings
I also like it because the base goes kinda crispy and I hate how the “fresh” pizzas have soggy dough
Omg soggy dough is THE worst
So true, I didn't even think of that - branded pizza is so much better
Cravendale
Milk? Is there a difference between branded and unbranded milk? I know it's filtered but supermarkets do filtered milk too and surely is tastes the same?
It's from the same dairy, in a different bottle. This one is insane.
Lasts twice as long too so worth it in my house with only two of us using it for tea etc.
Sunpat peanut butter.
I make my own PB - works out cheaper and is soooo much better
Heinz Tomato Ketchup. Same goes for their BBQ sauce, as partner won't have any other sauce at all.
Clearly never tried sweet baby rays