Image credit: GettyImages/Drazen Zigic
The cost of living crisis means everyone is feeling the squeeze – and at the beginning of the year it’s traditionally time to try to tighten our belts, both literally and metaphorically.
Food prices increased an astonishing 25 per cent between January 2022 and 2024, and with average households spending nearly 12 per cent of their family expenditure on food, it’s a good area to make savings.
But we don’t have to abandon all those little luxuries which help brighten our day. Here Saga Magazine compares top-notch brand name produce with cheaper rivals, and suggests own-brand or budget alternatives at Aldi, Lidl and other retailers.
So if you don’t want to give up on your salmon en croute, chocolate and cookie dough ice cream, don’t despair: we’ve researched the best-quality swaps so that you won’t even notice the difference.
Prices correct at time of publication but may vary.
Swap M&S Roasted and Salted Mixed Nuts (£6.00 for 300g, £2.00 per 100g) for:
There’s no denying M&S offers the most luxurious roasted and salted mixed nuts selection – and it’s the inclusion of the macadamia nuts that sets it apart from rival choices over at Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
While the Sainsbury’s offering is the cheapest, for us the Tesco version is the winner between the two budget buys. The latter includes pecans, which make it seem fancier, and the packaging also beats Sainsbury’s hands down – plus the Tesco nuts are very slightly lower in salt.
Swap Lurpak Spreadable Slightly Salted (typically £5 for 500g) for:
Or
Swap Lurpak Unsalted (£2.25 for 200g, £1.13 per 100g) for:
The steeply rising cost of butter has been one of the most astonishing things about the cost of living crisis.
Happily, most supermarkets offer own-brand butter – but are they as smooth and creamy as the Danish favourite?
Spreadable is now the most popular butter product in the UK. And Lidl’s Danpak spreadable is a close match to Lurpak taste-wise – and even the name and packaging are clearly inspired by the well-known brand. And you could make a big saving, as Lidl’s 500g pack is less than half the price of the original.
When it comes to block butter, Arla Foods, who make Lurpak, have indulged in a bit of shrinkflation. Their standard block of unsalted or salted butter is now 200g – and at a usual price of around £2.25, that seems steep.
Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s produce well-priced block butter which is popular with shoppers. They come in a bit cheaper and you get the full 250g in a packet. While it’s crystal clear that the (currently slightly cheaper) Tesco butter is made with British milk, Sainsbury’s British butter states that it is ‘packed in the UK’ – it’s unclear where the milk is sourced from.
Swap Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Milk Chocolate (£2.25 for 111g, £2.03 per 100g) for:
There was consternation earlier this year when luxury biscuit brand Bahlsen removed one of their biscuits from a pack of Choco Leibniz, meaning customers got eight where they’d previously had nine – for the same price.
It was classic shrinkflation, but fear not, because there are budget options to consider. Both Tesco and Lidl offer value versions of the Choco Leibniz classic – and in both cases you get a bigger packet than the Bahlsen versions.
With all the options offering a buttery biscuit base and solid chocolate topping, Lidl is the victor here when it comes to price – but the Tesco versions are still a money-saving swap if you’re in Tesco anyway.
Swap Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough (£5.45 for 465ml, £1.17 per 100ml) for:
Despite its bargain price, the Aldi Cookie Dough takes the gong for best budget swap as it’s made with British whole milk and double cream, while the Asda version is produced with skimmed milk. That does mean the former is higher in fat than the latter – although neither is quite as luxurious as the iconic Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, which is also higher in sugar.
So making a change here is good both for the waistline and the wallet!
Swap Moët and Chandon Brut Imperial Champagne (£44.00 for 75cl) for:
Both these budget bubbly buys actually beat their big brand name rival in a taste test conducted by Which? magazine. The Tesco Premier Cru is made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes and has had a long ageing period in the bottle. It’s made by Cedric Jacopin who is the cellar master at De Saint-Gall Champagne.
The Aldi champers is made by Philizot & Fils in the Marne valley – and it was second only to Moët and Chandon in terms of numbers of bottles sold in the UK in 2022.
Swap Goikoa Chorizo de Navarra (£5.85 for 260g, £2.25 per 100g) for:
All three of these products are approved by the Spanish Chorizo Consortium, which means that they are made using Spanish ingredients.
The best chorizo rings are usually firm to the touch – rather than squidgy or flabby in texture. There’s no doubt the Goikoa ring – which is made in the Basque region of Spain – is a top-notch product, but the M&S and Tesco products are both good budget swaps.
M&S gives minimal information on its chorizo – save guaranteeing that it’s made with Spanish pork – while the Tesco version is made by a family firm in the foothills of the Pyrenees. And it’s a bargain price, too.
Swap Hendricks Gin (£32.00 for 70cl, 41.4% vol) for:
Hendrick’s Gin was one of the first luxury gins to revolutionise the market in 1999 – after many years of dominance of bigger brand names like Gordon’s and Beefeater. It’s now the number one premium gin in the world.
The market is now flooded with pricey premium gins of all flavours – but there are great good-value alternatives, too. For a more traditional London gin, try Aldi’s fantastic Greyson’s London Gin: it’s tasty and looks more upmarket than the London gins you get from Sainsbury’s or Tesco.
Meanwhile, Lidl’s Hortus London Dry gin is distilled in small batches, has an attractive label and wouldn’t look out of place in any upmarket drinks cabinet. Plus it has a higher alcohol content – which helps to make it a closer match to Hendrick’s. The flavour isn’t an exact match, but it’s very tasty, with citrus and herby notes.
Swap Tyrrell’s Lightly Sea Salted crisps (£2.75 for 150g, £1.84 per 100g) for:
Crisps are something of a national religion in the UK – it’s sometimes said that we consume six billion packets of them a year. We’re certainly one of the biggest crisp-producing countries in the world.
So it’s no surprise that there is plenty of choice in the posh crisp market.
Tyrrell’s are undoubtedly one of the top choices for an upmarket crisp, and they’re produced from English tatties. But good budget swaps include Co-op’s version, made from spuds from Herefordshire and seasoned with sea salt and chardonnay vinegar.
Also made with British spuds and delivering fantastic value for money are these crisps from Aldi’s Specially Selected range.
Swap Ritz Original Crackers (£1.25 for 150g, 83.3p per 100g) for:
Okay, the original Ritz cracker is not going to break the bank, and it does have the classiest name for a cheese biscuit, but there are some good cheaper alternatives at our favourite low-price stores, Aldi and Lidl.
There’s little to choose between the two on price – both offer great value for a bigger box than the Ritz crackers – but the Lidl version has won out over its rival in taste tests.
Swap Cathedral City Mature Cheddar Cheese (£4.25 for 350g, £1.21 per 100g) for:
Cheddar makes up around half of all cheese sales in Britain – and Cornish brand Cathedral City is the most popular. But you are paying a premium for eating it.
Surprisingly, high-end supermarket Waitrose sells a good-value, tasty mature cheddar from Devon for a fraction of the price. And if you want to lay your hands on a premium cheddar that’s been matured for over a year, then the Tesco Finest one is a great option.
Swap Lindt Excellence 70% Dark Chocolate (£3.00 for 100g) for:
Chocolate is another treat which has become eye-wateringly expensive with the rise in the cost of living. But that’s not the only reason – most cocoa beans come from Ivory Coast and Ghana, and climate change means growing cocoa there is becoming harder.
Lindt’s 70% dark chocolate has almost doubled in price in recent years – but you don’t have to give up the luxury of a square of plain chocolate with your coffee. Waitrose’s Madagascar bar has 75% cocoa solids and is Fairtrade certified. Moser Roth from Aldi wins the prize for practicality – it’s got individually wrapped bars which are perfect for eating on the run or on a picnic.
Swap Charlie Bigham’s Salmon en croute (£9.50 for 440g, £2.16 per 100g) for:
The best ready meals to buy are dishes which it’s a real faff to make yourself. And there are few dishes more faffy than a salmon en croute, bar perhaps a beef Wellington! Anything that involves wrapping puff pastry around a slippery piece of fish is best left to the pros – and luckily there are two tasty good-value alternatives to Charlie Bigham’s.
The Waitrose own brand version is higher in price than Aldi’s, but still a significant saving compared to the Charlie Bigham version. Apart from that, the main difference is whether you prefer the former’s lighter lattice effect – or want a bit more pastry for your pennies, which you get from the Aldi pie.
Celebrity chef James Martin shares his recipes for Valencian Beans and Prawns and Creme Caramel with Spiced Seville Oranges.
As summer approaches, our expert says it’s time to reappraise rosé and seek out more robust styles.
From parties to picnics, mini sausage rolls are the perfect snack. But which ones are our experts’ favourites?
Both sit nicely atop your kitchen counter, but is one better than the other?
