What we spread on our toast in the morning has come under scrutiny.
Butter, spread.... call it what you like, we all have our favourites but have you ever put them to the test?
One brand that is a sure favourite is Danish butter brand Lurpak. It comes in many forms and has a number of imitators, which is not surprising after claiming the 2018 title of 'best butter in the world' at the World Championship Cheese Contest, beating competition from over 30 other leading butters to take the title.
But just how does it compare to its competitors. It certainly wins on priciest but what about taste. One of our colleagues at Wales Online, Alice Suffield, put it to the test and declared one 'butter' was "a cut above the rest".
Alice says that this staple of the shopping basket cost her £3.65 a tub in Morrisons, which is what first got her thinking about if she really needed to keep forking out that extra bit of cash when it came down to weekly essentials.
She said: "As we know, most supermarkets have their own versions of famous brands, often at a discount compared to the brand itself, but are they worth the savings?
"My family have used Lurpak for as long as I can remember- 'there's nothing better' as my mother says."
Here's what she discovered after comparing the brand to Aldi's Nordpak, Lidl's Danpak and Morrisons' Spreadable, all of which have similar branding.
Lurpak
Lurpak, the defending champion.
Starting with the favourite, Lurpak has been a consistent staple in my fridge.
In order to properly test each of these brands I cut a quarter piece of toast, applied a healthy spread of butter and got tasting.
Of course, Lurpak didn't disappoint. Easy to spread, melted to perfection on the warm toast, and tasted as it has for years, satisfyingly savoury, tasting just as butter should.
The price did not taste as good, however, as at £3.65 it is the most expensive of our spreads, but it is to be expected from a household brand.
The quality of the butter does match the price in my opinion, but what are the others like?
Danpak - Lidl
Lidl's Danpak was the cheapest of the bunch.
I have vary rarely shopped in Lidl - as a student we had an Aldi or a Morrisons to shop at - so I had no clue what to expect from Aldi's main competitor.
This butter was the cheapest of the lot, coming in at £1.89. Like Aldi's Nordpak, Danpak looks very similar to the brand.
Sadly for me, the taste was unremarkable, you could tell it was butter, but it didn't have the same stand-out savoury flavour that the two previous butters did.
Whilst it did spread and melt with ease, I would rather pay the extra 10p for Aldi's Nordpak.
Nordpak - Aldi
Aldi's Nordpak, one of the cheaper alternatives.
Aldi has got itself in trouble in recent years for its imitations of brands, most notably of M&S's Colin the Caterpillar.
And Nordpak also looks incredibly similar to its competitor, especially in terms of colour scheme.
Taste-wise, it tastes like butter, not quite as strong as Lurpak tastes, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The savoury spread complimented the toast, rather than overpowering it, something I wouldn't have noticed about Lurpak if I hadn't tasted it first.
It was, however, the hardest to spread out of all the butters, with the knife dragging on the bread. This did leave me with quite a thick glob of butter, but as it melted, this issue was easily rectified.
The price was much more reasonable, costing £1.99 for a 500g tub. When compared to the brand, it seems a sensible swap to make, with a saving of over £1.50.
Spreadable - Morrisons
Morrison's own brand Spreadable.
I struggled to spot spreadable, as like our other butters, it looks very similar
Of the three, this one was the sweetest. The rest specified that they were slightly salted, so that explains why it tasted as sweet as it did in comparison.
It still tasted like butter however, and it spread and melted like a dream.
At £2.20 for 500g, it is the second most expensive, but still over £1 cheaper than Lurpak.
The verdict
This is easy for me, I would swap to Nordpak in a heartbeat. Nordpak almost exactly matches the quality provided by the leading brand with a smaller price tag too.
An exact saving of £1.66 is not to be sniffed at.
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