Getting your hands on the buttery goodness of Lurpak is now harder than ever - but is it really the best?
Amid the cost of living crisis, tubs of the golden spread soared to £7.25 in some supermarkets, and, recently, Lurpak reduced the size of its block of butter by 20%, changing its unsalted block from 250g to 200g, even though prices have shot up by around 15% over the last year.
Although Aldi is now selling a 600g tub for a cheaper price of £5.35, the store has resorted to protecting them from theft with security netting, according to one shopper.
It's not the only product on the rise, either. The Grocer found around 500 Heinz products shot up in price during the first two weeks of the year, including tomato ketchup - with one supermarket now displaying half-empty bottles to defer shoplifters.
As prices remain eye-wateringly high, it might be time to try some more affordable brands that won't break the bank, especially when it comes to everyday staples like butter.
But can we opt for cheaper versions without losing out on flavour?
Here, we blind-taste-test some of the more purse-friendly alternatives on the shelves to find out how they compare to the original - with a dupe 'tasting like the real thing' to one that scored a miserable 0/5.
1) I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, 450g, £1.50, Tesco
I can't believe anyone thinks this tastes anything like butter. An artificial tasting margarine. I needed plenty of gulps of tea to get rid of the taste it left in my mouth.
Rating: 1/5
2) Daisy, 500g, £1.75, Lidl
New from Lidl. Daisy has a rich taste which I quite enjoyed, but I couldn't quite manage more than a couple of bites – a surprise at this early stage of the taste test.
Rating: 3/5
3) Danpak spreadable, 500g, £2.19, Lidl
It was creamy and spread very easily. And the buttery smell was fantastic. Dead cert as Lurpak original, I initially thought.
Rating: 4/5
4) Nordpak, 500g, £2.19, Aldi
Aldi's Lurpak version tastes light and creamy, with an instant salt hit coming straight through. I was convinced this was the real thing. Aldi edged Lidl's version and even the real thing in my book.
Rating: 5/5
5) Beautifully Buttery, 500g, 99p, Aldi
Spread beautifully on my toast, but the taste was incredibly unpleasant - flavourless and fatty. I could feel my arteries clogging up with one bite. This had me reaching for my mug of tea to wash out the taste.
Rating: 0/5
6) Lurpak spreadable, 500g, £5, Sainsbury's
Very smooth, glided easily on toast, a good amount of buttery flavour yet tasted relatively light - a definite savoury quality, but I enjoyed the more strong salty Aldi version.
Rating: 4/5
7) Valley, 500g, £2.19, Aldi
Nicely creamy, but I would have preferred a bit more saltiness coming through. However still much much preferable to Aldi’s Beautifully Buttery — and worth the extra cost.
Rating: 3/5
8) Tesco Salted spreadable, 500g, £2.19, Tesco
Very good spreadability. It is blended with butter but tasted too margariney for my liking.
Rating: 2/5
9) Tesco Butterpak, 500g, £2.19, Tesco
Although more expensive than the Lidl and Aldi versions, it tasted the worst to me. It lacked the savoury flavour of the others. It is preferable to Tesco margarine — despite costing the same.
Rating: 3/5
10. Clover, 500g, £1.69, Lidl
This had more margarine rather than butter taste but was nice and did not have the obviously artificial flavour. Well priced.
Rating: 3/5
The verdict
If you're looking for the closest to Lurpak, then Aldi's version wins hands down. However, if you are considering switching to affordable margarine, then Clover - 60p cheaper than Aldi's version - is good value in these tough times.
The Mirror has approached Aldi for a comment.
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