Shoppers could well be forgiven for thinking when it comes down to our favourite supermarkets the budget brands lead the way. But while Aldi and Lidl regularly take top spot for the cheapest offering it seems our tastes differ when it comes to voting for which we like best.
Which? consumer magazine has just published the results of its poll of 3,000 customers to find the best supermarket. They marked stores on everything from value at the till to the shopping experience.
And it appears that M&S was offering more of what the shoppers wanted with it taking the title with its Simply Food stores beating the traditional top four with a 78 per cent approval rating across the criteria. It pipped Aldi into second place by a single point after the budget brand notched up a 77 per cent rating.
While both stores have the same ethos of selling chiefly own brand good they are a far cry from each other in their pricing. So to see whether M&S really was better than Aldi, the Manchester Evening News's Dianne Bourne headed to both to compare the shopping experience.
The store experience
In the Which? survey, M&S got an impressive 5/5 for store appearance from those hundreds of shoppers taking part in the survey, while Aldi managed just a 3/5. But at the Old Trafford stores, I'd have to say it's pretty much a dead heat. Both are based in modern, well-fitted-out stores, with decent aisle width and layout across both stores.
Staff at both stores were friendly and helpful when I posed them a "where are your tinned soups?" test question, and both also were able to swiftly point me to a large, accessible customer toilet with baby changing facilities which I was pretty impressed with.
While we all know the dreaded anxiety of the Aldi checkout system, I was pretty impressed at the White City store that the assistant wasn't quite as nimble-fingered as many, and actually helped to pass my shopping into my bag rather than flip it through faster than the speed of light.
Naturally, at M&S there was no such worry, with a large bagging area and the assistant happy to wait for me to stuff my bags before making my payment. I visited both stores at tea-time thinking this would be a peak time, but was rather pleased when there were hardly any queues at either store.
Winner: A dead heat on this one - both stores were equally clean, bright and spacious with courteous staff.
Value for money
I did a test shop at both stores buying the same comparable own-brand items at both M&S and Aldi
The shop came in at £22.55 at Marks & Spencer, versus a bargain £13.97 at Aldi.
That's a huge difference on price really, and value for money was one of the categories in the Which? survey that Aldi scored the top 5/5 score in, while M&S was a lower 3/5.
Winner : Aldi hands down on value
The taste test
While Aldi is the clear winner on value, could M&S prove that their quality make the price tags all worth it? There was only one way to find out so I put the ten items to the taste test.
Pink Lady apples
M&S (pack of 4) £2.50
Aldi (pack of 6) £2.39
Aldi's apples are slightly smaller than M&S's but in taste, these were almost identical.
So you're getting a lot more for your money with the Aldi pack.
Winner : Aldi
Cooked chicken
M&S - Piri Piri chicken slices - 120g pack - £3.00
Aldi - Hot & Spicy chicken slices - 240g pack - £1.99
While the M&S Peri Peri slices had a respectable punch of spice and lots of visible "sauce" on their edges, the Aldi slices seemed a more tender and flavoursome treat.
And at twice the size of the M&S pack for less money, this was brilliant value and a no-brainer - I'll definitely be having these ones in future.
Winner : Aldi
Hot cross buns
M&S Salted caramel and chocolate hot cross buns (4 pack) £1.65
Aldi Specially Selected salted caramel and chocolate hot cross buns ( 4 pack) 99p
Who doesn't love a flavoured hot cross bun at this time of year? There's a whole wealth of flavour options at both stores, but I plumped for the nearest comparable ones with both Aldi and M&S offering a salted caramel and chocolate chip version.
Both had the same best before date (of four days ahead) so I was expecting both to taste reasonably fresh, but sadly the Aldi version was very firm and dry compared to M&S's delightful moist bready treat speckled with oozing caramel pools and chunky choc chips.
Absolutely divine and well and truly blows Aldi's offering out of the water.
Winner : M&S hands down - worth every extra penny and more
Raspberries
M&S - Sapphire raspberries - £3.00
Aldi raspberries - £1.89
My personal feeling on fruit is it's worth spending more if you know you're getting something to really savour - a good fruit tastes better than even a giant chocolatey dessert in my opinion. Or even a salted caramel hot cross bun.
That's certainly the case with the M&S sapphire raspberries - these are a real gem. The Aldi raspberries are pleasant enough but M&S is in a different league here.
Winner : M&S
Ready salted crisps
M&S Assorted six pack - 85p
Aldi ready salted six pack -69p
The Aldi crisps were thinner, and tasted greasier and saltier than M&S's version - yet miraculously are actually LOWER in fat, salt and cals than the M&S version so that definitely made them a winner for me.
However if you like a crispier crisp, then M&S would probably just edge it for you. But for my money the Aldi ones were the winner here as I like things that taste greasy and salty it turns out.
Winner : Aldi
Stone-baked pizza
M&S - £4.75
Aldi - £1.85
I was really disappointed with both of these pizzas - they were just so blah. The M&S stone baked margherita was a little larger and had a more denser cheese covering, but Aldi probably just inched it on flavour.
But at these sort of prices I'd rather have a slice of cheese on toast to be totally honest.
Winner : Both blah, but Aldi wins for being almost £3 less
Weet bisks breakfast cereal
M&S - Wheat bisks - £1.80
Aldi - Everyday Essentials Wheat Biscuits 74p
The M&S own-brand version of the classic Weetabix looks and tastes exactly like the big brand version.
The Aldi Essentials one is like a little brick and not much tastier if I'm honest. If you like your Weetabix plain, I'd defo be going for the M&S version as it holds its own with a splash of milk, but the Aldi one would be OK I suppose if slathered in sugar or honey.
Winner : M&S
Chicken & Veg soup
M&S - £1
Aldi - 65p
Maybe some people out there prefer a tomato-y style chicken and veg soup in which case you'd prefer the M&S version.
But for all the rest of us who want a gorgeous creamy vegy soup with lovely big cubes of tasty chicken it's Aldi all the way.
Be right back, just off to buy an entire pallet of the Aldi soup, it's sooo good.
Winner : Aldi
Sliced bread
M&S - Soft medium sliced white loaf - 65p
Aldi - medium white sliced loaf - 49p
I mean what can you say about sliced white bread? These taste almost exactly the same when toasted.
However, I would just note that the Aldi loaf is not as easy to butter if you're using it to make sandwiches which may be an issue depending on what you're using your loaf for.
Therefore, this one is a draw.
Winner : Draw
Tinned tomatoes
M&S - 50p
Aldi - 40p
I've never thought to eat cold tinned tomatoes straight from the tin before (I mean, who does?), so I was a bit unsure of what to expect. But I was disappointed to find the Aldi ones had a pretty sour taste if I'm honest, whereas the M&S ones had a pleasant fruity roundness to them.
I mean, clearly, when they're mushed up in a spag bol you're never going to know the difference, but M&S just edge it on taste here.
Winner: M&S
Microwave pasta meal
M&S Spaghetti carbonara - £2.85
Aldi Spaghetti carbonara - £1.89
Much of a muchness these two for me - both very creamy salty takes on the classic Italian carbonara. The bacon was smokier in the Aldi version, while there was a more pleasant meat in the M&S version, although less of it, and the overall taste was more creamy.
Neither I'd be particularly fond of having again to be honest so it's a dead heat on this one.
Winner : No winners here, so it's a draw
Bag for Life
M&S - 15p
Aldi - 20p
At last M&S came up trumps in the value stakes - with its plastic bag for life offering.
M&S' big green carrier bag came in at 5p cheaper than Aldi's, and was able to masterfully contain the full shop whereas Aldi's really struggled, so much so I had to buy ANOTHER bag - one of their 10p compostibles - to fit all the stuff in.
Winner : M&S
Overall verdict
There's no doubting that Aldi offer some unbeatably good value deals - with the taste to more than match if not better their competitors across a range of goods.
I was surprised at how much cheaper this same representative shop came in at Aldi, and on many of the categories I preferred the Aldi options to the more expensive M&S versions.
But some items I'd prefer to spend a little more to get a superior taste on, like the raspberries and those absolutely belting hot cross buns.
It came out as a dead heat between the two on the store experience and customer service for me, and even in the taste test the honours were pretty equally split.
The great news for those in the Old Trafford area is that having the UK's "two best supermarkets" right next door to each other means you can very easily mix and match between the two stores for a mix of value and more premium goods.
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