It's no secret that shoppers are ditching the big brands in favour of cheaper alternatives. With prices soaring, customers are switching from their usual products in a bid to keep their shopping bills down.
One brand that shoppers do seem to be steering away from is Heinz, which has been criticised over 'insane price hikes' of late.
Only last month we reported how shoppers said they were swapping Heinz Beanz and Sausages for the Sainsbury's version, costing a quarter of the price.
Read more: I compared supermarket's 52p beans and sausages with Heinz and it's made me angry
Other Heinz fans then said they'd ditched Heinz tomato soup after finding a much cheaper alternative at Aldi.
With that in mind I decided to try it out for myself, not just for me, but my children too.
My attempt to get them to sample the Sainsbury's beans and sausages had failed at the first hurdle. While I preferred the cheaper ones, they look nothing like the big brand, so I had no chance at persuading my Heinz-loving kids to give them a shot.
Undeterred I knew just by looking at the soup that they'd never know the difference - both the colour and consistency seemed exactly the same.
I would have been a fool to mention it though. Had I done so, they would have done what most kids would do and say they didn't like it before giving it a chance.
I kept shtum and they lapped it up. They didn't even notice any difference from the Aldi soup they were having to the Heinz soup in my bowl. All part of my little experiment of course.
I have to say I was pretty gobsmacked. After only ever having Heinz I never thought I'd get them on anything else, never mind something that's so much cheaper.
Tins of the big brand are up to around £1.70 each, unless you buy them in bulk. That's a whopping £1.13 more than Aldi's 57p Bramwells.
A four-pack of Heinz is still £3.99 in Aldi, compared with £2.28 for four of its own brand.
I'm not sure how long I'll carry on with the soup subterfuge in my house, but it's a small price to pay for such a big saving.
A spokesperson for Kraft Heinz said: "Like the rest of the food industry, we continue to face significantly increased production costs – whether it’s ingredients, energy, or packaging – and rising inflation. Our energy prices alone have increased by 609% since 2019.
“We’re absorbing costs wherever we can, however we've unfortunately had to increase our prices to retailers – a measure that continues to be a last resort.
“We understand the pressures consumers are currently facing. To help offset these, we’re working collaboratively with retailers to offer great value through regular promotions and promotional cycles across a range of our products. We’ve adapted our offer to consumers with different pack sizes, value ranges and lower price points. We are also continuing to look for efficiencies in our operations.
“We remain committed to giving our consumers great tasting and nutritious products without compromising on the quality they know and trust, and continuing to invest back into the more than 3,000 people we employ across the U.K.”
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