There’s nothing quite like settling down with a warm cup of tea and a pack of biscuits to unwind from the day.
However, sometimes the cost of our favourite snacks and biscuits can really add up. Whether you much prefer a chocolate biscuit to a more traditional option like the humble Digestive, there’s so many out there that it's often hard to choose.
When you’re on a budget, you sometimes have to swap out your branded snacks and sweet treats for a value option - but that doesn’t mean you should miss out on all the yumminess. It begs the question, are supermarket 'value' biscuits actually just as nice as the real deal?
READ MORE: We tried supermarket own brand coke and one tasted like Coke Zero
We tested 'value' own-brand Digestive biscuits - they’re a classic! - from Tesco, Aldi and Lidl to see if it's really worth switching to save money. Here’s what we thought:
Tesco Digestive Biscuits
I’m not a big lover of digestive biscuits to be honest - aside from the odd Rich Tea - and when I do try them I tend to stick with branded versions. This week I picked up a pack of Tesco’s own brand Digestive biscuits to see how they’d hold up to the originals.
The 400g pack of biscuits featured a dark red wrapper with Tesco’s classic own branding and a small description of the product. According to the package, the biscuits are “crumbly & crunchy” and “carefully baked for a dunkable golden treat”.
With such high promises, I gave the biscuits a go. They were definitely crumbly and crunchy, but they were very messy to eat which did put me off a little bit. They crumbled a bit much for my liking, I’ll be honest.
The thing that really got me, however, was the ‘dunkability’. The structural integrity of the biscuit did not hold up to Tesco’s promise and half of the biscuit ended up at the bottom of my cup of tea - which I’d been looking forward to all day, by the way.
While the taste was pleasing and familiar, I was disappointed in not being able to enjoy the Digestive biscuits properly.
Where to buy: Your local Tesco store or online here.
Price: 50p
Rating: 2/5
Aldi’s Belmont Digestive Biscuits
I love digestive biscuits and particularly enjoy dunking them in my cup of coffee. Aldi’s Belmont Digestives have been my go-to for a while, as to me they taste just like the market leader but are a fraction of the price.
The Aldi biscuits are in a similar packaging to McVities’ digestives - plain red with a blue label - and I’m delighted to say this isn’t where the similarities end. Aldi’s version of the biscuit is buttery and full of flavour, and the texture is lovely and crumbly. I'm pleased to report it survived the coffee dunk test, too!
It’s safe to say I really can’t tell the difference between the Aldi Belmont Digestive Biscuits and the McVities ones, other than the price (the McVities digestives are £1.19 at Tesco). I don’t think I’ll ever go back to buying the market leader’s.
Price: 35p
Rating: 5/5
Where to buy: Aldi stores
Lidl's Tower Gate Digestive Biscuits
I absolutely love dunking a biscuit in my tea, so when I saw this 31p at Lidl that resembled a pack of McVities usually at £1.20 and I couldn't resist.
The packaging was very similar to McVities, and once I unravelled the pack in anticipation I noticed that the biscuits looked exactly the same too. There was only one difference, the edges of the biscuits were slightly crumbly at the edges, as opposed to a sturdy McVities digestive.
It was time to test its dunking power, one of my favourite activities which often ends up in me eating a whole pack of biscuits. I dipped the biscuit into my tea and thankfully it didn't fall in my cuppa like a flimsy Rich Tea - result!
The Lidl's Tower Gate digestive tasted virtually the same as a McVitie, but just wasn't quite as sweet. Did that bother me though? Absolutely not, I'd happily switch to this 31p pack of biscuit to save myself some cash.
Price: 31p
Rating: 4/5
Where to buy: Lidl stores
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