Store brands that are better than main brands

maudgonner

I feel like I'm slightly cheating to bring Marks and Spencer's own brand into this thread, but their boxes of chocolate biscuits beat any USA/Afternoon Tea tins hands down at Christmas time.

fussyonion

maudgonner wrote: »

I feel like I'm slightly cheating to bring Marks and Spencer's own brand into this thread, but their boxes of chocolate biscuits beat any USA/Afternoon Tea tins hands down at Christmas time.

I agree.
I remember my Mam and Nanny used to always buy the M&S chocolate biscuits at Christmas and they wouldn't normally shop there but they loved them that much.
Also love M&S Cumberland Pie but it's quite hard to find.

HamsterFace

Ah sure m&s are probably dearer than the regular stuff lads

Ken.

Lidl cola is way nicer than any other brand cola on the market including its rip off rivals coca cola and Pepsi.

NIMAN

Is this for better tasting alternatives or cheaper?

Not sure how someone can say "Aldi red wine is nicer". Nicer than what? There are hundreds or thousands of red wines, you aren't comparing like with like.

Even in the opening post, saying an own brand Tortillo chip was €1 v €3. So are they nicer tasting or better value?

fin12

Aldi rock shandy 2ltr is lovely, aldi sparkling water 4 pack, Aldi crisps sour crime and chilli, aldi cheddar white and red cheese, Aldi cheese triangles. Aldi tropical juice, Aldi Turkish delight so nice. Aldi deep dish pizzas are pretty good very similar to goodfellas. Lovely apricot and raspberry yougarts in Aldi, 39c each. Their chocolate flavoured milk is disgusting, best flavoured milks are the marks n sponserones. Aldi rice cakes.

Lidl milk is by far the nicest milk I have ever tasted, love it. Love their cashews and pisstatio nuts in Lidl. Their lemon cake is lovely. Omg and Lidl Irish liqueur cheesecake is so nice only wish it was bigger.

I hardly buy any brands except Lyons tea, Coca Cola, Pringles but usually also can get them on special offer.

Ol' Donie

gordon_geeko wrote: »

i think the jaffa cakes in lidl are just as nice as mc vities , they are 80 cents a box or thereabouts

lidl saskia water is really nice too

love lidl muesli too

Lidl Jaffa are magic.

Their peach yoghurt is delish too, don't know what the branded one is.

Their cooked ham and steaks are great.

Minderbinder

ken wrote: »

Lidl cola is way nicer than any other brand cola on the market including its rip off rivals coca cola and Pepsi.

I highly doubt that.


For me, I tend to buy Tesco Organic Milk now. The only national brand I think that tastes nicer is Glenisk.

Tesco blueberries and strawberries are as nice as the alternative.

KungPao

ken wrote: »

Lidl cola is way nicer than any other brand cola on the market including its rip off rivals coca cola and Pepsi.

I'm not a sucker for marketing, but Coca Cola* is by far the nicest cola drink. And Pepsi tastes like ****e.

As does Freeway and Cadet and other pale imitations.

*except those crappy fastfood places who mix it themselves...tastes terrible compared to a proper bottle.

Titzon Toast

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Don't Lidl do some awesome own brand tea bags?

I keep meaning to try them, but can never remember which ones.

Yep, Fallons reserve blend tea bags in the light brown box, I won't drink anything else.

speedboatchase

purpleisafruit wrote: »

Supervalus daily basic jaffa cakes @85c are exactly the same as their fancier packaged own brand @€;1.30ish

McVities are the only Jaffa Cakes worth buying. I will fight you over this.

Whispered

NIMAN wrote: »

Even in the opening post, saying an own brand Tortillo chip was €1 v €3. So are they nicer tasting or better value?

Both, supervalu tortilla ships are really really nice. I much prefer them to doritos. It's the only reason we ever go near the place

AnonoBoy

speedboatchase wrote: »

McVities are the only Jaffa Cakes worth buying. I will fight you over this.

JACOB'S!!!!! They are the true kings of the Jaffa cake.

AnonoBoy

Lidl do a relish which is just as nice as Ballymaloe (and way cheaper)

esforum

Aldi face scrub, works a treat and about a 1/5 the price of the known brands

ellejay

Aldi's version of Shreddies are lovely and way cheaper.
Very little difference in taste when compared to the branded one.
Two weeks ago they were 4.99 in my local Tesco, 1.29 in Aldi.

ellejay

LexieOnRale wrote: »

Lidl washing up liquid

I would have agreed with this a month ago, but have moved to Tesco own brand, .79 cent, lemongrass antibacterial.
It's great stuff, and hands not allergic to it!
Not that I was allergic to Lidl's but I am to some of the cheaper alternative eg supervalu's own brand.

HensVassal

fanadman1 wrote: »

Dunnes own brand choc biscuits defo the best on the market

Their choc chip cookies are better than brand name ones too. And their ice cream is pretty good. In holland there's a supermarket chain called Albert Heijn. They do Albert Heijn Lager at €2.90 for a 6 pack and it's better than Heineken

snubbleste

Supervalu jaffa cakes

TerrorFirmer

Minderbinder wrote: »

I highly doubt that.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's better than pepsi/coke, but for the 60c it costs, it's pretty good and way better than the Aldi/tesco/dunnes own brand counterparts.

seagull

AnonoBoy wrote: »

JACOB'S!!!!! They are the true kings of the Jaffa cake.

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Lidl Jaffa are magic.

speedboatchase wrote: »

McVities are the only Jaffa Cakes worth buying. I will fight you over this.

seagull wrote: »

Supervalu jaffa cakes are way nicer than McVities

Seems like we need a poll. I'm going for Supervalu 1, Lidl 2, Aldi 3, rest only when option 1, 2 or 3 not available.

Noopti

The Lidl Selection(?) Striploin steaks are seriously good. You can usually find some with really good marbling, and they are melt in the mouth and have great flavour.

snubbleste

seagull wrote: »

Seems like we need a poll. I'm going for Supervalu 1, Lidl 2, Aldi 3, rest only when option 1, 2 or 3 not available.

But are jaffa cakes a cake or a biscuit ?

maudgonner

This thread is making me really hungry

Aldi homefries are damn near as good as McCains, for a fraction of the price. Their french fries are good too.

Sinister Kid

snubbleste wrote: »

But are jaffa cakes a cake or a biscuit ?

Cake.

Cakes go hard when they are stale, biscuits go soft. Jaffa cakes go hard so they are cakes!

HamsterFace

Sinister Kid wrote: »

Cake.

Cakes go hard when they are stale, biscuits go soft. Jaffa cakes go hard so they are cakes!

And there actually was a court case on the matter!

hullaballoo

And to this day, they remain VAT exempt!

sabat

Tesco caramelised red onion hummus and the pasta sauces in the finest range are best in class imo. The paella ready meal was top notch too until they changed the recipe and took out the prawns when they started including it in meal deal offers...

failinis

I have to say I prefer Jacobs Fig rolls (will have Bolands Fig rolls too) but any other version, bleh.

Rubberlegs

The Lidl version of Magnums are nicer in my opinion, as is their version of Ben and Jerrys.
If I'm stuck for time to get to a butchers, Lidl steak mince is the only supermarket mince that compares.
Their tinned tomatoes, passata and purée are every bit as good as the brand names.
Their orange juice in the plastic bottles is the nicest , nicer than Tropicana.
Mouthwash is great at a fraction of the price.
When I was buying nappies, I found their ones every bit as good as Pampers.
Their range of biscuits is nicer in most cases, than the leading brands.