The humble biscuit has been a British staple for hundreds of years, and even in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, shoppers are showing no signs of quitting their habit. One in four people tuck into biscuits daily, and as a nation we spend more than £3bn on the sugary snacks year.
And it is older Brits that love biscuits the most – 31% admit to eating at least one a day, and they put taste above all other factors when purchasing their favourite snack – even if it means spending a bit more.
So, given older Brits are the biscuit authority, over 50s experts SunLife polled more than 450 of them to find out their biccie of choice.
The Ginger Nut came out on top. In second place was Rich Tea, followed by a plain Digestive and a Custard Cream, while Shortbread made up the top five.
The only chocolate biscuits in the top ten were the Chocolate Digestive (6) and Bourbon (8), and only three with ‘fillings’ made the top ten – Custard Creams, Jammy Dodgers and Bourbons.
The five that came in after Nice biscuits were Fruit Shortcakes, plain Hobnobs, Garibaldis, Fig Rolls and chocolate Hobnobs.
The poll also discovered that dunkability is a key factor for older Brits, with many of the poll’s respondents citing ‘dunking’ as a reason for their choice of biscuit:
“Any biscuit that can be dunked into a cuppa at the time of drinking is the best biscuit!!” Dee
“A plain digestive with a cuppa for me. Love to dunk.” Shirley
“I love all biccies, but a dunked bourbon is my best.” Julie
“I love most biscuits, but chocolate digestive and ginger nuts are the best with tea for me.” Jenny
“Fruit shortcake – can’t dunk chocolate in tea!” Howard
Ian Atkinson, CMO at SunLife said: “The results of our biscuit poll make quite surprising reading, but I’m happy to see the Ginger Nut (a personal favourite) taking the top spot. It’s a top five of classic British biscuits that have been around for many years, and which are all well suited to dunking in a nice cup of tea.”
