Is there anything better than a fridge-cold glass of fresh orange juice in the summer? The sweet, citrus beverage is like nectar and is a really refreshing way to start the day.
But have you been overpaying for it by opting for big name brands when most of the supermarket own tastes just as good in comparison?
I got thinking about the price of orange juice after being robbed two quid for a small bottle of Tropicana with one of my supermarket fry ups. I knew a large carton from the main aisles would cost less, and own brand ones would likely be even cheaper.
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I headed into the aisles to round up smooth orange juice from Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s M&S and Aldi to see which one tasted the best. For the purpose of the review, I picked orange juice ‘not from concentrate’, and In the closest available size to the bottle of Tropicana - though it was slim pickings in some stores. I had to visit two Tesco’s to get their carton.
Not from concentrate means the juice has been created by juicing the fruit and then processing it without any water removal or reconstitution, whereas 'from concentrate' is slightly different - though nutritionally, there’s nothing much in it, they’re as healthy as each other.
Here’s what I thought when I compared the supermarket own orange juices to Tropicana.
Price and size
A 900ml bottle of Tropicana smooth pressed fruit juice weighs in an average price of £2.75, which is the most expensive juice on this list, costing more than 20p per 100ml. I managed to pick up three one litre supermarket bottles of juice from Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and M&S, though could only get larger 1.75 litre bottles from Tesco, Asda and Aldi.
Here’s a breakdown of the prices and how much they cost per 100ml according to the retailer websites:
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Morrisons Orange Juice 1 litre - £1.30 or 13p per 100ml
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M&S Pure Squeezed Orange Juice 1 litre - £1.50 or 15p per 100ml
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Sainsbury’s Smooth Orange Juice 1 litre - £1.45 or 15p per 100ml
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Tesco Orange Juice Smooth 1.75 litres - £2.10 or 12p per 100ml
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Asda Orange Juice Smooth 1.75 litres - £2.10 or 12p per 100ml
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Aldi The Juice Company Orange Juice 1.75 litres - £1.69 oe 10p per 100ml
Taste test
I’ve had plenty of orange juice in my 24 years and have never really once stopped to be mindful of the flavour, mouthfeel or acidity of it. I just know I don’t like bits in my juice, and it goes well with vodka on the weekends.
Tropicana was the baseline for this test - sweet, sugary and pretty delicious, though the taste is somewhat tainted when you double check the receipt. Two of the six supermarket orange juices were, in mine and my dad’s opinion, better than Tropicana, while the other four fell back.
Tesco’s orange juice was the deepest in colour, and felt quite thick and syrupy in comparison to the rest, while Aldi’s felt as though it was the wateriest, but weighed in with the highest sugar content at 18 per cent.
Asda’s offering was very sharp and quite acidic, leaving behind that tingly feeling on your tongue you get when you eat too much pineapple. There was nothing unpleasant about Morrison’s juice, but it was lighter in colour compared to the rest, but still didn’t quite match up to Tropicana in terms of flavour.
Both me and my dad agreed that it was a toss up between M&S and Sainsbury’s who had the best own brand smooth orange juice, but one just cinched it. And I’ll tell you why.
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Verdict
Upon drinking seven glasses of orange juice, there were just two we found delicious enough to ditch Tropicana for. M&S offered a nice tartness to it, with a flavoursome aftertaste, thanks to it ‘containing nine oranges’, however the real winner for me was Sainsbury’s.
It was one of the most expensive in terms of cost per 100ml, and I’d have perhaps considered a cheaper winner if M&S hadn’t also cost 15p per 100ml. But Sainsbury’s juice tasted the closest to eating an actual orange, with a really fresh flavour and no synthetic aftertaste. It had one of the lowest sugar contents at 13 per cent, and was the perfect accompaniment to some buttered toast in the morning.
None of the supermarket juices were particularly unpleasant, and it appears that buying bigger cartons does help keep costs down, but Sainsbury’s really outshone the rest and is the one you’ll find in my fridge for years to come.
