Tired of paying over the odds for everyday items out of brand loyalty, intrepid journalist Sam Honey took to the streets for answers.
More specifically, he wanted to know which spreadable butter was the best as he needed to know if he was splashing too much cash on Utterly Butterly.
He rolled up his sleeves and pulled out his buttering knife before dipping into own-brand alternatives from Aldi, Marks & Spencer, and Tesco.
Although Sam admits that Utterly Butterly "never disappoints", he was surprised by the results, and now he's replaced his go-to with a cheaper alternative, he reported on Kent Live.
What do you think about own-brand alternatives? Let us know in the comments...
Sam said: "In order to test each of these brands, I cut a quarter piece of toast, applied a healthy spread of butter and got tasting - beginning with Utterly Butterly to get a reminder of the quality that these leading brands are offering.
"This was a taste I was very familiar with, sometimes a simple bit of buttered toast really can taste like a gift from the gods at the right time, and this is a brand I have used for years.
"Spreading easily across the bread, melting nicely into the toast and providing a subtle, but satisfyingly savoury taste to match."
Aldi
Sam continued: "First off, it was easily spreadable, which is always a big factor in my eyes when looking at butter - there’s nothing worse than butter spread that just takes half the slice of bread with it and leaves a sandwich that looks like Edward Scissorhands had a go at prepping your lunch.
"So, Aldi was off to a good start on this front, but when it came down to taste there was much to be desired.
"I say this because I barely noticed any kind of taste at all, obviously at the best of times butter isn’t the most powerful taste on the planet, but you should at least be able to notice it’s there.
"Other than the fact it was the cheapest choice of the day, at just 69p, I was left overall rather disappointed by Aldi."
Marks & Spencer
Sam said: "My local M&S only had salted butter spread, which would of course make it a bit harder to compare when it came down to taste, but I will admit the salty kick did add a nice edge that made for a standout taste.
"Of course, it would be a little unfair to give it full credit in this department as the others were unsalted, so we will consider the other factors to judge this choice as fairly as possible.
"The primary being spreadability , and this is where M&S let me down. I genuinely believe it might have been easier to try and spread concrete on my toast than this spread.
"It nearly tore my toast in half in trying to do so, which for a spread is not at all what you want and I feel could lead to a great amount of lunchtime annoyance.
"So, while in terms of taste this was a solid contender, given how much you would be paying and the shortcomings that came with it, I still had to give it to Utterly Butterly at this stage."
Tesco
Sam continued: "Buying from Tesco for me, much like Aldi, has quite often been a mixed bag when it comes to quality.
"Undeniably, Tesco is up there with the best when it comes to value and this was no expectation.
"At just 85p this wasn’t quite as cheap as Aldi but still a markdown from the leading brand in this challenge.
"Now it was down to taste to see if the top brand could be knocked off the winner’s podium, and I have to say, I was surprised.
"Tesco’s own-brand tasted near identical to the Utterly Butterly I had previously sampled and spread just as easily too.
"Providing a subtle but noticeable bit of taste to the piece of toast and melting nicely into the bread, I was more than satisfied with this choice."
Verdict
Sam concluded: "For me, there was a clear winner amongst today’s options, Tesco absolutely smashed it out of the park on this, almost exactly matching the quality provided by the leading brands with a smaller price tag too.
"Aldi and M&S were, unfortunately, a little more disappointing this time around, with each leaving much to be desired in different areas.
"So, while brands like Utterly Butterly have found a home in my fridge on countless occasions, it’s looking like Tesco might be taking that spot for the foreseeable future."
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