Christmas tastes better on a budget Who needs Harrods? From mince pies to bubbly, Morrisons and Aldi beat their upmarket rivals
BUDGET supermarket champagne, puddings, mince pies and cheese have beaten the best that the likes of Harrods and Fortnum & Mason have to offer.
Blind tastes on festive food have shown that putting quality food and drink on the table does not require the bank balance of a lottery winner.
Aldi’s Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut at just £12.99 with its ‘fine bubbles and lovely light flavour’ beat 20 other brands in tests by the Good Housekeeping Institute. It scored higher than Fortnum & Mason’s Blanc de Blancs Brut N.V, Hostomme Champagne, which comes in at £32.50.
Morrisons claimed the joint top spot for smoked salmon with its ‘melt in the mouth’ M Signature Oak Smoked Salmon with black pepper and ‘deliciously salty’ Christmas Tree Smoked Salmon.
The annual survey by the institute’s magazine demonstrates that supermarkets, including budget operators such as Aldi and Lidl, are cutting prices but not shortchanging customers on quality.
Its taste test team ate and drank their way through 185 different festive foods from more than 30 stockists across 13 categories – champagne, prosecco, smoked salmon, turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, Christmas pudding, brandy butter, Christmas cake,
‘Pudding with a warm boozy kick’
mince pies, stollen, mulled wine and stilton. Morrisons came top by winning four categories. Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Waitrose also figured frequently in the top five, along with the thriving budget chain Aldi.
The award for the best mince pies went to Marks & Spencer. The judges said its Christmas Star Mince Pies were well filled with plump, juicy fruit in a soft and crumbly pastry. They beat other more expensive brands, including Harrods Fresh Traditional Mince Pies at £9.95 for six.
The best Christmas pudding came from Sainsbury’s. Its Taste The Difference 18 Month Matured pudding was ‘rich, spicy and indulgent’ with a ‘warm boozy kick’. The price of £8 for a large 907g pudding was also appealing and cheaper than the runner-up, Aldi’s Specially Selected Golden Topped pudding at £9.99.
Both beat the grandly titled King George Christmas Pudding from Fortnum & Mason, which comes with an equally grand price of £29.99 for something that is half the size.
Morrisons also claimed top spot for its M Signature Mature Blue Stilton at £3, which beat rivals such as the £23 Cropwell Bishop Animal Rennet Stilton from Harrods.
Caroline Bloor, the Good Housekeeping consumer director, said: ‘Our top scorers show that price is no indicator of tastiness.
‘Our annual Good Housekeeping Tried and Tested special on festive foods is especially good news for anyone with a local Morrisons with its smoked salmon, cranberry sauce and stilton all winners. And, with Aldi taking the winning champagne award, you don’t need to spend a lot to splash out on bubbly.’