I tricked my kids into eating dupes of favourite brands from Heinz beans to Wotsits – here’s what to buy to save fortune
WHEN it comes to my sons, beans really does mean Heinz.
Every time I try to swap their favourite brands for a cheaper version, I’m met with indignation about how Will, 20, Ally, 16, Eric, 13, and Ted, ten, can only eat Walkers crisps or Nutella chocolate spread.
Their insistence on only having top-of-the-range goods means an expensive shopping bill at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is already hitting my purse hard. In a bid to save some cash, I decided to embark on a covert operation.
Could it be that my hungry offspring are just blindsided by the packaging? Or is the real deal truly best?
After researching the top-rated own-brand swaps, I popped to the supermarkets and sneakily filled the cupboards of our home near Bristol with my dupes.
This is how they went down . . .
KELLOGG’S FROSTIES V ALDI FROSTED FLAKES
AS breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I’m a serial cereal buyer. But with a 470g box of Frosties priced at £3.55, the costs soon adds up.
Aldi’s Harvest Morn Frosted Flakes look the same, though, and are £1.15 for a slightly more generous 500g packet, so I throw some into my trolley and hope for the best as I pour them into my plastic cereal container and put them in the cupboard.
The next morning, spring has finally sprung as everyone leaves the house after their “Frosties”, none the wiser their mum has sabotaged their brekkie with a cheap alternative costing 52.5p less per 100g.
WINNER: DUPE
SAVING £2.40
POT NOODLE V LIDL NEWGATE EXPRESS SPEEDY NOODLE
THIS could be the toughest of my challenges, as Will often rolls in from his physical job as a spray renderer and reaches for his post-work “snack” of a Pot Noodle.
They cost £1.20 each so I once tried replacing it with Tesco’s version, but both he and Ally complained it tasted like cardboard.
A friend tells me the Lidl one costs 69p and is a good comparison, so that’s what I’ll try this time.
I offer to make a chicken and mushroom one for him and after adding a watery-looking soy sauce, pour it into a bowl.
Will eyes it suspiciously and asks where his real Pot Noodle is, saying: “That looks gross.”
One bite and he says it tastes gross too. Rumbled.
WINNER: BRAND
EXTRA: 51p
McCAIN CRISPY FRENCH FRIES V WAITROSE ESSENTIAL FRENCH FRIES
SURELY a chip is a chip and when posh supermarket Waitrose sells its own version of French fries for £1.75 for a 900g bag, why have I been paying £3.20 for a brand?
There must be a reason, so after cooking them in the oven, I pile a portion on to plates and wait for my family’s reaction.
They wolf them down and leave the table satisfied.
They might not have noticed it wasn’t their usual brand of choice, but I’ll certainly notice my bank balance looking healthier, even if they haven’t had the healthiest meal.
WINNER: DUPE
SAVING: £1.45
HEINZ TOMATO KETCHUP V SAINSBURY’S TOMATO KETCHUP
REMEMBER the tomato shortage from this time last year? This is the reason why the price of ketchup has rocketed.
My kids tell me you can’t have chips without it, but who can afford £3.40 per 460g bottle for a mere condiment? I must push this swap over the line.
I make small talk as the boys dollop a blob on to their plates, as I can see it looks thicker than their usual sauce.
They’re so ravenous, they don’t twig that I’ve switched the top seller for Sainsbury’s, setting me back just 90p for the same size bottle.
WINNER: DUPE
SAVING: £2.50
NUTELLA V M&S ITALIAN CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CREME
THIS was a wildcard as it is more expensive than actual Nutella.
I wondered if my boys’ tastebuds were just conditioned to recognise the things they usually eat or could really tell the difference between brands – not just cheaper ones, but pricier ones too.
And this must be the crème de la crème, because it is not just any chocolate spread, it is M&S chocolate spread. And it costs a whopping £4.50 for 360g.
Yet Ally took one bite and thought it was Nutella, cheaper at £3.20 for a similar size jar, and the other boys fell for it too.
WINNER: BRAND
EXTRA: £1.30
HEINZ BAKED BEANS V MORRISONS BAKED BEANS
I DON’T bother buying a single can of beans any more, as only a four-pack can serve up enough to satisfy bean-fiend Ted’s appetite.
It costs around £1.25 for a 415g tin of Heinz, so swapping these could save me a fortune.
Morrisons’ version is only 50p, so I’m hoping to be quids-in by passing off a dupe as the more expensive brand.
I microwave them and serve them with his usual bread and butter for dipping.
And as he happily gobbles them up, I whisper “kerching” under my breath.
WINNER: DUPE
SAVING: 75p
SNACK A JACKS RICE CAKES V TESCO RICE CAKES
ALLY and Eric are old enough to have realised how boring a plain rice cake is, but they love these tangy versions.
I had been considering cutting the snack from my shopping list because they aren’t filling enough to satisfy your hunger, but then my eyes locked on the lower shelf.
Tesco’s rice cakes cost £1.25 for 120g, whereas Snack a Jacks are £2.25 a pack.
I decant them into a plastic box in the cupboard anyway, so who will know the difference?
Ally is the first home and straight to the snack tub. “How come it’s got yellow bits on it, Mum?” he asks as he bites into the Tesco treat.
“Oh, they’ve probably changed the recipe,” I lie as he walks off.
WINNER: DUPE
SAVING: £1
WALKERS WOTSITS V TESCO CHEESE PUFFS
I USUALLY buy this classic cheesy snack to add to lunchboxes or for a quick bite when they come home from school.
At £1.95 for six, they work out at almost 33p per packet and, with a large family, the whole lot disappears in the blink of an eye.
Tesco’s Cheese Puffs are only £1.35 for ten, coming in at less than 14p per packet.
After school one night, I play hostess and present each of them with a bowl of the supermarket version rather than flinging the bags in their direction.
They hungrily hoover them up by the handful, without noticing they are a little less cheesy and lighter in colour.
WINNER: DUPE
SAVING: £1.95 for ten
HEINZ SPAGHETTI HOOPS V ASDA SPAGHETTI LOOPS
WHENEVER I’m reaching for a freezer dinner and want to add an easy side, I pop open a tin of hoops (unspaghettable, according to the brand).
The price of Heinz hoops has rocketed to £1.25 for 400g, so I heat up a tin of 47p Asda Spaghetti Loops (see what they did there?) and hope Eric won’t pick up on the darker colour of the sauce.
He didn’t – but he did notice that they tasted different, so my ruse is discovered.
It seems Heinz really are unspaghettable.
WINNER: BRAND
EXTRA: 78p
CADBURY MINI ROLLS V ALDI DAIRYFINE MINI ROLLS
THE price of my kids’ favourite cake bars Mini Rolls shot through the roof recently.
The cheapest I can get a pack of ten for is £2.50 at Morrisons, while Tesco charges £3.45. Do I have to remove them from our snack stash, or is there an alternative?
I decide to play this one dangerously as the packaging looks almost identical and pass Ted one of Aldi’s more reasonably priced pack of ten, which cost £1.15.
Did he notice? Did he heck.
WINNER: DUPE
SAVING: £1.35