It's possible to almost halve your spending by buying economy brands. But would you want to?
With the price of staples like bread and pasta rocketing at a frightening 25% a year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen, I've found my gaze drifting down to the economy shelves in the supermarket.
They're cheaper than the supermarket's standard own brands and often almost half the price of the big brand alternatives.
Much to my husband's confusion, I served two different lasagnes last night. One was made using my usual ingredients and one using the supermarket's economy alternative. So how did they compare?
Pricey pasta
I needed a jar of bolognaise sauce, white lasagne sauce, a pack of vegetarian mince, a tin of tomatoes, lasagne sheets, cheese, garlic bread and something sweet for pudding.
For the branded meal, I bought named brands where possible and the supermarket's own brand garlic bread as there wasn't an alternative. The total price was £13.20. That makes four portions so feeds the two of us for two nights, coming in at £3.30 a portion.
Bring on the cheaper rival. I bought the economy brand where possible and the supermarket's own brand veggie mince, as there wasn't a cheaper option. The total cost was £7.04 - that's almost 50% less at just £1.76 a portion.
Of course, most people (including my long-suffering husband) eat meat and the price differences there were huge. You'll pay between £2 and £3 per kilogram for the economy brand compared to £6 to £8 a kilogram for the more luxurious version.
| Branded | Economy | ||
| Garlic bread | £1.25 | Garlic bread | £0.74 |
| Tin of tomatoes | £0.76 | Tin of tomatoes | £0.33 |
| Vegetarian mince | £1.98 | Vegetarian mince | £1.70 |
| 400g mature cheddar | £3.98 | 400g mature cheddar | £2.18 |
| Lasagne sheets | £0.92 | Lasagne sheets | £0.23 |
| Bolognaise sauce | £1.70 | Bolognaise sauce | £0.23 |
| White sauce | £1.63 | White sauce | £0.97 |
| 2 individual trifles | £0.98 | 2 individual trifles | £0.66 |
| Total | £13.20 | Total | £7.04 |
Testing the taste
So, it's half the price, but how does the quality measure up and would I buy economy brands again?
I added an onion and some tomato puree to each dish and then seasoned to taste. After all, there's no reason not to buy a cheaper version but enhance it with some herbs and spices if needed.
While cooking the ingredients, there were some obvious differences. The economy pasta sheets were thinner and the tomatoes far more watery. But the cheap bolognaise sauce — just 23p for the jar — was delicious. It was a little less rich than the big brand alternative but some tomato puree fixed that.
Cheese is a guilty pleasure of mine and I wasn't expecting much from the economy brand. It was slightly waxier than the expensive alternative but it tasted much the same when grilled. In fact, while you might not put it on a cheese board, it's great for cooking with and would be fine in a sandwich too.
Unfortunately, the garlic bread was a bit of a let down as there was less butter and flavour than with the standard range. Admittedly, that meant there were fewer calories and less salt, but for me that didn't make up for the lack of taste.
The low-cost individual trifles were excellent; I'd have been happy with the quality if I'd paid twice as much.
Cooking conclusions
So, some of the individual ingredients were pretty tasty and certainly measured up to their branded rivals. It was fairly apparent which dish was the economy version when they were side by side but that doesn't mean the cheaper one was bad.
The big-brand lasagne delivered a slightly richer flavour but the economy meal was still delicious. While I might prefer to buy the more expensive ingredients if I had friends over, I'd happily cook the low-cost brands for a straightforward meal on a weekday night.
Although I'd probably replace a couple of items — the garlic bread and watery tomatoes would definitely need upgrading — the rest of meal was fantastic and nearly half the price.
It's definitely worth experimenting with other economy groceries. Some bits tasted just as good as their pricier alternatives but cost half as much.
There are two adults in my house, so we'd save hundreds of pounds over a year by buying more economy branded food. With prices so high, I'm confident that more people than ever before will start recognising the potential for saving, especially when it doesn't mean sacrificing taste.
Felicity is Yahoo! Finance's new money-saving columnist. If you have a money-saving scheme you'd like to see tried out then let us know in the comment box below. You can also follow Felicity on Twitter here - @penny_pinching — for the latest ideas and tips for making more of your money.
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