Food24
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Videos
    • Budget recipes
    • South African recipes
    • Air fryer recipes
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Pork recipes
    • Fish and Tips
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • Cocktails
    • Non-alcoholic drinks
  • Features
    • Food news
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Food24 Taste Tests
    • Kitchen Design and Appliances
    • Drinks
      • Wine
      • Beer
      • Coffee
    • Conscious Cooking
    • In Season
      • Spring
  • Cooking guides
    • Pantry staples
    • Load shedding lifesavers
    • Baking tips and tricks
  • World Cup Weekend Guide
  • More
    • Win
    • Newsletters
No Result
View All Result
Food24
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Videos
    • Budget recipes
    • South African recipes
    • Air fryer recipes
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Pork recipes
    • Fish and Tips
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • Cocktails
    • Non-alcoholic drinks
  • Features
    • Food news
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Food24 Taste Tests
    • Kitchen Design and Appliances
    • Drinks
      • Wine
      • Beer
      • Coffee
    • Conscious Cooking
    • In Season
      • Spring
  • Cooking guides
    • Pantry staples
    • Load shedding lifesavers
    • Baking tips and tricks
  • World Cup Weekend Guide
  • More
    • Win
    • Newsletters
No Result
View All Result
Food24
No Result
View All Result

No name brands vs premium: we taste test hot chocolate and 3 other winter pantry staples

Food24

We tasted winter pantry staples to find the best value

Katy Rose by Katy Rose
May 28, 2021
in Features, Food24 taste tests
2
No name brands vs premium: we taste test hot chocolate and 3 other winter pantry staples

Photo by Cala on Unsplash

1
SHARES
20.3k
VIEWS
FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsapp

Winter is knocking on the door, and we are getting ready for soup season in a big way! This is the time of year for soups, stews, hot chocolate, and food that is warming and comforting.

We tested a range of well-known food brands against their no-name competition from Spar, Woolworths, Pick n Pay and Checkers. All samples were tasted “blind”, that is without any labels or packaging, to try to make the results as fair as possible. We wanted to know which products tasted better and where we could save some Rands on our food shopping bill.

1. Butternut soup

Pick n Pay 400g, R19.99 (R49.97 per kilo)
Spar 410g,  R18.99 (R46.31 per kilo)
Woolworths 400g, R26.99 (R67.47 per kilo)
Pot O’ Gold* 410g, R16.99 (R41.43 per kilo)
Denny 400g, R22.99 (R57.47)

No name brands vs premium: we taste test hot chocolate and 3 other winter pantry staplesTinned soup is not something we often eat at home, opting instead to make a batch of soup with lots of veggies and homemade stock. South Africa’s favourite soup – butternut soup, is produced by a number of different brands and we tasted them side by side.

Most of these were ok, and with a little seasoning and a few croutons, were are a tasty batch for winter nights when you don’t feel like cooking. Denny butternut soup had an unnerving mushroom flavour (even when tasted blind!) and Woolworths butternut soup did not impress us at all.

Verdict: Pot ‘o Gold wins this test by a country mile! Delicious flavour, creamy texture, and all at a great price!

2. Instant soup – single serving

Pick n Pay R16.99 (R5.66 per serving)
The Kitchen* R14.99 (R4.99 per serving)
Knorr Cup a soup R18.99 (R6.33 per serving)

No name brands vs premium: we taste test hot chocolate and 3 other winter pantry staplesThese lunchtime classics are popular for a reason – the hot liquid and salty hit is just right if you’re feeling a bit chilly. We didn’t find much difference between these samples, although Knorr had a few bits of herbs and vegetables which added some texture.

Verdict: A cup of soup is an easy snack, but be careful of consuming too much salt!

3. Hot chocolate 

Woolworths 500g R62.99 (R125.98 per kilo)
Nestle 500g R56.99 (R113.98 per kilo)
Spar 500g R59.99 (R119.98 per kilo)
Nomu 250g R56.99 (R227.96 per kilo)
Note: packshot shown is 500g R89.95 (R179.90 per kilo)

No name brands vs premium: we taste test hot chocolate and 3 other winter pantry staplesAll of these were made exactly to their respective instructions – all with hot water, and gosh were they disappointing! One was almost undrinkable, and most were weak and dusty tasting. This leads us to the conclusion that if you’re making hot chocolate at home you should a) use about double the recommended amount and b) always add milk. The more expensive ones were not the best in this line-up, so save yourself some money and stick to Nestle.

Verdict: the best one for us was Nestle, which we think is due to the high milk content.

*Correction: a previous version of this article depicted a different Nomu product. This has now been corrected.

4. Baked beans in tomato sauce

Woolworths 410g, R11.99 (R29.24 per kilo)
Koo 410g, R11.99 (R29.24 per kilo)
Pick n Pay Livewell 410g, R9.99 (R24.36 per kilo)
Pot O’ Gold 410g, R9.99 (R24.36 per kilo)

Checkers Housebrand 410g, R8.99 (R21.92 per kilo)
Rhodes 410g, R10.99 (R26.24 per kilo)

No name brands vs premium: we taste test hot chocolate and 3 other winter pantry staplesBaked beans are the foundation of any loadshedding meal or full English breakfast, but in this batch of samples, there was really nothing very impressive. We found two main characteristics – beans that had a great texture (such as Pot O’ Gold) and beans that had a tasty sauce (Rhodes and Woolworths). None that we tasted had a good combination of both, unfortunately.

Verdict: They’re all basically the same, although Pot O’ Gold beans had a smooth texture, and the sauce could maybe be fixed with a good dose of salt and pepper.

The results

Some of the products really surprised us with their quality and affordability. The ones we would buy again are:

  • Pot O’ Gold Butternut soup was delicious and by far the cheapest – we’d be happy to serve it to our mother-in-law.
  • Nestle Hot Chocolate is our favourite, but don’t expect it to stretch as far as it says on the label.
  • Pick any baked beans – they’re all much the same. Spice them up as you like with red pepper, chilli sauce or fresh parsley.
  • Buy the instant soup that is on special offer – but don’t rely on them for any meaningful nutrition!

This article is not sponsored in any way and Food24 was not paid to come to any particular result. Our taste tests are always unbiased and intended for your information. However, you may have come to this article through various paid-for advertising.

Tags: FeaturesFood24


Related Posts

Peppermint-crisp-cheesecake
Features

We asked, you answered: What is SA’s favourite dessert?

September 20, 2023
kosher-salt-vs-other-salt-varieties
Cooking Guides and Tips

Seasoning smarts: Kosher salt vs other salt varieties

September 18, 2023
best-store-bought-garlic-baguette
Food24 taste tests

Food24’s top garlic butter baguette revealed

September 15, 2023
Next Post
Coffee – what the caffeinated constant says about you

Coffee – what the caffeinated constant says about you

Comments 2

  1. Athalie says:
    2 years ago

    In the hot chocolate test you didn’t try Antigua, which is available now at a lot of supermarkets. Yes, you certainly do have to use more thant the instructions indicate, but it’s delicious – much nicer than Nestle. And cheaper.

    Reply
  2. Bino says:
    2 years ago

    Best hot chocolate is Importers hot chocolate sold at Checkers at R89.99 per kg

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Food24 Team Loves

Peppermint-crisp-cheesecake

We asked, you answered: What is SA’s favourite dessert?

September 20, 2023
best-south-african-chutney-brands

Fruit chutney showdown: 8 store-bought picks put to the test

September 8, 2023
fondue charcuterie

5 ideas for the perfect winter-friendly charcuterie board

August 14, 2023
roasted-potato-and-tomato-soup

Food24 shares our memories from the ‘soup-er women’ in our lives

August 9, 2023
rusks

10 new products we just can’t get enough of

August 8, 2023

Recent favourites

  • best-store-bought-garlic-baguette

    Food24’s top garlic butter baguette revealed

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Game day drinks: What to sip while watching the Rugby World Cup

    5 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 10 tips for making the perfect dumplings for stew

    82 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Seasoning smarts: Kosher salt vs other salt varieties

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Fruit chutney showdown: 8 store-bought picks put to the test

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get weekly access to our best recipes, tips and tricks

Sign Up
Footer

Quick links

  • Home
  • News
  • Videos
  • Win

Collections

  • New Recipes
  • Festive
  • Baking
  • Dessert Recipes
  • Braai Recipes
  • Lunchbox
  • South African Recipes
  • Pasta Recipes

Other links

  • Advertise with Food24
  • Editorial Policy
  • How to Pitch
  • Contact us

Not in the mood to cook?

Visit eatout.co.za to find the perfect restaurant near you.

eatout.co.za

© 2020 Food24.com. All rights reserved.

  • About us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • New Media
IAB
No Result
View All Result
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Videos
    • Budget recipes
    • South African recipes
    • Air fryer recipes
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Pork recipes
    • Fish and Tips
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • Cocktails
    • Non-alcoholic drinks
  • Features
    • Food news
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Food24 Taste Tests
    • Kitchen Design and Appliances
    • Drinks
      • Wine
      • Beer
      • Coffee
    • Conscious Cooking
    • In Season
      • Spring
  • Cooking guides
    • Pantry staples
    • Load shedding lifesavers
    • Baking tips and tricks
  • World Cup Weekend Guide
  • More
    • Win
    • Newsletters

© 2019 Food24.com. All rights reserved.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Fill the forms below to register

Subscribe to Newsletter

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Close
Food24
Recipe Disclaimer

All recipe content is the responsibility of the party from whom such content originated. You agree that you use the content on Food24 at your own risk. Please read our editorial policy.
Close
Food24
Get the latest recipes delivered to your inbox weekly
Promotional Newsletter

Be the first to receive information about competitions and special offers from Food24 and it's partners.

You have successfully been subscribed!
Something went wrong. Please try again.
Make sure you have completed all required fields.
I don't want to see this again