Not all Quality Street chocolate is the same – here's how to know you're buying the right one

Every year, around late October, purple glittery packets (and tins, if you are extra fancy) indicate that Christmas is almost here.

Last year, we tasted and rated all 12 Quality Street chocolates and toffees. We tasted all the old favourites – the green triangle and the purple one – and we even found some new flavours that are simply delicious. (We highly recommend the Deluxe Toffee Cup if you want to try something new.)

READ: We tasted and rated all 12 Quality Street chocolates

This year, as shops started to stock their shelves with tinsel and Christmas crackers, we were surprised to notice that Nestlé South Africa is distributing two different versions of Quality Street. One is made in South Africa and is the version we tasted last year, while a new UK import can now be found too. There are some differences between the two, so in the name of research we decided to compare them.

While we were at it, we decided to compare the original Nestlé Quality Street with two more affordable alternatives found in South Africa: Regent Street, imported by Pick n Pay, and Regal, manufactured by Shoprite/Checkers.

The prices

Comparing prices was a challenge, as each retailer offered different discounts on each of the brands at different times.

Regent Street (400g) only available at Pick n Pay for R64.99
Quality Street SA (500g) Pick n Pay R99.99
Quality Steet UK (435g) Pick n Pay R109.99
Regal (500g) only available at Checkers for R59.99

The usual suspects

All four chocolate mixes shared some remarkable similarities, so we pitched the favourites head to head.

Coconut

Each of the chocolate mixes offered a shredded coconut with chocolate covering. Our tasters really enjoyed the flavour and texture of Regent street, with Qualilty Street UK coming in a close second.

Toffee finger

These were really hard work. Have you ever tried to taste four chocolate toffees back to back? Somebody call a dentist! Again, Regent Street was our favourite with Quality Street SA scoring good points despite being the smaller of the four.

4. The green triangle

The winner by a country mile was Quality Street UK/ Regal scored well and offered the most per packet, so this is the one to choose if you are a praline fan.

5. Fudge

All were very sweet, as can be expected, but our favourite was here was Quality Street SA.

6. Strawberry

These were incredibly sweet, so these are ones for the true sugar fans. Quality Street SA came tops with the strongest strawberry flavour.

7. Orange

Chocolate orange is not everyone’s favourite, so if you’re not a fan then Quality Street SA is the one for you as it does not offer an orange flavoured choccie. Quality Street UK came out tops here.

Which one is right for you?

After tasting all of the chocolates, we realised that each was unique in different ways. Some tasters loved one brand, while other tasters thought they were terrible. We agreed that the only true differences here are in the different flavour offerings so we built a chart to show where the main differences are:

The rules of Food24 Tastes:

– All tasters tasted and scored all 12 samples.

– The samples were tasted without wrappers or foil, and were not easily identifiable.

– The samples were not labelled and were tasted in a random order.

– Each sample was rated on texture, taste and likeability.

– 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 entertainment. You may, however, have come to this article through various paid-for advertising.

Note: Prices correct at time of publication.