Chocolate has become more expensive recently, like most food, yet some of the best bars in a five-way supermarket taste test were among the cheapest. A Cadbury Dairy Milk 180g bar costs £2.75 at Tesco, and apart from M&S, the other four supermarket bars of a similar or larger size cost less.
Tesco and M&S
The Tesco Milk Chocolate Bar (200g), priced at £2.30, scored 3/5. Katie Oborn, who carried out the test for What's On, said she was pleasantly surprised by its creamy taste and that it would be great for baking or as a cake topping. She preferred the Tesco Ms Molly's Milk Chocolate Bar (100g), which costs 59p and has a richer cocoa butter flavour. One online review quoted said: "Very nice taste, My goto chocolate bar now that I've stopped buying Cadbury. No palm oil. Well done, Tesco."
M&S Choc Marks Milk Chocolate (180g) costs £3.50 and also scored 3/5. It was described as good, tasty and chunky, more chocolatey than creamy, but pricey. The smaller Choc Marks Small Bars (50g) cost £1.40 and made a nice little afternoon treat. The score was mainly down to the price, and because dried whole milk is listed before cocoa butter in the ingredients, though it tastes lovely.
Sainsbury's and Aldi
Sainsbury's milk chocolate drew some negative online reviews, but Oborn was surprised, saying both the taste and ingredients were excellent. She noted that some customers were unhappy about a price rise and others felt the recipe had "changed", but she rated the bar highly. It has a rich, smooth texture, good weight, chunky pieces and a great all-round flavour, and is palm oil free.
Aldi's Dairyfine bar gives Sainsbury's a real run for its money, according to the review. It is cheaper, a little sweeter, and offers brilliant value. After working through a whole bar, Oborn gave it 4/5. The Aldi Choceur, a more premium option, was wonderfully creamy, very much like how Dairy Milk used to taste.
Morrisons Chunk
Morrisons' entry was rated separately because it comes packed with extra ingredients. The supermarket sells a Savers Milk Chocolate bar (100g) for 80p and a 200g Morrisons Milk Chocolate for £2.30, but the test focused on the newer Chunk Belgian Chocolate With Blueberry, Raspberry, Cookie and Brownie (140g) at £2.50. Some shoppers have compared it to Tony's Chocolonely, though Tony's has chunkier pieces and stronger flavours, and costs £4.00 for a 180g bar. Oborn scored the Morrisons Chunk bar 3/5, though many shoppers have given it 5/5 online, with one saying: "This chocolate is so good! Well done, Morrisons."
After tasting all five bars alongside Dairy Milk, Oborn said every supermarket bar tasted better than the Cadbury classic, which she rated just one out of five. In general, plain chocolate is what most people prefer, the review noted. Morrisons Chunk, which contains at least 30% cocoa solids, arguably tastes better than Dairy Milk. While some of the Morrisons Chunk range contains palm oil, Tony's uses no palm oil across its entire range and promotes sustainable farming. Cadbury Dairy Milk lists palm oil as an ingredient in bars sold in Europe, though not apparently in the US or Australia.
