In a blind taste test conducted by The Observer, chef and cookery writer Florence Knight sampled 25 chocolate bars from various retailers, with supermarket own-brand options outperforming established names like Cadbury. The test covered plain, fruit and nut, mint, and white chocolates, with prices ranging from £1 to £7.
Top marks went to Rococo's sea salt bar (£5.95, 70g) and an Ocado plain bar (£1.99, 100g), both scoring five stars. Knight praised Rococo's 'smooth creamy texture with subtle caramel cocoa tones and strong bursts of sea salt', and described the Ocado bar as 'clean, crisp' with a 'strong, lingering cocoa flavour'. Asda's plain chocolate (£1.50, 100g) also impressed with four stars, noted for being 'not too sweet'.
Among fruit and nut varieties, M&S's almond bar (£2, 150g) earned three stars, with Knight liking the 'skin on the nuts' and 'good crunch'. However, Waitrose's raisin-heavy version (£1.62, 200g) scored only one star, criticised for being 'really sugary'. In the mint category, Asda's mint bar (£1.50, 100g) received three stars for its 'bold, strong flavour', while Aldi's version (£1.39, 125g) got two stars for being 'really delicate'.
White chocolate fared poorly overall, with Waitrose's bar (£1.60, 85g) scoring three stars but described as 'very sweet'. Aldi's white chocolate (£1.39, 125g) also got three stars, deemed 'very creamy' but 'familiar'. The test highlighted that premium brands did not always win: a £7 Marcolini bar scored only two stars, with Knight finding it 'crumbly' and not to her taste.
