A taste test comparing six supermarket own-brand tins of tuna against John West found two cheaper alternatives that outperformed the market leader, while one own-brand tin was described as the worst tuna the tester had ever tasted.
Angela Patrone, Senior Lifestyle Reporter, sampled tuna in spring water from Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Tesco, M&S and Waitrose, alongside a tin of John West, to see whether any of the cheaper options could match or surpass the brand she usually buys. With a single tin of John West now costing £2.25, she wanted to find out whether the supermarket alternatives represented better value.
Four of the six supermarket tins came in at 65p, one was priced at 80p, and the other was nearly double that at £1.50. All six supermarket tunas were sampled straight from the tin after draining.
Top Performers
Tesco's own tuna was the top pick, scoring 9.5 out of 10. It boasted generously generous chunks and struck a far better balance between its fishy and salty flavours than the M&S alternative. The only minor gripe preventing a perfect score was the absence of a ring-pull top.
M&S came in second with a score of 9 out of 10. The tin, priced at 80p and weighing 160g, featured generous chunks with a pleasant, muted pinkish hue rather than a grey or brown tone, and did not give off an unpleasantly strong odour. It was hearty and satisfying, and while it fell slightly short on saltiness, the overall flavour was excellent.
Mid-Range Options
John West itself scored 8 out of 10. The tester noted that she never realised these were one of the smallest tins available in the supermarkets, with considerably smaller chunks compared to several of the supermarket own-brand versions. She enjoyed the taste and could easily identify it as John West, but said she would not describe it as the best on its own.
Sainsbury's scored 7 out of 10. On first impressions, it looked fantastic in the tin — arguably the best of the bunch — with proper chunks of fish rather than a mushed-up mess. The initial bite was delicious, if slightly dry, and meaty without an overpowering fishy flavour, but an odd aftertaste crept in after a few seconds that was a bit off-putting.
Lower Scores
Waitrose scored 5 out of 10. Despite being the priciest supermarket tin at £1.50 and listed as 160g, once drained the tin looked rather sparse. Flavour-wise, it packed an extremely strong — perhaps overwhelmingly so — fishy punch, and the tester said she would not consider £1.50 good value for money.
Lidl scored 4 out of 10. Aside from appearing a touch brown on top, the tuna looked decent enough at first glance, with good-sized chunks of fish. But the flavour let it down badly, being described as the most bland tuna of the entire taste test, desperately crying out for a dollop of mayonnaise or a drizzle of olive oil.
Aldi scored 1 out of 10 and was described as, without question, the worst tuna the tester had ever tasted, and not just in this taste test. The tuna was noticeably pungent and more mushy than chunky, with plenty of small bits floating in the liquid, making it tricky to drain without losing some. Once drained, it bore a striking resemblance to cat food, and unfortunately the taste was no different.
