A food critic tested the luxury food ranges of supermarkets Aldi, Lidl, Tesco and Asda and found there was one clear frontrunner. Britain's biggest supermarkets all offer their own premium range, supposedly offering top quality products for reasonable prices.
YouTuber's challenge
YouTube content creator Sam Wilder has been on a mission to see which major brand wins both in terms of value and also in terms of taste. He bought 48 hours worth of food from Aldi's Specially Selected range having already embarked on the same challenge with Lidl Deluxe, Tesco Finest and Asda Exception. This entailed two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners along with some snacks and a desert.
Sam's bill came to a very reasonable £44.50 when he checked out before heading home to start the challenge. The online food reviewer, who boasts 106,000 subscribers on his channel, was very pleasantly surprised by his Aldi haul - so much so that he anointed the supermarket "the clear frontrunner".
Verdict on Aldi
At the end of the two-day challenge, he said: "I'm placing Aldi as my clear frontrunner of all of the premium supermarket ranges so far.
"It's pretty similar price-wise to Lidl but the quality is right up there with what I found at Tesco and Asda compared to what I found at Lidl.
"Things have more flavour, there's way more to choose from, and to be honest with you, given the option of Aldi or Lidl anyway, outside of this challenge, I'm always going for Aldi."
Winning meal
It seems like it was Sam's last supper that really sealed the deal for Aldi. He tucked into a Wagyu steak with chunky oven chips and cherry tomatoes on the side, finished off with lemon and white chocolate cheesecake slices. Perhaps slightly surprisingly, it was the tomatoes that had him raving.
Sam said: "I'm not going to lie, that is a fantastic steak. Now I did have one of these tomatoes raw, and these tomatoes, I think they are quite possibly the favourite thing I have had in the last 48 hours.
"These tomatoes are phenomenal, they are sweet, they are zesty.
"This is just a very good dinner. £9.99 for a single steak at a supermarket is a little bit dear, but if you're treating yourself, and I think Wagyu is a treat, then go for it. It feels worth it, it was that good."
Abundance of choice
The YouTuber was slightly taken aback before the challenge started when he was browsing Aldi. He didn't realise just how many products fall under the budget supermarket's luxury range, which caused an issue when it came to checking out.
Sam added: "It did feel like there was an abundance of food in this range. What I'm already learning is, the Specially Selected range is, king of huge. I definitely over buy for these challenges."
