This week, Value for money compares four varieties of peanut butter
Tesco Value Crunchy Peanut Butter
€1.12 for 340g, €3.29 per kg
This is the cheapest peanut butter we tried and indeed the cheapest we could find. It is made with 87 per cent peanuts which is the lowest percentage of all the brands reviewed. It actually tastes perfectly nice and is one of the few Tesco Value products we have reviewed in recent times that we can say that about. The nuts are big and crunchy and bursting with salty, er, goodness.
Verdict: Surprisingly nice
* * * *
Whole Earth Organic Peanut Butter
€2.99 for 340g, €8.79 per kg
This is an organic, sugar-free peanut butter that does taste that little bit more wholesome than the competition. It is wonderfully rough textured and has the purest ingredient list – 95 per cent peanuts, palm oil and sea salt. It is a product that we would imagine is actually good for you. It is the dearest peanut butter we reviewed but because it is now widely available in supermarkets and not just sold in health food stores, it has fallen quite significantly in price in recent years. If your budget can stretch to it, it is undoubtedly the best option.
Verdict: Pricey but nice
* * * *
Sun-Pat Crunchy Peanut Butter
€1.99 for 340g, €5.85 per kg
This is okay although it has an oddly synthetic aftertaste that was not entirely pleasant. While it is made with 95 per cent nuts, it is strangely tasteless and the nuts lack the coarse crunchiness of a really good crunchy peanut butter. Having said all that, it is not too dear and will taste perfectly fine on a sandwich.
Verdict: Average
* * *
Grandessa Crunchy Peanut Butter
€1.65 for 500g, €3.30 per kg
Hmmm, we have been quite kind to Aldi in recent months and have been impressed by the quality of some of the products we have reviewed but this is not one of those times. While it is certainly cheap, we thought it tasted, um, what’s the word we’re looking for here? Horrible, that’s it. The nuts are massive and nicely crunchy but largely tasteless. In fact the only real flavour we could discern was sugar. It is ridiculously, horribly sweet and if we never have to taste this again we’ll be happy.
Verdict: Horrible
*
Is there something you would like us to test? E-mail suggestions to pricewatch@irishtimes.com
