SHOPPERS have complained of eye watering prices on supermarket shelves as inflation continues to bite.
The cost of some everyday essentials like butter, tea bags and toothpaste have even been spotted for a fiver or more.
But food industry insiders have revealed many brands also manufacture supermarket versions of the same products.
While own-brand versions may have slightly different recipes or formulations, often you can’t tell the difference in taste but you could make a big saving on the price.
Here, we reveal some of the brands you can swap for supermarket own label goods which are thought to be made in the same factory – or have near-identical recipes.
And just these seven switches could save nearly £200 a year on your shopping bill.
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Instant hot chocolate – save £20 a year
- Brand – Cadbury: £3 for 400g
- Own-brand – Aldi: £1.35 for 400g
Aldi’s Choceur hot chocolate drink has very similar packing, ingredients and nutritional information to Cadbury’s version.
It’s also the only supermarket own-brand product to contain real milk chocolate – just like Cadbury’s does.
Cadbury’s version contains 15% cocoa and 3.5% milk chocolate, while Aldi’s contains 13% cocoa and 4% milk chocolate.
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When The Sun did a taste test last year we couldn’t tell the difference between the two.
But the price difference is huge, with Aldi’s version costing less than half the branded price.
If you made the swap you'd save £1.65 each time, or £19.80 a year if you buy one a month.
Ready salted crisps – save £62 a year
- Brand – Golden Wonder – £1.40 for 6
- Own-brand – Asda – £1 for 6
A Reddit user who used to work for Golden Wonder has claimed they also make Asda’s own-brand crisps.
It could explain why The Sun crowned Asda’s the best supermarket crisps when we compared them last year.
While we can’t confirm who makes Asda’s crisps, when we looked at the contents of the two products, we found they contained very similar ingredients.
The only difference was that while Golden Wonder crisps are cooked in sunflower oil, the Asda version was cooked in a mix of sunflower and rapeseed oil.
And, of course, the Asda version is 29% cheaper.
You'd save 40p per pack if you switched, and for a family with kids buying three each week that could add up to £62 a year.
Sinus relief headache tablets – £1.11 each time
- Brand – Sudafed – £4.60 for 16 tablets
- Own-brand – Boots – £3.49 for 16 tablets
Medicines sold on the high street are regulated by law and must contain certain active ingredients – so it means the cheap ones are just as good as the expensive ones.
These Boots sinus relief tablets contain exactly the same amount of active ingredients – caffeine, paracetamol and phenylephrine hydrochloride – as the Sudafed “max strength” capsules.
But the own-brand product is 24% cheaper than the branded version.
Both medicines are made by the same manufacturer: Wrafton Laboratories Limited, one of the UK’s biggest producers of over-the-counter medicines.
Exactly how much you can save depends on how often you buy them, but it will be £1.11 each time.
Organic Greek yoghurt – £20
- Brand – Yeo Valley – £2.15 for 450g
- Own-brand – Sainsbury’s – £1.75 for 450g
Yeo Valley has previously made yoghurts for several major supermarkets, including Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, the Co-Op and Sainsbury’s.
Although brands never reveal exactly which products they make, when we compared the branded version with Sainsbury’s SO Organic Greek Style Natural Yoghurt, we found they had very similar ingredients and nutritional profiles.
But the Yeo Valley product contained slightly more fat and less natural milk sugars than the own-brand version.
There could be a slight taste difference but there’s a big price difference, with Sainsbury’s version coming in nearly 20% cheaper.
You could save 40p each time you buy and £20.80 a year if it's in your weekly shop.
Smoked Salmon
- Brand – St James’ Smokehouse – available wholesale only
- Own-brand – Lidl – £3.29 for 100g
If you fancy a treat for a special occasion – like a Coronation party – you might be tempted to splash out on some smoked salmon.
But we found some supermarket versions are actually made by posh smokehouses.
Last autumn, it was revealed that Lidl’s Deluxe Smoked Salmon is made by St James’ Smokehouse, which produces award-winning salmon for wholesalers all over the world.
You can pick some up from the budget supermarket for a bargain price.
Potato Hoops – £40
- Branded – Hula Hoops – £2.25 for 6 x 24g bags
- Own-brand – Aldi, Snackrite – £1.45 for 8 x 25g bags
After several reports of packaging mix-ups, snack manufacturer KP admitted they make both Hula Hoops and Aldi’s Snackrite potato hoops – but to slightly different recipes.
When we compared the ingredients, we found the Aldi version had near-identical contents to the branded version – except for the addition of a salt substitute in Hula Hoops.
Hula Hoops were also slightly higher in calories and salt.
But with the Aldi version both cheaper and containing more bags, the supermarket version costs less than half the branded price, gram-for-gram.
A switch from branded to Aldi's own in your weekly shop could save you £41.60a year.
Toilet roll – £46
- Branded – Cushelle – £9.25 for 6 double rolls
- Own-brand – Asda – £5.45 for 6 double rolls
Global hygiene products manufacturer Essity make branded toilet paper like Velvet and Cushelle in its Northumberland-based paper mill – but also produce Asda’s own-brand Shades loo roll.
This could help explain we found Asda Shades to be the best toilet roll when we tested supermarket and branded products last year.
The supermarket’s own-brand version is more than 40% cheaper than branded Cushelle.
You could save £3.80 each time you buy – or around £45.60 a year based on buying monthly.
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