A 40p can of supermarket beans has been picked out as even tastier than Heinz by taste testers.
Aldi‘s Bramwells Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce was crowned joint favourite in a blind taste test run by consumer champion Which?.
It came joint first with Lidl‘s Newgate Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce, which is a couple of pennies more at 42p.
Which? pitted branded favourites Heinz and Branston against supermarket own brands which also included the likes of Asda, Morrisons and Tesco.
Sixty baked bean enthusiasts took part in the test.
The Aldi and Lidl own brand versions both scored 77% and were praised for their great flavour and texture.
Heinz was only just pipped to the post, scoring 76% – but it’s much more expensive at £1.40 for a 415g tin.
Testers said the beans had a tasty tomato flavour and the sweetness was just right.
Coming in just behind Heinz were the Branston Baked Beans with a score of 74%.
They’re priced at £1 for a 410g tin, making them cheaper than Heinz but still more expensive than the own brand options.
Tasters also particularly enjoyed Asda and Sainsbury’s baked beans.
Tesco and M&S were less liked, while Co-op’s beans were the least favourite.
Here’s how each product scored
- Best Buy & Great Value: Aldi Bramwells Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce – 77%.
- Best Buy & Great Value: Lidl Newgate Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce – 77%.
- Heinz Beanz – 76%.
- Branston Baked Beans – 74%.
- Asda Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce – 73%. Good looking with a decent texture. Over half of our testers approved of their flavour and sweetness. 40p for 410g (10p per 100g).
- Sainsbury’s Baked Beans in Tasty Tomato Sauce – 73%. Good all-rounders with a pleasing texture, but a bit on the bland side. 40p for 400g (10p per 100g).
- Morrisons Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 71%. Flavour could be more robust, but otherwise reasonably good. 45p for 410g (11p per 100g).
- Ocado Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 71%. Tasters generally liked the look, texture and sweetness of these beans. A stronger flavour would have boosted their popularity further. 42p for 420g (10p per 100g).
- Waitrose Essential Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 71%. Delicious looking with an excellent sauce texture. A little more flavour and sweetness would have helped them score higher. 55p for 420g (13p per 100g).
- Tesco Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 68%. Not bad, but two-thirds wanted a stronger flavour and fewer than half approved of their sweetness. 42p for 420g (10p per 100g). Available from Tesco.
- M&S Baked Beans – 64%. Dull-looking beans that lacked flavour, though nearly half our testers said their sweetness was spot-on. 45p for 400g (11p per 100g). Available from M&S (in-store only) and Ocado.
- Co-op Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 57%. Least enjoyed of all the beans: two-thirds of our panel said their flavour was too weak, and most wanted them to be sweeter. 45p for 400g (11p per 100g). Available from Co-op.
