WITH children going back to school, parents will be digging out lunchboxes.
But as families struggle with the rising cost of groceries, it is important to make sure what your little ones eat is wallet-friendly as well as nutritious.
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A Food Foundation survey suggests a child’s packed lunch varies from £1.80 to £2.40 a day.
So where is the best place to shop for your child’s packed lunch essentials?
Lynsey Hope, from West Malling, Kent, has three children aged between five and 11.
She went out and bought ingredients to cover five days’ worth of packed lunches, then totted up the cost of the daily lunch.
Aldi
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- Ham sandwich: 16p
- Wotsits: 25p
- Apple: 18p
- Cheese ’a’ Peel: 29p
- Strawberry fromage frais: 7p
- Sun Quench Fruity Blast orange, 200ml: 22p
TOTAL: £1.17
LYNSEY SAYS: A super-impressive price from Aldi, helped by a good-value pack of ham costing £1.89 for 40 slices.
I also managed to pick up a Cheestrings dupe which brought down the overall cost.
The yoghurt was 7p per pot and although the apple wasn’t the cheapest, they were really delicious.
Plus, the bottled drinks were the cheapest of all the supermarkets, working out at 22p each.
Lidl
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- Ham sandwich: 23p
- Wotsits: 25p
- Apple: 17p
- Strings & Things Cheesestrings: 24p
- Strawberry fromage frais: 7p
- Naturis apple juice (200ml): 30p
TOTAL: £1.26
LYNSEY SAYS: Lidl was the cheapest place to bag branded Cheestrings and also the cheapest place for bread.
A sliced, medium-white loaf cost me just 55p.
I couldn’t find any bottled drinks on the day, so it was the cartons of apple juice that bulked up the price of this lunch.
The ham was also pricey but good quality, and the kids enjoyed it.
Given the standard of what they ate, I still felt £1.26 was a good price.
Sainsbury’s
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- Ham sandwich: 20p
- Quavers: 37p
- Apple: 28p
- Strings & Things Cheesestrings: 31p
- Strawberry fromage frais: 17p
- Drink: 33p
TOTAL: £1.66
LYNSEY SAYS: I was pretty impressed by the good quality of the Sainsbury’s products.
A little pricier than the budget supermarkets, but still cheaper than Tesco and Morrisons.
The ham, bread, apples and yoghurts were, however, good quality, without too many nasties in the ingredients.
So this is a winning option if you like to check labels.
Crisps were expensive, though, at £2.20 for a bag of six.
M&S
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- Ham sandwich: 44p
- M&S prawn cocktail shells: 33p
- Apple: 30p
- M&S mini Cornish Cove cheese: £1.25
- M&S Good Gut mango and peach or strawberry yoghurt: 60p
- Apple and raspberry still water (200ml): 50p
TOTAL: £3.42
LYNSEY SAYS: The pack of ham that I bought was £1.50, but it worked out more expensive as there were only ten slices inside.
I couldn’t get branded Cheesestrings at my local store, so having to buy a mini cheese portion pushed cost up.
Sadly, that means I won’t be filling my kids’ lunchboxes with this stuff day in, day out. It cost way too much.
Asda
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- Ham sandwich: 17p
- Pom-Bear crisps: 23p
- Apple: 12p
- Strings & Things Cheesestrings: 31p
- Paw Patrol fromage frais: 20p
- Apple and blackcurrant juice drink (200ml): 25p
TOTAL: £1.28
LYNSEY SAYS: Asda worked out as the third cheapest for kids’ packed lunch essentials.
You could get good deals on crisps and bottled drinks if you bought large packs, and the sandwich worked out at excellent value.
The drinks were great value and much cheaper than a branded Fruit Shoot.
I didn’t particularly like the taste or quality of the ham, but I had no complaints with the rest of the products.
Waitrose
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- Ham sandwich: 75p
- Pom-Bear crisps: 25p
- Apple: 31p
- Strings & Things Cheesestrings: 33p
- Strawberry Petits Filous: 50p
- Apple juice (200ml): 43p
TOTAL: £2.57
LYNSEY SAYS: Although the Pom-Bear branded crisps were cheaper than the same item at Morrisons, the expensive bread and ham put up the cost of the Waitrose lunch.
The yoghurts were expensive, too, though admittedly larger than most of the others.
When you looked at what you got, it wasn’t too different from other super- markets.
And I didn’t think it was worth the extra pennies.
Tesco
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- Ham sandwich: 19p
- Quavers: 28p
- Apple: 25p
- Strings & Things Cheesestrings: 31p
- Strawberry fromage frais: 35p
- Apple and blackcurrant Fruit Splash (250ml): 38p
TOTAL: £1.76
LYNSEY SAYS: A good price on the apple and sandwich, but the yoghurts and drinks put the cost of the Tesco lunch up – even though they were both own-brand products.
The pouch yoghurts were handy for lunchboxes, though, and it saved the children taking a spoon.
There were lots of good deals on crisps and snacks at my local store, so it might be a good place to stock up on those items.
Morrisons
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- Ham sandwich: 22p
- Pom-Bear crisps: 38p
- Apple: 28p
- Strings & Things Cheesestrings: 31p
- Bluey Strawberry fromage frais: 19p
- Apple-and-blackcurrant Fruit Burst (250ml): 36p
TOTAL: £1.74
LYNSEY SAYS: Nothing about the Morrisons lunch blew me away, I’m afraid to report.
Everything was just a little pricier than I wanted it to be.
The crisps and their own-brand squash drinks cost too much, although they were a little larger in size.
But my local store did offer a good selection of fruit at good prices and it was tasty and fresh.
So that was something.
LYNSEY’S VERDICT
ALDI is the place to shop for packed lunch essentials. It was 9p cheaper a day than near-rival Lidl, and those savings add up.
That would save 45p a week compared to Lidl, and over £17 if you make a packed lunch on all of the 190 school days of the year.
There is an even better saving if you have three kids, like me, or usually shop somewhere more expensive.
The M&S lunch was super-pricey, but I did love some of the products, especially the cheese and Good Gut yoghurts, which were richer in vitamin D and calcium than most brands, with no added sugar.
- Prices listed on page are based on what was available in stores on the day
