Netto For A Change

“Netto, It’s Scandinavian For Value” proclaimed the blonde girl in a non-descript Nordic accent whilst wearing a comedy viking helmet in the adverts, even though that Scandinavian isn’t even a language.  Netto translates as ‘net’ in Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Danish.  Also, she was about as Scandinavian as I am.

Netto does carry quite a reputation as being a cheap-ass store for people who ‘are too pikey even for Iceland’.  But, I wasn’t going in there to observe the regular clientele (though whilst walking round, I smelt alcohol on at least three different people, and I mean a lot of alcohol too).  No, I was there to try their wares.  Well, I actually went in for some finger rolls for the sausages I was cooking for tea.

They didn’t have any.  But they did have a good few brands I’d never heard of, so I thought I would give them a try.  I bought some biscuits.

First off, Chestertons (sic) Choc Chip Cookies. 

Chestertons Choc Chip Cookies

On the back of the packet, these are described as “A golden brown cookie with a crunchy texture made using real chocolate chips“.  The ingredients list them as being 17% chocolate chips.  There is no mention of the percentage of cocoa solids.   So, on to the product itself.  I ripped open the packet and tipped some out.

Chestertons Choc Chip Cookies

These were rather tasty.  They contained a good amount of chocolate chips and were indeed crunchy.  The chocolate didn’t taste cheap either and the biscuits themselves are not a bad size.  There isn’t much more I can add except that they were 45p for 200g.  Although this is quite cheap, Asda Smart Price cookies are only 32p for 200g, but they do taste a bit odd.  The Asda brand are 49p for 250g which is better value but unless you did a double-blind taste comparison between the two, I doubt you’d notice the difference.  The lesson to be learned here is don’t bother with branded cookies, they’re over priced.

Scores:
Taste – 7/10
Crunchiness– 8/10
Choc-Chip Density – 8/10
Value For Money – 5/10
Size idealness– 6/10

Total:  34/50

Next off, it’s Chestertons (sic) Milk Chocolate Digestives.

Chesterons Milk Chocolate Digestives

Described as “Wheatmeal biscuit, half coated in milk chocolate“.  Is there any biscuit more familiar than the chocolate digestive?  There is no mention of the amount of cocoa solids in the ingredients but it does say that they are 24% Milk Chocolate.  They are also “produced in the UK for Netto Foodstores Ltd.”.  A quick check of other packaging shows that seems to be the norm for these lesser known brands.  Whereas Asda/Tesco/Sansbury etc all have their own brand, it seems with Netto, Aldi and Lidl the manufacturer make the product exclusively for the store but keep their own branding.

Anyway, so I tore the packet open and tipped them out.

Chestertons Milk Chocolate Digestives

Nothing particularly remarkable, they looked like every other milk chocolate digestive biscuit on the market.  They tasted like every other milk chocolate digestive biscuit on the market too, although the chocolate did taste a lot like Galaxy chocolate which does earn them extra marks.  They are an ideal biscuit to go with a cup of tea, but has its flaws.  They require a certain dunking technique.  It has to be quick otherwise the chocolate melts.  They were 45p for 300g which, unlike the choc chip cookies above, it a far better deal than similar biscuits from other stores; Asda’s brand are 88p for 300g and Tesco’s are 87p for the same weight.  Asda Smart Price and Tesco Value Range biscuits are both 37p for 300g, but to be honest do seem to have a curious after taste to them.  To put it into perspective,  McVities are £1.30 for 400g.  By weight, that works out twice as much, but I seriously doubt they are twice as tasty.  I’d go for Chestertons, especially as the chocolate, which is a reasonably thick layer, tastes a lot like a famous brand.

Scores:
Taste – 8/10
Dunkability– 6/10
Chocolate generosity – 8/10
Value For Money – 8/10
Familiarity– 9/10

Total:  39/50