Mr Kipling has found himself in hot water with shoppers this week after Sainsbury’s customers were left shocked at the prices of their cakes. One pack of their individually wrapped chocolate slices were spotted for £3.45 in the supermarket, which has left parents and sweet-toothed shoppers outraged.
Many people are feeling the pinch when it comes to the food shop at the moment, with a number of staples like butter, fish fingers and olive oil all rising in price. As a result, Manchester Evening News have been comparing branded products with supermarket budget dupes to see if there’s a way to save money, without compromising on quality and taste.
So, following the news that Mr Kipling cakes appear to be retailing at higher prices, I headed out to all of the supermarkets to pick up their affordable counterparts - and came across a problem. They’re sold out almost everywhere.
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I travelled to two Lidl stores in search of their own-brand angel slices, as well as two Morrisons branches, where they were also out of stock. Tesco’s shelves had been cleared of the pink and yellow sponges, leaving only Mr Kipling on the shelf, and neither Sainsbury's nor M&S even appear to have their own version.
I couldn’t believe the widespread issue with stock, and it could only be down to either supply issues, or shoppers boycotting the big name brand in favour of the cheaper alternatives.
I did, however, manage to locate a pack of budget bakes in Asda and Aldi, so that I could compare the cakes on price, taste and appearance to see if it’s worth swapping Mr Kipling’s out of your lunch box to save some cash.
Here’s what I found when I put the angel slices from Aldi, Asda and Mr Kipling head to head in a taste test comparison.
Price
Mr Kipling’s cakes have been found in Asda and Morrisons as high as £3.45 a pack, while Tesco is selling them at £2.85, or currently £2 with Clubcard. This is for the eight pack of individually packaged cakes, which is more expensive than the twin packs where I got six slices for £1.50 in Asda.
By comparison, Asda’s own cost 95p, which was the same price as Aldi’s Holly Lane alternative, too. Each of these packs contain six cakes, and could save shoppers between 55p and £2.55 compared to Mr Kipling.
Appearance
Angel slices are typically a plain and pink layered sponge cake with a vanilla filling topped with pink and white icing. They were always a firm favourite in my lunchbox at school - even when I got to high school and sixth form.
Undeniably, Mr Kipling looked the most appetising. It was vibrant, smooth and felt soft to touch, while Asda and Aldi’s were much firmer, and felt a little overbaked.
Mr Kipling’s offering had a noticeably more yellow sponge, while Aldi and Asda’s were both a little anaemic. Its icing creeped over the edges of the sponge, and I always like to try and peel it from the packet without leaving any icing on the plastic.
Most similar looking to Mr Kipling was Aldi’s Holly Lane angel slices, which had a similar flair to the pink drizzle. However, it was still a visibly different sponge - I think even six-year-olds would be able to spot the difference.
Meanwhile Asda’s looked like a six-year-old had attempted to recreate the pink confectionery, going heavy on the squiggles with thick icing on the top that would certainly leave teeth marks when I bit into it.
Taste
I roped my parents into a blind taste test to help me decipher which cake was the best, and we all agreed that Mr Kipling’s looked the best - but I could forgive looks if one of the cheaper supermarket versions tasted better. But would they?
Asda’s angel slices were quite dry, which was compensated for by the thick icing which lubricated the sponge, seeing as they were quite stingy with the vanilla filling. I had higher hopes for Aldi, whose cheap dupes I’ve often found to be quite good. But sadly, this sponge fell flat for me. It was sweeter than Asda’s icing-heavy choice, but the texture felt quite grainy, which was off putting and would definitely be spotted by children who love the original.
Mr Kiplings cake was a welcome relief from the supermarket dupes, with a soft and moist sponge, creamy icing, generous vanilla filling and a great flavour and texture combination.
Verdict
It’s bad news, I’m afraid, shoppers. Mr Kipling blew Asda and Aldi out of the water with their much-loved if not wildly overpriced cakes. Neither supermarket’s offerings even came close to tasting like a Mr Kipling cake, and sadly, the quality and flavour just wasn’t good enough to convince me to swap out my trusty branded cakes for own-brand.
I know this would potentially cost me an extra £28.60 over the course of a year, based on paying an extra 55p a week for six Mr Kipling cakes, over Aldi or Asda, and it’s a price I’m willing to pay for better tasting treats.
Responding to shoppers following complaints about Mr Kipling cake prices, a spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "While prices can go up and down for a range of reasons, we’re committed to offering our customers great choice and value whenever they shop with us.
"We have a range of Mr Kipling cakes available in our stores and many of them are on offer. Currently, Mr Kipling Mini Battenberg Cakes x5 are £1.15 and Mr Kipling Chocolate Cake Slices x8 are £2.”
Explaining their prices, a Mr Kipling spokesperson added: "The retail price of our products are at the discretion of the respective retailer." In other words - if you are going to buy Mr Kipling cakes, it’s worth checking online which retailers have them on offer first."
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