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LEADERS OF THE PACK
Nineties crisps are back but here’s how you can cut the cost with cheap supermarket dupes from fake Frazzles to Quavers
One bargain Lidl dupe scores 5/5 in our taste test - better than the real deal
CLASSIC childhood crisps are back in flavour, er favour, thanks to Gen Z’s love for all things Nineties.
It appears the youngsters – born between 1995 and 2012 – have finally accepted that their elders can be cool and are filling lunchboxes with Frazzles and Skips.
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Demand for Smiths’ bacon crisps is up 48 per cent since last year and KP’s prawn cocktail snack is up 47 per cent, says Ocado.
It is believed a TikTok trend hailing Nineties snacks is behind the rise in sales.
Here, Thea Jacobs compares retro crisps to similar supermarket own brands and gives each a rating out of 5.
Quavers
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Six-pack, 16g, Tesco, £1.95 (33p per packet): Crunchy goodness that also melts in your mouth.
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They survived the test of time for a reason – that classic cheese flavour.
These look bent rather than curly, though, so maybe shrinkflation affects shape as well as quantity.
- Score: 4
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ALDI SNACKRITE CURLERS, ten-pack, 15g, £1.25 (13p per packet): Similar to Quavers, but wavy rather than traditionally curly.
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While they smell extremely cheesy, the taste doesn’t match up.
These are so crunchy, they don’t melt on the tongue like Quavers do.
- Score: 3
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TESCO CHEESE CURLS, ten-pack, 15g, £1.35 (14p per packet): These are thinner, more orange and curlier than Quavers.
But they lack cheese flavour. In fact, they taste quite bland.
While there’s a slight crunch, they melt in the mouth a little too well.
- Score: 3
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SAINSBURY’S CHEESE CURLS, six-pack, 16g, £1.15 (19p per packet): A great looking dupe, but more orange than yellow.
There’s a strong smell of mature cheese as soon as you open the packet.
Like Quavers, there’s an initial crunch then they melt in your mouth.
- Score: 4
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LIDL SNAKTASTIC CHEESE CURLS, ten-pack, 12g, £1.25 (13p per packet): If this was a blind taste test, I’d struggle to tell these weren’t Quavers.
Lots of perfect curls, that familiar scent and cheese flavour, but ever so slightly darker in colour.
The best crunch- to-melt ratio of the dupes.
Score: 5
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ASDA CHEESY CURLS, six-pack, 16g, £1.25 (20p per packet): These are almost fluorescent and they lack a strong scent.
There’s very little crunch and some of the crisps are packed with a synthetic cheese flavour, while others have no taste at all.
A very poor imitation.
- Score: 2
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Frazzles
Six-pack, 18g, Asda, £1.35 (23p per packet): These are the original bacon crisps that have been around since 1975, but they have certainly shrunk in size since then.
While Frazzles have retained that unmistakable smokiness, I feel the bacon flavour is weaker than when I was a child.
- Score: 4
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TESCO BACON RASHERS, ten-pack, 15g, £1.15, (12p per packet): These almost taste like real bacon and have a stronger flavour than Frazzles.
They even look like them. However, these do smell slightly artificial when you open them. I prefer them to the real thing.
- Score: 5
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SAINSBURY’S BACON CRISPIES, 140g, £1.15 each: These smell and look a lot like Frazzles, and have the same crispy texture as well.
While they taste a lot more like bacon than the other dupes, they could do with some extra salt.
- Score: 4
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ASDA BACON FLAVOUR BITES, 150g, £1 each: These smell like real bacon, so nothing like actual Frazzles, but some people would prefer this.
The flavour is not as strong as you’d expect, but the bacon dusting helps.
And the texture is spot on for Frazzles. Not bad.
- Score: 3
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ALDI SNACKRITE BACON RASHERS, mixed 24-multipack, 18g, £2.49 (11p per packet): These are so thick, they need a lot of chewing.
They don’t have a very strong bacon taste either – and could do with a liberal shake of salt.
- Score: 2
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LIDL SNACKTASTIC BACON RASHERS, 150g, 99p each: These smell almost identical to Frazzles and have that same overarching smoky flavour and a slight sweetness.
They have the familiar crunch and aftertaste that I associate with the snack from my childhood.
- Score: 3
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Chipsticks
Six-pack, 17g, Tesco, £1.50 (25p per packet): These mouthwatering crisps are so strong in salt and vinegar they can make your lips shrivel up.
They have that crunch you don’t get with other crisps.
It’s like nostalgia in a bag, and they don’t seem to have shrunk much in size over the years.
- Score: 4
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ALDI SNACKRITE CRUNCHY STICKS, six-pack, 18g, £2.49 (42p packet): These have less salt and vinegar flavour than Chipsticks.
While they are much thicker, they lack crunch.
In fact, they are a little chewy, which isn’t what you want from a crisp called Crunchy Sticks.
- Score: 2
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ASDA SALT AND VINEGAR FLAVOUR STICKS, 150g, £1 each: The sticks are thicker and have an initial crunch.
There is a fairly strong smell on opening, but the flavour does not match up.
If you find the salt and vinegar in Chipsticks too powerful, these are a good option.
- Score: 3
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SAINSBURY’S CRUNCHY STICKS, 140g, £1.20 each: These don’t smell particularly strong but the occasional stick has enough flavour on it to make your eyes water.
They are vinegary but could do with more salt.
These are just as thick and crunchy as Chipsticks.
- Score: 5
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M&S SALT AND VINEGAR CHIPLETS, 100g, £1.15 each: There isn’t a strong smell when you open the packet, which is disappointing.
They do have a slight salt and vinegar flavour, but it is only on parts of each stick.
The overwhelming taste is potato. They are thick and do have a good crunch, though.
- Score: 2
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Hula Hoops
Six-pack, 24g, Asda, £1.75 (29p per packet): Sadly my fingers are no longer small enough for me to wear them like rings before devouring.
Despite being called Original Salted, I feel like they could be even saltier.
The Hoops give that classic crunch and they are as stodgy as I remember.
- Score: 4
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ALDI SNACKRITE POTATO HOOPS, eight-pack, 25g, £1.55 (20p per packet): These look almost identical to Hula Hoops; smooth edges, perfectly golden, but slightly bigger in size.
In terms of flavour, I couldn’t really tell the difference.
This is an excellent alternative.
- Score: 5
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LIDL SNAKTASTIC POTATO HOOPS, ten-pack, 25g, £1.89 (19p per packet): You can see the salt dusting on these little hoops, which fills me with hope.
They are much saltier than Hula Hoops, but significantly more stodgy and browner. Overall, not a bad option.
- Score: 3
Cheesy Wotsits
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12-pack, 16.5g, Lidl, £2.99 (25p per packet): The cheesy goodness that fulfilled many a childhood snack. Iconic for their puff texture, they give you a slight crunch before melting in your mouth.
There’s no forgetting that cheese flavour – or the bright orange tongue and teeth you are left with.
- Score: 4
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SAINSBURY’S CHEESE BALLS, 140g, £1.20 each: Another luminous orange offering that does taste cheesy, but, sadly, nothing like a proper block of Cheddar.
These are tougher in texture than Wotsits, but then the packaging doesn’t claim they will be crunchy.
- Score: 1
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ALDI SNACKRITE BAKED CHEEZIOS, 150g, 85p each: These are luminous in colour, which is off-putting, but the flavour makes up for it.
They are more similar to mature Cheddar than Wotsits. These take slightly longer to melt, too.
- Score: 3
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TESCO CHEESE BALLS, 150g, £1 each: These are baked corn with a cheese coating, but that is where the similarity to Wotsits ends.
They are sphere-shaped, have a strong smell of mature Cheddar and are far crunchier.
Not bad, but not really a substitute.
- Score: 3
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ASDA CHEESY WIGGLES, 120g, £1 each: These are very pale in comparison to Wotsits and each puff is almost double the size.
I wouldn’t say they smell like cheese, but they do taste better than expected.
They could do with a liberal coating of cheese, though.
- Score: 2
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M&S CHEESE TASTERS, 100g, £1.15 each: The cheese coating is luminous.
They are unmistakably cheesy – possibly more so than Wotsits – but they do not melt in my mouth.
If you’d like your Wotsits to be crunchier, these are for you. Though they are not much cheaper.
- Score: 5
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LIDL SNAKTASTIC CHEESE PUFFS, 18g, ten-pack, £1.25 (13p per packet): These look a bit anaemic up against Wotsits, and are very narrow and short compared to the other brands.
They don’t really melt either, though they still get stuck in your teeth.
- Score: 2
Skips
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Six-pack, 13g, Asda, £1.50 (25p per packet): Known for their melt-in-your-mouth texture, each crisp fizzes before it dissolves.
You can smell its prawn cocktail flavouring as soon as you rip open the packet.
And they still taste just as good today as they did when I was growing up in the ’90s.
- Score: 4
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LIDL SNAKTASTIC PRAWN COCKTAIL SHELLS, six-pack, 13g, 79p (13p per packet): These look similar to Skips, but they are lacking in smell and flavour, and they don’t melt in your mouth like you’d expect.
In fact, they remind me more of prawn crackers.
- Score: 2
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ALDI SNACKRITE PRAWN COCKTAIL MELTS, ten-pack, 13g, £1.35 (14p per packet): Bizarrely, these smell vinegary when I open the packet and they certainly don’t taste like a prawn cocktail crisp should.
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They are crunchy, so while they are called Melts, they don’t really, er, melt either.
- Score: 1
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