But the ingredients lists? Identical. Wheat, barley malt syrup (for sweetness and flavour), sugar and salt, in that order. Then there’s a range of fortificants – niacin, iron, riboflavin, thiamin and folic acid. That’s it. Some I tried were a little higher in sugar than others, but as the difference works out at barely an eighth of a teaspoonful per two-biscuit serving, I can’t get terribly worked up about it.
So there’s really not much in it at all. In fact, tasting the different cereals blind, my fellow tasters and I marginally preferred the supermarket versions. A no-brainer, then: buy the cheapabix.
But here’s the rub. We don’t generally eat cereal blind. That cheery box, sunny yellow and still recognisable as the one we dipped into as children, has a powerful hold over us. Many of us find the familiar, trusted brand on the breakfast table steadying at a time of day when we’re a bit fragile.
However, making a change could save you 50 per cent or more in price, which must be worth a bit of a wrench. Stick to these top choices and you’ll be good – either with milk, or jam and butter.
The value-for-money taste test
Weetabix
£3.50 for 24 at Sainsbury’s; 14.6p/biscuit
Very crumbly, especially the top one; the biscuits are not firmly compressed, so they make a right mess. Bland, with a faint malty aftertaste; fine with milk, although they go a bit gummy.
Morrisons Wheat Biscuits
£1.85 for 24; 7.7p/biscuit
Less crumbly than Weetabix, with a malty flavour. Pleasant, but on the bland side with milk.
Tesco Wheat Biscuits Cereal
£2.75 for 48; 5.7p/biscuit
Dark, toasty brown and tightly compacted. A mild flavour with notes of malt and sweetness, but bland with milk.
Tesco Stockwell & Co Wheat Biscuits
£1 for 24; 4.2p/biscuit
Rectangular biscuits and there’s a noticeable difference in their sizes. Faintly sweet and, although similar, slightly less compacted than other economy versions.
Aldi Harvest Morn Wheat Bisks
£1.99 for 36; 5.5p/biscuit
Comparable to Tesco Wheat Biscuits; a clean wheat flavour but quite sweet. They do the job with milk.
Sainsbury’s Wheat Biscuits
£1.33 for 24; 5.5p/biscuit
Made with British wheat, with a mildly sweet, malty flavour. Good crunch that holds up better than some in milk.
Lidl Crownfield Wholegrain Wheat Bixies
£1.89 for 36; 4.1p/biscuit
Less malty than the M&S ones, and less sweet than Aldi’s Harvest Morn, but the 720g box gets you 10 per cent more for your money.
M&S Food Wholegrain Wheat Bisks
£1.90 for 24 at Ocado; 7.9p/biscuit
Slightly squared-off shape; pleasingly, gently sweet and toasty flavour. Lovely with milk, though they soften fast. We like these.
This article was first published in August 2023 but is kept up to date with the latest information
