The best chocolates to buy for YOUR tastes! Cadbury’s Roses are ideal for nut lovers while Quality Street has the most fruit and coffee flavours, Which? reveals
- Consumer group Which? sorted through chocolates in our favourite boxes
- Nation’s favourites Roses and Quality Street were tested by researchers
- Put up against own-brand tubs from M&S, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s
- Chocolates were sorted and divided into four different categories
- Which? also found Quality Street was the overall best value for money
It can be boring sorting through selection boxes to find your favourite type of chocolate. That’s why consumer group Which? carried out a study to find exactly what’s in each tub.
Researchers rooted through boxes of national favourites Roses and Quality Street, as well as own-brand offerings from M&S, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.
Chocolates in each box were separated into four different categories – fudges, toffees and caramels; fruits and coffee cremes; solid chocolate; chocolate with nuts and praline – to find out which has the highest proportion of each.
M&S has the highest proportion of fudges, toffees and caramels (51 per cent), while Quality Street has the highest percentage of fruit and coffee flavours (37 per cent).
Which? also worked out which chocolate box was best value for money. Quality Street (£3.50 from Asda and Morrisons) came out on top at 54p per 100g.
Natalie Hitchins, Which? Head of Home Products and Services, said: ‘When the chocolate boxes come out, it’s a clear sign that Christmas is just around the corner.
‘Our analysis reveals that whatever your tastes, there’s a chocolate tub for you. Use our research to make sure you spend your money on one that will bring you the most joy this Christmas.’
| Chocolates | Fudges, toffees and caramels | Solid chocolate | Nuts and praline | Fruit and coffee cremes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M&S Big Selection (650g) | 51% | 7% | 7% | 35% |
| Cadbury Roses (600g) | 45% | 10% | 28% | 16% |
| Waitrose Christmas Chocolate Favourites (600g) | 43% | 0% | 24% | 33% |
| Sainsbury’s Chocolate Treats (650g) | 40% | 11% | 14% | 35% |
| Quality Street (650g) | 28% | 21% | 13% | 37% |
Consumer group Which? tested the number of each chocolates in Roses, Quality Street as well as the own brand offerings from M&S, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. A 600g box of Roses contains: 45% fudges, toffees and caramels; 10% solid chocolate; 28% nuts and praline; 16% fruit and coffee cremes. It is the highest proportion of nuts and praline of any box tested
Quality Street (650g), pictured, contains 28% fudges, toffees and caramels; 21% solid chocolates; 13% nuts and pralines; 37% fruit and coffee cremes. Quality Street has the highest proportion of solid chocolates, nearly double the number as Roses, which come in second
M&S Big Selection Box (650g) contains 51% fudges, toffees and caramel; 7% solid chocolate; 7% nuts and pralines; 35% fruit and coffee cremes. More than half of M&S’s Big Selection contains fudges, toffees and caramel – the highest proportion of any box tested by Which?
Waitrose Christmas Chocolate Favourites (600g), pictured, contains: 43% fudges, toffee and caramel; 0% solid chocolate; 24% nuts and pralines; 33% fruit and coffee cremes. The selection box is the only one to contain no examples of simple, solid chocolate mini bites
Sainsbury’s Chocolate Treats (650g), pictured, contains 40% fudges, toffee and caramel; 11% solid chocolate; 14% nuts and pralines; 35% fruit and coffee cremes. The tub doesn’t come top of any of the chocolate categories and was rather more evenly split than other offerings