We decided to pit Lidl chocolate bars against their original counterparts to see if we could tell the difference. I enlisted two chocolate-loving friends, Claudia and Nikki, with different tastes to help me out. I like my chocolate how I like my men—the richer the better. Nothing is too chocolatey for me, although I am a big fan of peanut butter or salted caramel mixed in.
My preferred type is somewhere in between milk and dark. Claudia likes chocolate as long as it’s not just a pure lump of it. Her favourite bar is Kinder Buenos despite liking milk chocolate the least out of all three kinds. Nikki is a massive fan of all things chocolate as long as it’s not too intense. Milk chocolate is her favourite and she’s got a weakness for Snickers. In order to make this test truly ~scientific~, we each tasted a slice of the chocolate blindfolded and were only told which one was the Lidl chocolate after we'd discussed.
Milky Way vs Nougat & Choco
The Lidl chocolate was a lot more matte than the real Milky Way. It also lacked the traditional crisscross pattern, which made it look a bit sad. It came from a fun size bag so can't comment fairly on size differentials. I paid 60p in Tesco for a regular 44g bar of Milky Way and £1.09 for Lidl's 350g fun size bag.
First tasting (Name brand)
This one was really sweet, with what Nikki thought was a lingering aftertaste. I thought it was a little bit weirdly salty, but the nougat was really soft. Claudia likened it to an American 3 Musketeers bar. All of us agreed that this was the better one.
Second tasting (Lidl)
Right away, there was a weird chemical taste in the chocolate that left an icky aftertaste. The nougat wasn’t as fluffy, although I think the chocolate might have been slightly thicker.
Twix vs Caramel & Biscuit
These looked pretty similar, although the Lidl one had a flatter top while the original was more domed. The Lidl version was also longer, although not by too much. I paid 60p in Tesco for a regular 50g packet of Twix and 80p for Lidl's 5-pack (290g).
First tasting (Lidl)
We all agreed that this one was very biscuit-heavy without much caramel or chocolate. Nikki found it difficult to get through and Claudia found it grainy. She also noticed a weird artificial taste in the chocolate of this one. Claudia preferred this bar because it had a little more chocolate than the second one.
Second tasting (Name brand)
We’d been convinced that the first one was the fake until we tried this one, which was very close. Eventually, we decided that this one had more caramel and was a little bit sweeter. I thought that the biscuit in it was a little more like a digestive while the first one was a bit harder. Me and Nikki both had a slight preference for this one.
Mars vs Choco & Caramel
The Lidl chocolate looked a little bit darker than the original version and had a pattern on top clearly inspired by Mars. Again, the Lidl version was fun size, so no size comparison to be made here. I paid 60p in Tesco for a regular 51g Mars bar and £1.09 for Lidl's 350g fun size bag.
First tasting (Lidl)
Yet another culprit of the weird tasting chocolate. Nikki thought the taste was almost like Easter egg chocolate. We all found the nougat really sticky but none of us had any strong feelings.
Second tasting (Name brand)
Right away, this one was sweeter with more caramel. The nougat texture was a bit better, as it was slightly firmer and less sticky. However, overall the difference in bars wasn’t that noticeable. We eventually decided that this one was marginally better.
Snickers vs Peanut & Choco
This was the only example where Lidl had committed to getting a proper pattern on top of their chocolate and the original version looked a bit tired. The original Snickers seemed to be a little bit longer and narrower. I paid 60p in Tesco for a regular 48g Snickers and 85p for Lidl's 6-pack (300g).
First tasting (Lidl)
This one gives your jaw a workout with its intense chewiness. Nikki liked that, while I was a fan of the chocolate quality. We all found it a bit salty, but thought that it complimented the sweetness well. We all preferred this one by a wide margin.
Second tasting (Name brand)
There were strong feelings about this one. Claudia poetically likened it to “dog shit,” while Nikki thought that it was less sweet and less peanut-y. She also thought that the chocolate had an odd artificial taste. I thought it was less chewy and missed out the thick chocolate coating. We all felt lowkey betrayed when we found out this was the real one.
Kinder Bueno vs Bellona Hazelnut
These looked the most different out of all the chocolates. Instead of having four round bubbles Kinder-style, Lidl had three triangular shapes. They also went for a white chocolate drizzle instead of a dark chocolate one. I paid 60p in Tesco for a regular 2-pack 43g Kinder Bueno and £1.09 for Lidl's 7-pack (150g).
First tasting (Name brand)
We thought that this one had a strong hazelnut flavour and was very creamy and sweet. It was also super crunchy. This was Nikki’s favourite because of the nuttiness and Claudia’s favourite ‘cuz childhood.
Second tasting (Lidl)
This one was noticeably very different to the first. Claudia thought that this one wasn’t as rich and that the filling was heavier. Nikki thought that it had less hazelnut flavour but was just as crunchy. I agreed about the lack of hazelnut but thought it was a bit less crunchy as well as sweeter. This one was my favourite because it was more chocolatey.
Dairy Milk vs Fin Carré Milk Chocolate
The Lidl version here was broken off a larger bar and actually resembled the larger packets of Dairy Milk. It was a little bit darker in colour and less shiny than real Dairy Milk. I paid 60p in Tesco for a regular 45g bar of Dairy Milk and 30p for Lidl's 100g block.
First tasting (Lidl)
This reminded Nikki of Lindt chocolate (in a good way) and Claudia was also into it. I thought it had a gross artificial taste, although it melted nicely in my mouth. Nikki and Claudia preferred this one.
Second tasting (name brand)
I recognized this one right away as the taste of my childhood. It’s a bit harder than the other one but the sweet milkiness makes up for that. Nikki also realised it was Dairy Milk right away but was disappointed by it in comparison to the other. Claudia’s feelings were summed up by her “nope!”. This was my preferred one.
With the exception of Snickers and Dairy Milk, the name brand chocolate bar won every time. However, in some cases it was very close and came down to personal preference instead of the quality of the bar. I’ve been eating Lidl's versions for ages and never noticed their flaws until they were put head to head with the real thing. We all agreed that given how much cheaper the Lidl ones were, they're definitely worth getting. Now if only they'd come up with more creative names!