Harrods, the luxury department store, is selling this year’s best own-brand mince pies according to a taste-test by consumer journal Which?.
As reported in The Guardian, the Harrods Classic Mince Pies with Brandy won with a score of 72% but were one of the more expensive offerings at £8.95 for six.
In joint second place came Waitrose’s Christmas Shortcrust Mince Pies and Lidl’s Snowy Lodge Luxury Mince Pies with a score of 67%. Lidl’s pies (£1.49 for six) were praised for their beautifully crisp pastry while Waitrose’s pies (£1.70 for six) impressed with their handmade appearance and generous amount of filling.
Despite being the most expensive, at £13.95 for six, luxury retailer Fortnum & Mason’s Fortnum SixTraditional Mince Pies came 11th out the 14 lines tested with a score of 58%.
The judging was carried out blind on pies heated according to packet instructions by Gerhard Jenne, creative director at Konditor & Cook, award-winning baker Dan Lepard, Chris Malec, general manager at Bread Ahead, and award-winning artisan bread baker Patrick Moore.
Pies were given scores out of 10 for taste, appearance, aroma and texture. These were then combined to create the overall score, with taste given a 40% weighting as opposed to 20% for the other categories.
Richard Headland, editor at Which?, said: “Our taste test has once again revealed that supermarket own-label products can more than match the big brands. Our experts rated many affordable products highly, which shows that good-quality products aren’t always the most expensive.”
No comments yet