NEW Tesco Sweetened Almond Milk

From time to time, we notice the big supermarkets remove products by known 'brands' from their shelves and replace them with new ones, under their own label. Sometimes these changes are for the good, sometimes the new products are a bit inferior. 

Now, as far as I'm aware, Tesco are unlikely to replace Alpro, with their 'own' brand, but are merely offering their dairy free customers a bit more choice. They've already done so with their own soya milk, rice milk and coconut milk, it's interesting to see them choose to branch out with a ambient (long life) almond milk.

Here it is!

A bit of a fan of Alpro's almond milk, I was interested to see how Tesco's new almond milk would stack up, against my preferred brand - at £1.40, it's 30p cheaper than Alpro, so I thought it was worth a look.

Here's what I found...


Ingredients:

Basically, these are the same, although quantities may vary between the two. The only noticeable difference was in the stabilsers and the fact that Alpro lists Vitamin E. Tesco uses Carob Gum and Gellan Gum as their stabilizers, whereas Alpro uses Locust Bean Gum and Gellan Gum. This fact will only be of interest to those who have discovered they can't tolerate one type of gum, or another. Most of us shouldn't be affected by this.

As is usual with commercial almond milk, both packets state they contain 2% almond. Some people are shocked when they stop to think about this, as it seems like a low percentage, but it is not surprising when you consider that almond milk is basically made by running water through ground almond. Nuts are not exactly something that you can squeeze and the juice comes out!

 Nutritional Values:

Typical Values per 100ml	Tesco Sweetened Almond Milk	Alpro Sweetened Almond Milk
Energy	130 kJ	102 kJ
	31 kcal	24 kcal
Fat	1.9 g	1.1 g
of which Saturates	0.2 g	0.1 g
Carbohydrate	2.8 g	3.0 g
of which Sugars	2.8 g	3.0 g
Fibre	0.5 g	0.2g
Protein	0.5 g	0.5 g
Salt	0.1 g	0.13 g

The main difference here lies in the higher fat content and energy and calorie count in the Tesco product. This would make it marginally better for any younger children, who require a higher calorie and fat content in their milk. Anyone watching their weight may prefer the Alpro version, or the Unsweetened Almond Milk that Tesco have also brought out.

The unsweetened version

Vitamin/Minerals:

Typical Values per 100ml	Tesco Sweetened Almond Milk	Alpro Sweetened Almond Milk
Vitamin D	0.8 µg	0.75 µg
Riboflavin (B2)	0.2 mg	0.21 mg
Vitamin B12	0.4 µg	0.38 µg
Vitamin E	-	1.8 mg
Calcium	120 mg	120 mg

Almond naturally contains Vitamin E. Alpro apparently add extra, to add to the nutritional value of their milk.


Allergen Information:

Both state that they are dairy and gluten free. Otherwise allergen informatio will only be of interest to nut allergy sufferers - depending on which nuts one might be allergic to. The Alpro version may contain hazelnut, whereas the Tesco version is less specific - stating it may contain traces of other nuts.


What is it like?

Darker in colour, I found the Tesco almond milk sweeter than Alpro's version, even though there's meant to be less sugar. I think it was also slightly less viscous, but that is slightly hard to measure! I think I still prefer Alpro's almond milk, although the Tesco version is certainly palatable enough.



Cost:

Here's where the difference between the two milks really comes into play! Costing £1.40 - 30p cheaper than Alpro (according to Tesco pricing), the Tesco almond milk definitely wins! Enough to make me break with Alpro?? I'm not sure!

Please note: 

This post is not an advert. I have not been paid to write this post. I am not sponsored in any way, even by advertising. I do not receive products free to review, although I have often been offered them. This is to try and maintain an unbiased approach. All views expressed are my own (unless I've asked for The Hub's or Kiddo's).

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