Smartprice or false economy? (Asda Smartprice Tomato Ketchup)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Asda Smartprice Tomato Ketchup
Date:	15/08/08 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice taste, doesn't taste too cheap, very cheaply priced

Disadvantages: Quite bland, need more than Heinz to get the tomato hit

I was given a bottle of Asda's Smartprice Tomato Ketchup to try after mentioning to a friend about all the success I've had recently using cheap supermarket 'value' products. She gushed about how wonderful it is for 25p a bottle but I wasn't convinced as I love my Heinz Ketchup and nothing I've tried before ever comes close to it.

This comes in a glass bottle with easy to use metal screw cap, it has an awful label even by no-frills standards and I am not sure why a white and green label offends my eyesight so much but it really is horrible.

I had a bacon sandwich for my lunch today and decided to try this out for the very simple reason that I had cooked too much bacon so if this proved to be inedible then I'd pass this sandwich over to the labrador next door (the walking, barking dustbin) and have another one.

The verdict is that it's surprisingly good for the price. It's not much thinner than the thick tomato ketchup I'm used to and is a lovely rich red colour which looks lovely on my sandwich. It smells quite vinegary though and I'm hoping it doesn't taste of it.

The taste. Well, how to describe tomato ketchup? This one has a nice sweet tomato flavour that thankfully has no hint of vinegar. It's not as tangy as my usual Heinz and isn't as rich in flavour or texture, there is a little bit of tang in the flavour but it seems more naturally tomato flavoured. That probably does not make very much sense but imagine a blander version of Heinz Ketchup which takes more of real tomatoes and you'll have a good idea.

Personally the flavour isn't for me, it tastes good and there is no doubt about that. The thing is I only have a small amount of ketchup on the odd occasion that I do eat it but would need a big dollop to get the intense flavour I crave from this one. Having said that it's a perfectly acceptable ketchup and I doubt that children, or most men come to that, would really notice much of a difference. I tried the Sainsbury's Basics Ketchup once and that was honestly one of the most vile thing I've ever eaten, but do not let bad experiences put you off as if you use a lot of ketchup then you can save the pennies with this one.

Smartprice Ketchup costs just 25p for a 554 g bottle, which is extremely cheap considering I pay 60p for my usual 340g bottle.

Summary: Not for me, but others with different tastebuds will probably enjoy it.