It's Still Yoghurt, Dammit (Sainsbury's Basics Low Fat Yoghurts)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Sainsbury's Basics Low Fat Yoghurts
Date:	21/10/07 (160 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unbeatable price and acceptable quality.

Disadvantages: Won't satisfy more adventurous yoghurt fans.

Unlike comedian Richard Herring, who clearly is, I am not obsessed with yoghurts. I just happened to want to write a thousand words about Sainsbury’s Basics yoghurts today, there’s nothing funny about it. It’s not like I’m involved in the yoghurt trade and I’m trying to promote it or anything. Well, saying that, my Dad’s farm does supply the milk they use to make those Muller corners, but that’s not the point. He gets a substantial discount, which used to mean plenty more yoghurts for me, yum! Not that I’m obsessed with yoghurt or anything. Saying that, I really fancy one now though.

What could there possibly be to complain about in Sainsburys Basics Low Fat Yoghurts? Costing a mere 29p for a 500g pack of four different flavours (it used to be 28p, what are things coming to?), or alternatively the ever-so-slightly more expensive 8p for a 125g solitary yog, only available in strawberry. The four-pack needs to be kept refrigerated after purchase to avoid turning into a liquid rather than its standard goo, so it’s best not to get it out in preparation for dessert after a time-consuming, hearty feast. The sell-by date is roughly a fortnight, which is more than enough time considering that many people will consume more than one at a time, if they’re anything like me (I’m still not obsessed with yoghurt though, I usually have them in pairs, that’s all). The pack explicitly warns against freezing the yoghurts, though I’ve long been tempted to see if this would result in potted Mini-Milk or just a hard, horrible mess. They’re only 7¼p each, I think it’s worth the risk. Maybe next time.

If buying the four-pack, the flavours are (clockwise from top-right) (because that’s where clocks start from): strawberry, peach melba, black cherry, and raspberry. The make-up of each is roughly the same as deduced from the ingredients list, with peach melba being slightly more adventurous with regard to its multiple fruit sources. It’s a little disappointing to see that only 2% real fruit is included in each yoghurt, made up by an additional 1.5% of juice from concentrate, but once again this is nothing to complain about from such a bargain product. Not being a yoghurt connoisseur (honestly), I enjoy these just as much as I do any other standard yoghurt, perhaps because my own tolerance to fruit is quite low. The yoghurts now feature several tiny but very real pieces of fruit that I’m sure didn’t used to be there a year ago, and although they will doubtless satisfy most consumers, I find these a little distracting from the otherwise smooth and creamy dining experience. The rest of the ingredients are a little strange and disconcerting, featuring such delights as carrot extract and the delicious-sounding ‘thickener,’ so it’s probably best to eat/slurp them in ignorance. If you’re drinking them, you haven’t been paying attention to the refrigeration instructions I mentioned earlier, you yoghurt amateur.

I love the Sainsburys Basics range, it provides all the value of a budget supermarket without the customer having to wade through those dingy, soily stores. While some budget products are kept to a necessarily disgusting standard in order that Sainsburys’ more expensive own brand can compete successfully, particularly in the areas of cola and toilet tissue, there’s nothing inferior about these. Sainsburys sell these as naturally ‘Low Fat’ products, and their attractive wheel of health confirms this with a largely green approval of safety. There are 104 calories per pot, if that’s the sort of thing that makes any sense to you (I suppose it’s good?), and the only slightly dodgy, oranged area of the health wheel concerns the 17.5g of sugar in each pot. The yoghurts can’t be eaten by those allergic to nuts for some reason or other, and as they’re made from cow’s milk, vegans and cow-haters should stay away and buy something more expensive. Vegans I understand, but the rest of you are just making it more difficult for yourselves; you won’t start saving money until you set aside your racial enmity.

So, what’s my opinion? Well, the initial clacking apart of the yoghurts is a very satisfying noise, arranged as they are in square-but-rounded tubs for ease of packaging, and although the lids are a little tough to pull, there shouldn’t be any splashing. You can lick the lid clean yourself, or if you have a cat who enjoys fruit, you can put it on the floor, pin down the corner with your socked toe, and allow the cat to enjoy its treat for about twenty seconds or so (my cat only likes toffee yoghurts though. And toffee ice cream). The yoghurts are the usual disappointing size common to all yoghurts apart from Müller and those enormous bio tubs (also available from the Basics range if you’re interested), but they will still satisfy yoghurt fans. Being a budget product made of only 2% real fruit, there is a slight similarity in the flavours between them, more accurately the lack of flavour, but each is distinctive enough that it’s possible to have a favourite. Because you’re obviously so interested, it’s only the peach melba that I’m not so fussy about, but if I really had to choose a favourite it would probably be strawberry. A 7¼p strawberry yoghurt; that’s how adventurous I am. No, maybe raspberry.

There are no changes that Sainsburys should be expected to make to this fine product, and anyone who complains about a 29p pack of yoghurts is a moron. If the producers ever wanted to switch some of the flavours, either permanently or with the option of choice, that would be quite cool, but still unnecessary. As long as these yoghurts retain four individual flavours and a price tag under 30p, they will be a constant presence in my yoghurt fridge. I mean, my regular fridge. I don’t have a second fridge just for cheap yoghurt.

Thank you for reading. 10 of your reads will keep me in yoghurt for another few days. That’s right; I bathe in it as well.

Summary: A four-pack of low fat yoghurts for 29p.