Recently, our local Tesco suffered from a sudden and surprising lack of Weetabix or its equivalents - one huge gaping void on the display units. I always have Tesco's own standard brand, Wheat Biscuits, for breakfast, as I find them filling and flavoursome and similar enough to the original so as to make very little difference. The price is almost half that of the premium brand too, so that is also a great advantage. However, over about a month, our local branch seemed to have great difficulty in keeping their own brand in stock, so at first I bought a 12 pack of the 'proper' version, and when they ran out, I was reduced to a box of their value brand (one box of about 3 left on the shelf of any type!). So it was this descent from the sublime to the ridiculous from original Weetabix to (very) cheap imitation that inspired this review.

Tesco's standard version is quite loosely constructed, dissolves quite fast in milk and is quick to eat in a hurry. Weetabix original is slightly more dense, but again, soaks milk up quickly and becomes soft very quickly. Tesco Everyday Value Wheat Biscuits however are a different kettle of fish altogether. For a start, they do not bear the "Community Trade Mark" which protects the unique shape of the biscuit, This is because they are a much more compact rectangle. In being compact, they appear to be smaller, which they are in terms of overall dimensions, however, they are literally compacted. Comparing the weight of a typical two biscuit serving between all three, the value option only differs by 1.5g. These things are dense. So dense in fact that I would issue a warning that if you have weak or loose teeth, leave them to soak in a fair deal of milk for about five minutes before attempting to eat them. I found that using the amount of milk that I usually use on my cereal in the morning was nowhere near enough, and had to top it up. I'm usually in a bit of a rush in the morning and like to be able to just slosh on the milk & eat, so the value option in this context is not a helpful one, as it takes a fair while for the biscuits to soften. I wonder if they took the term 'biscuit' too literally when they came up with these? Imagine an inch-thick digestive and you'd probably not be too wide of the mark.

Flavour-wise, they're actually not that much different from the standard version really, and if you're in the habit of adding sugar you probably wouldn't notice any difference to the flavour at all. When they have softened enough to be eaten, in all honesty they are an acceptable alternative if you have the time to wait (or have the foresight to put them to soak a while before you'll be wanting them). They contain more or less the same added vitamins as the others (the quantities vary slightly), are suitable for vegetarians, and to the best of my knowledge are only available in packets of 24. For the sake of comparison, at the time of writing, at Tesco's online store Weetabix original pack of 24 is £2.17, Tesco Wheat Biscuits pack of 24 is £1.47, and Tesco Every Day Value pack of 24 is £0.63. In today's economical circumstances, if you reckon the quantity of milk you'd need with them doesn't cancel out the benefit of being able to buy 24 Weetabix-equivalents for 63p, they are worth buying in the interests of saving a bit on the shopping, and I would buy them again if they were the only alternative. Cautiously recommended.