Most supermarkets’ advertising campaigns contain price comparisons but Asda’s autumn activity includes a taste-match campaign with shoppers blind testing their products against a range from Marks & Spencer. So with a shopping bag in hand I went and bought 10 food items that Asda say rank "better than M&S" in their consumer blind test tastes in preparation for my own blind taste test with my taste buds primed and ready to give their opinion.

Asda first launched its food and drink taste comparison Initiative in July 2023 when it nominated a series of products for blind taste testing against luxury retailers including Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, and Harvey Nichols. But this is a full-out war on M&S across 100s of products. For the latest food and restaurant reviews sign up to our food and drink newsletter here.

The supermarket states on its website: “At Asda we’ve gone all out on our food revolution. In thousands of blind taste tests 100s of our products proved as tasty, or tastier than M&S.” According to Asda the methodology of the consumer comparison research was conducted by independent agency Cambridge Market Research Ltd to Market Research Society Partner Company Standards.

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The methodology states: "Each product was tested by a minimum of 201 consumers at locations across Great Britain. All who took part had to be buyers of the type of products they were tasting with no more than half shopping in Asda for their main shop. For each product the data was subjected to an extended level of statistical analysis to verify the validity of the results with significance at a minimum of 95% confidence level."

The marketing activities to support the campaign include television adverts involving Sky's hit show Never Mind The Buzzcocks combined with in-store signage that directly takes aim at M&S’s well-crafted foodhall campaigns over the years, which has embedded their now well-known strapline of "this is not just food, it’s M&S food" into everyday shopping culture.

Asda's campaign has obviously not gone unnoticed. On X (formerly Twitter) M&S CEO Stuart Machin posted: “I always find it strange when retailers use other brands for their advertising. At M&S taste without values is not quality in our eyes. When it comes to product we constantly strive to lead the way on quality, welfare, and innovation with no ‘nasties’. Others have tried to copy us for years and that's fine – it keeps us focused on setting the standard. To offer real quality you can’t cut corners and customers see through marketing gimmicks.”

So the grocery gloves are off. But enough about the context – let's get the food open and start eating, considering my 10 items that, according to Asda's website, taste not just as good as M&S but better than M&S. Of course, taste is subjective so maybe you fancy doing your own taste test and letting us know what you think in the comments below.

1. Wensleydale cheese with cranberries

My favourite cheese of all time, I was hoping this would be on Asda's list and I was overjoyed to see it in the 'better than M&S' category. Both retailers' cheese were delicious, which is just as well as I now have two large slabs to scoff, and both I would buy again without hesitation – but which one grabbed the cheese crown?

The M&S version (£3) had a stronger taste, juicy cranberries, and a flakier, more crumbly texture which is probably more of how a classic Wensleydale should be BUT the Asda cheese (£2.75) was creamier, smoother, and had a slightly stronger cranberries taste. WINNER: Asda

2. Sweet popcorn

Going to the cinema without popcorn is like going out in Wales without an umbrella so this item was easy to choose as a taste test subject from Asda's 'better than' list as I regularly go to the movies. I can be quite fussy with popcorn though as I am not happy when part of the corn sticks to the roof of your mouth, or throat, and ends up ruining the movie as you try to dislodge it with gallons of water and then need the toilet. So I was looking for composition as well as taste because I don't want a coughing fit in Showcase again thank you very much.

The M&S popcorn (£2) was light, soft, very moreish, and dissolved in my mouth with a balanced level of sweet taste and a flavour that remained consistent. Over to the Asda bag (£1.10) and the popcorn was less sweet and tasty but nice enough though it left bits in my mouth that were potential cinema noise creators so there's only one bag that's coming with me next time I go to the movies. WINNER: M&S

3. Wiltshire ham

The taste of ham really is a matter of personal taste but I don't really have much of a preference and rarely eat it so this was a fairly exciting experience for my taste buds – although you wouldn't know it from the Asda ham (£2.95) as it was quite bland with little taste and a bit chewy. Although not having a bad taste in any way I thought it wouldn't add much taste to a sandwich. Over to the M&S version (£2.30 on special offer) and it was delicious – very tasty with thin slices that fell apart in my mouth and tasted far less fatty. No contest on this one. WINNER: M&S

4. Baked beans

Now I am very fussy about my baked beans. I don't like the sauce to be too sweet or too salty – I am at a level of fussiness that Goldilocks would be proud of and I absolutely hate it when the bean falls apart and the skin of the bean comes off. In fact I only ever eat one particular and well-known brand but let’s not bring a third contender into this.

So both tins of beans had a lot to live up to but I wasn't expecting anything positive. The first bowl of beans, from Asda (50p), tasted as though there wasn't enough juicy sauce and what there was tasted bland but, worse still, in the very first mouthful multiple bean skins peeled off. Not a great start. Onto the second bowl, from M&S (50p), and this was a shock.

There was tasty sauce and lots of it that satisfied this baked bean Goldilocks as there was no hint of any added salt or sugar and the beans stayed intact until the very last mouthful. Breaking news – I might be changing my lifelong choice of baked bean brand. WINNER: M&S

5. Flapjacks

I know my flapjacks – or I thought I did. I thought I liked each little square to be full of oats and crunchy but after this blind taste test I think my taste buds are not in agreement. The Asda tub (£2.30) of flapjacks were soft and had a creamy taste with mid sweetness and not particularly chewy whereas the M&S version (£3.50) was sweeter and chewier and took twice as long to eat – is that good or bad? On taste alone and not size or ingredients Asda wins it. WINNER: Asda

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6. Croissant

There's probably a certain way an authentic croissant is supposed to taste and have a particular texture and consistency but I just went from what made my tastebuds happy. I think the M&S croissant (£2.50 for four) tasted more authentic – lighter, flakier, more chewy, and not as sweet and I would be happy to have one again – but the Asda croissant (£1.75 for two) really surprised me. It was soft and moist and really tasty. It felt more solid and doughy, but not in a negative way, which I preferred. WINNER: Asda

7. Tiger bread

I have never tried tiger bread before and although both retailers offered it in a different shape format I was able, via my assistant chef’s help, to blind taste both in bite-size slices without realising which was which. The Asda tiger bread (90p) immediately roared its superiority with a nice crust that added flavour but the bread itself tasted quite chewy and doughy, even sticking to my teeth.

I would eat Asda's again but would I choose M&S instead? Their version (£1.20) was lighter with less of a dough texture and noticeably tastier, which surpassed the crustiness of the Asda roll, to make the M&S bread more worth the dough based on taste. WINNER: M&S

8. Melton Mowbray pork pie

Asda's pie (£2.55) had pork that was tasty but not overwhelming with a hint of pepper (I later found out it is marketed as pepper-seasoned pork) while the pastry was firm and crunchy. M&S' pie (£2.50) was not as seasoned Asda's so not as tasty but in a sighted taste afterwards looked more appetising. The pastry was softer and had more jelly, which personally I'm not keen on. WINNER: Asda

9. Lemon drizzle cake

I chose this particular item as it is one of the cornerstone products of Asda's campaign, singled out as a 'superstar' and one of my favourite cakes, and now I wish I hadn't. I bought the M&S version (£3.65) very easily. Luckily for Asda this is a taste test and not a stock supply test because three trips to a massive Asda and each time the standard, directly-comparable cake was a no-show and only their fancy higher-priced version (£5.50) was available.

I asked a helpful member of staff and they offered to check the stock room while I treated the cake aisle to my personal rendition of Ronan Keating's Life is a Rollercoaster that was playing over the Tannoy – lucky customers. And this shopping trip turned into a rollercoaster again because the standard lemon drizzle cake was not in stock with no information on when it might be in again.

So not really a fair fight between these two cakes but bearing in mind the time spent trying to find the Asda standard cake combined with the fact that at some point the pork pie use by dates were going to be up I have done a taste test anyway – can't be going to Asda every day to find their M&S version of a standard lemon cake.

The M&S cake was moist with a subtle lemon flavour within the sponge, but not overwhelming, with smooth and soft icing. Asda's cake had thicker icing, as explained above, and the sponge was very similar to the first cake but with more 'hits' of strong flavour and maybe not quite as light meaning the icing overwhelmed the sponge texture and taste.

WINNER - A draw Icing for M&S, Asda for sponge, so this taste test is a draw which is probably a fair outcome. But maybe if you can actually find Asda's Extra Special Lemon Cake for £3 you can do the direct comparison and tell us your favourite.

10. Cream of chicken soup

So it all comes down to the cream of chicken soup as both retailers have four product winners with the lemon drizzle cake challenge a draw. Asda's soup (70p) is smooth and creamy with a hint of a chicken flavour that is not overbearing while M&S (75p) offered a stronger chicken taste that included far more chunks of chicken so it all depends on your personal preference and for me it was the tastier M&S version that won the soup war. WINNER: M&S

The overall winner and the surprising cost

For me M&S just about wins the vote based on the chicken soup just beating Asda at the very end. I was surprised though because I thought that M&S would win every category. But maybe the biggest surprise was the cost of each shopping basket. I was expecting M&S to be noticeably more expensive than Asda but it wasn't. In fact there was very little difference.

When adding the price of a standard and not deluxe Asda lemon drizzle cake to the cost, adding the cost of four Asda croissants to match the M&S purchase, plus adding the M&S ham at full price and not on special offer the two bills are very close with Asda at £22.15 and M&S at £22.45.

Asda are so confident they would win a taste test on their website it states: "If the item that you purchase is stated to be part of the taste match campaign and you do not believe that it is as tasty as or tastier than the equivalent product at Marks & Spencer you can claim a refund." That's fighting talk from Asda but I won't be going to claim any money back because what it has taught me is to not let packaging, advertising, or preconceived ideas about a retailer and prices influence what I buy as it's all about my own personal taste.