Conor Pope’s guide to the best supermarket granola

Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Granola

€3.99 for 380g, €10.50 per kg

Highs This company obviously knows a thing or two about making cereals, so it will come as no surprise to learn that their granola ticks a lot of the boxes bleary eyed people will want ticked of a morning. It is sweet and many people will find it very moreish. It is also very widely available and entirely reliable.

Lows The trouble is it tastes too sweet and we’d have to ask Mr Kellogg if it was really necessary to caramelise the hazelnuts. That must be at least part of the reason you get just under 10g of sugar in a single serving. In many ways, this is the antithesis of what granola is all about. It is supposed to be super healthy — wearingly so on many occasions — but this is a long way from that. We were also unimpressed with the ratio of nuts to other things — just 7.5 per cent — we didn’t love the addition of palm oil to the mix and it was quite salty. Oh, and some of the lumps of oats were only massive, unlike the bag which is on the small size at just 380g.

Verdict Not for us

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Star rating * *

Flahavan’s

€4.85 for 400g, €12.13 per kg

Highs We were well disposed to this even before we opened the bag because of its provenance. It is a locally made product from a company that spans the generations. We were doubly pleased when we started eating it — it is by almost all conceivable measures delicious. It is made with 56 per cent oats and 18 per cent nuts — a mix which is made up of cashews, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts and walnuts. There is also pumpkin seeds, black treacle honey, coconut and rapeseed oil. In fact, that is pretty much it when it comes to the ingredients. It has less sugar than its rivals and no salt. It is gorgeously textured with a surprising smoothness, the oats are beautifully toasted and the little piece of nut seem to be everywhere. It has a pleasing sweetness which doesn’t dominate but compliments.

Lows The price is, however, the elephant in the room. We don’t think anyone could realistically argue that any of the other products taste as good as this one but it is substantially more expensive than the cheapest product on the market and nearly 20 per cent dearer than the next most expensive.

Verdict Lovely but dear

Star rating * * * *

Jordans

€5.39 for 550g, €9.80 per kg

Highs If the Kellogg’s granola and the Flahavan’s granola were to fall in love and have a baby granola, it might be like this. There are some massive clumps of oats — almost as big as the ones in the Kellogg’s bag — but they lack that harsh crunch — and it also has the subtle sweetness and slight wholesomeness of the Flahavan’s. Speaking of oats, there are a lot of them in the mix. It is made with 68 per cent oats and 11 per cent nuts — almonds, hazelnuts and Brazil nuts.

Lows It is a bit OTT on the oats to be honest and while the sprinkling of nuts was generous, eating it got a bit samey after a while.

Verdict Pretty good

Star rating * * *

Tesco Finest

€3.29 for 500g, €6.60 per kg

Highs When it comes to price, this product wins hands down and it is almost half the price of the most expensive granola we tried. People of a certain age might remember sugar puffs and that is what came to mind when we had our first spoon, although to be fair they are nowhere near as sweet and unhealthy as sugar puffs were back in the day. While the packaging doesn’t tell us what percentage of this product is made up of oats, it seems like a lot and it also comes with spelt and barley flakes and puffed oats. It has 15.5 per cent nuts — almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts and cashews — and 14.7g of sugar.

Lows Everything in the mix kind of blends together lending it the same saminess we found in the Jordans granola. It is not unpleasant by any means but maybe just a little bit dull.

Verdict Good value

Star rating * * * *