Value for Money: with Conor Pope

This week Value for Money looks at French dressing

Avoca Pantry Kilmac French Dressing €5.25 for 250ml €21 per litre

Highs: This Irish-made dressing is a high-end product without any artificial colours or preservatives. It smells gorgeous and tastes pretty good too, with the wine vinegar, wholegrain mustard and honey gently competing for your attention, creating a subtle dressing that will not overpower the salad it adorns.

Lows: It is the most expensive of the brands tried and is ever so slightly greasy, thanks perhaps to the presence of a good deal of sunflower oil in the mix - although it is impossible to tell how much sunflower oil is used as the ingredient list does not give percentages. This dressing is also quite gloopy and is unlikely to last for many of the summer's salad days.

Verdict: Good quality but very pricey

Star rating: ***

Marks & Spencer Classic French Dressing €2.49 for 300ml €8.30 per litre

Highs: Despite its low price, this is made with a higher percentage (25 per cent) of extra virgin olive oil than all but one of the competition and it tastes better for it. It is a nice olive colour and is very liquidy. The vinegar flavour is quite discreet, allowing the hint of garlic to come through.

Lows: Which is more than can be said for the herbs, which, while visible, were pretty tasteless. It is a pity the same couldn't be said for the sugar listed amongst the ingredients. The sugar lends it an excessive sweetness and a somewhat processed air which means you'd not be able to pass it off as homemade.

Verdict: Nice tasting and good value

Star rating: ***

Ballymaloe French Dressing €2.69 for 250ml €10.76 per litre

Highs: This is a classic French dressing from Co Cork and is very, very good without being flash or fancy. It is the only brand to come in a green bottle, which, apparently "helps protect edible oils from light waves that reduce food quality and damage taste". It has a nice, minimalist ingredient list, is widely available and is not as expensive as you might imagine.

Lows: It has quite a hefty vinegar kick which might overpower a delicate salad. All the little bits of herbs have a very irritating habit of sinking at extraordinary speed to the bottom of the bottle, so getting any onto your salad before the bottle is only about a quarter full is next to impossible.

Verdict: A dressing for purists

Star rating: ****

Florette Fresh French Dressing €2.59 for 175ml €14.80 per litre

Highs: This lightly-coloured dressing is quite sweet tasting and oddly reminiscent of salad cream, which some might find very appealing. It has a nice, smooth texture and is widely available.

Lows: The salad cream connection might put some people off. It's quite strong and could suppress the flavours of even the most robust of salads. It also needs to be refrigerated and includes the word fresh on the label, which is odd considering it is perhaps the most processed-tasting of the lot. At nearly €15 a litre, it is also expensive and hardly seems worth it.

Verdict: Overpriced and over-processed.

Star rating: **

Olives Et Al French and Herb Dressing €5.29 for 250ml €21.16 per litre

Highs: Available in Fallon and Byrne this dressing is unquestionably the pick of the bunch. Made with 52 per cent extra virgin olive oil, it is the only brand which does not contain so much as a drop of sunflower oil and as a consequence is the least greasy. The ingredient list is pleasingly wholesome, with no additives or stabilisers included. Most importantly, however, it tastes great, with the herbs, mustard, garlic and white wine vinegar mingling well without any one of the flavours dominating the proceedings.

Lows: Excellence comes at a cost. While your salad may well be best dressed with this, it is expensive and not as widely available as some of the competition.

Verdict: Top of the class

Star rating: *****