The cost of being kind to the environment

Pricewatch: While holidaying in the great outdoors in Kerry this summer, Bernice Higgins from Dublin bought a one-litre bottle of eco-friendly Ecover washing-up liquid and paid €2.98, a price she thought was "horribly expensive", writes Conor Pope

She put the high cost down to the remoteness of her campsite shop. Despite the cost, she remains a fan. "The product has no phosphates so is very environmentally friendly and you can get refills - so there's no waste," she writes.

Her "warm and fuzzy feeling of doing something good" quickly faded when she went for a refill to her local healthfood shop in Rathmines. There a refill cost €2.99 and a new bottle was priced at €3.49. "I priced Ecover in Health Matters on Grafton Street and it was a whopping €3.85. I know anyone who buys a bottle of washing-up liquid on the most expensive shopping street in Europe is asking for it but isn't there a recommended retail price?" she asks.

PriceWatch rang round shops in Dublin earlier this week to establish the cost of a bottle of Ecover. In Nourish on Wicklow Street, not far from Health Matters, it costs €3.65. Tesco was selling 500ml bottles of the washing-up liquid for €1.95, which works out at €3.90 a litre - on the tesco.com site which serves Britain, however, a one-litre bottle is selling for €2.33. Neither www.tesco.ie nor the city centre supermarket were selling the one-litre bottles.

We contacted Ecover in the UK to try and establish what the RRP should be. A spokeswoman said the guide price for a one-litre bottle in the Republic for independent health stores was €3.40 and from €1.60-€1.80 for 500ml bottles. She said that the RRP for the UK was £1.95 (€2.85).

"The reason there is a slight price variation between [the Republic] and the UK is distribution. From the UK it goes on to the distributors in Ireland and then to the stores, so the slight increase in price is due to the other two steps taken in distribution to Ireland," she said.

What's more . . .

Health food shops aren't always so pricey, however. Fans of Green & Blacks chocolate in Galway should note that the chocolate sells for considerably cheaper in the Evergreen health food store on Shop Street than McCambridges supermarket on the same street. A 100g bar of Green & Blacks Maya Gold in McCambridges costs €3.55 while the same bar will set you back €2.85 in Evergreen just 50 metres away.

[ pricewatch@irish-times.ie ]

Value4Money - Pâté

Marks & Spencer Chicken Liver Pâté

€1.59 for 170 grams, €9.35 per kg

Highs: This is the cheapest of the brands tried (by a small margin). It will probably please pâté purists as it is exceptionally creamy and quite subtly flavoured and has quite a traditional, old-school feel to it.

Lows: There's nothing old-school about the packaging, of which there is an inordinate amount. Before you can even get a look at the pâté in the plastic tub, you have to remove the cardboard, then the plastic lid and finally the foil. When all that's done what's revealed is a pink and processed product that doesn't look particularly pleasing.

Verdict: A little dull but cheap.

Star rating:***

Dunnes Stores Chicken Liver Pâté €1.69 for 170 grams, €9.94 per kilo

Highs: This is the easiest of the pâtés reviewed to source and is quite good value. Although it is a chicken liver pâté, the strongest flavour here is almost certainly pork. It tastes for all the world like sausage meat, which is absolutely fine, if a little surprising.

Lows: The fact that it tastes okay is also a little surprising, as the packaging does not do this product any favours. Sitting there entombed in its plastic case like a particularly unappealing slice of spam, it is not something that leaps off the shelf screaming "Buy me, I'll be brilliant!" It also tastes very salty.

Verdict: Surprisingly sausage-like.

Star rating: ***

Bay Tree Brandy & Herb Chicken Liver Pâté

€4.50 for 125 grams, €36 per kg

Highs: This is an Irish-made pâté and one which could be served at the poshest of dos with pride - its rough and ready texture could even let you pass it off as your own. It's quite robust - with a lingering aftertaste - the flavours fight hard for your attention.

Lows: Its strength of flavours may, for some, be its main weakness. Many people are turned off by the notion of eating liver and while they are quite happy to wolf down subtle pâtés, they don't like to be reminded of its livery past. It's also pricey and hard to find.

Verdict: Home grown, great tasting.

Star rating: ****

Patchwork Trad Food Co Brandy & Herb Chicken Liver Pâté

€4.16 per 100 grams, €41.66 per kg

Highs: With its coarse, home made-looking texture and generous sprinkling of herbs, this upmarket (or expensive) pâté makes a great first impression. The balance of flavours lends it a complexity its rivals lack. It manages to be both very satisfying and surprisingly light.

Lows: This means that there is a real danger you'll eat too much of it, and it is the most expensive pâté tried. Available in good delis, such as Grocer at Sixty Six on Dublin's Dame St, it will still prove difficult for many to get their hands on.

Verdict: Hard to get, hard to pay for, but still hard to beat.

Star rating: ****