Mirror mirror on the wall, which milk is the nicest of them all?

Keen readers with long memories may recall that for many, many years Pricewatch reviewed products ranging from orange juice and sausages to paint brushes and fake tan. But having assessed pretty much everything in the entire world over more than a decade and eaten pâté that tasted like cat food and cheese that bounced off walls among many other items good, bad and absolutely revolting, we hit pause on our Value for Money series a couple of years ago.

But our world has been changing — and changing quite dramatically — since the start of the year, so we reckon Value for Money is worth revisiting. All manner of new products are on the market, and many of the most enduring staples that find their way into our shopping trolleys now come with prices we might once have considered eye-watering.

The spike in prices has seen consumers shift towards own-brand products as they look to save money where they can. But not all own-brand ranges are equal: there are some excellent products produced under the labels of the big supermarkets on the one hand and, on the other, some products that might seem cheap until you find yourself throwing them in the bin because no one will eat them.

With that in mind, we have dusted off our taste buds and will once again turn our eye to the highs and lows of our supermarket shelves to determine what is value for money and what you might be as well off avoiding.

Bear in mind that all we can do is give our opinion, which you might well disagree with — as is your right. We also do not focus exclusively on price, and there will be times when a product that is pretty pricey will score much higher than one a retailer is practically giving away. That is because, as ever, value for money does not mean cheap.

Oh, and while we have your attention, feel free to drop us a line if there is anything you would like us to review in the weeks ahead. You can reach us at pricewatch@irishtimes.com. But please, please don’t suggest we ever review bargain-basement pâté again. Life is too short, and our stomach is too traumatised by the last time.

Now, where do we start? We start with the white stuff: milk

Mossfield Organic Farm

€3.50 for 2 litres/€1.75 a litre

Highs: Older readers may recall a time when milk was creamy and delicious and not homogenised to such a degree that virtually every single drop of milk from every single container tasted pretty much identical. We’re not talking about getting unpasteurised milk directly from a farmer’s cart as seen on a John Hinde postcard or anything — we’re not that old — but about the time when milk had a distinctive taste. This organic and non-homogenised milk from a farm in Offaly reminds of us that time. It is rich and creamy and quite simply delicious. It might just be up there with the best milk we have ever tasted.

Lows: Rich and creamy is well and good but it does come at a price. While some people might be happy to pay a higher price for what is almost certainly a superior product, many others will be unable to do so. Availability is also a problem. Given that this milk is not produced for the mass market, people might struggle to find it although it can be tracked down in some SuperValus and the State’s fanciest of shops. We sourced it in Lilliput Stores, in Dublin 7.

Verdict: Excellent — but pricey.

Rating: 4/5

Lidl Coolree Creamery

€1.89 for 2 litres/€0.94 a litre

Highs: When it comes to price, it is hard to top this product. We would say it is the cheapest milk to be found on Irish supermarket shelves but — as a result of the price matching that exists between all the main supermarkets in the State — it must share the “cheapest” title with its main rivals. Does it taste cheap? It does not, in fact it tastes pretty much identical to most of the branded products out there and try as we might we were unable to detect any difference in terms of taste or quality between private label and the more premium products on the market, fancy organic options aside. We’re can’t say for sure that all the milk comes from the same cows but we’d be pretty sure they must be cousins at the very least.

Lows: This is hard to top when it comes to price and the quality is largely indistinguishable from many other similar products on the market, ultimately people will have to decide whether or not they want their money for such a staple to go into the pockets of a large multinational operator or in the direction of a small scale producer. The reality is many people simply can’t afford to make a choice.

Verdict: Very good value.

Rating: 5/5

Glenisk Organic

€1.69 for 1 litre

Highs: We have long had a soft spot for this company which has for years been blazing a trail for organic dairy products. It is rightly held up as a poster child for an alternate — and more environmentally appealing — way to bring products to market. In recent times it has dramatically reconfigured its packaging to make it more sustainable, removing all plastics including the screw-top lids found on other milk cartons. And while some people might grapple with the old-school cardboard spout mechanism, that struggle is a very small price to pay to remove just a bit more plastic from our world. Oh, and while we have focused on the environmental attributes of this milk, we have neglected to say it tastes great, which it does.

Lows: It is more expensive than many of the alternatives on the market, although not as expensive as the really high-end option.

Verdict: Great — but at a cost.

Rating: 4/5

Avonmore

€1.99 for 2 litres/€1 a litre

Highs: If you are the kind of person who likes buying the same milk no matter what shop you find yourself in, then this is certainly the brand for you. It is up there with the most widely available brands in Ireland and can be found in the biggest of supermarkets and the smallest of corner shops. It is absolutely grand when it comes to taste and reliability too.

Lows: So, ultimately it comes down to price when it is pitched against a comparable own-brand product. It is not wildly more expensive than the own-brand products but we struggled to discern any difference in terms of taste so if we were standing in a supermarket looking at a shelf full of milk we can’t think of any reason why we would pick this instead of a product that was absolutely identical only 10 cent cheaper.

Verdict: Grand.

Rating: 3/5