Name Brand vs Great Value Snacks With Professor Snape

 

Name Brand vs Great Value Snacks: Professor Snape’s Taste Test

I had a perfectly reasonable question: can you actually tell name brand snacks apart from Walmart’s Great Value versions?

Then I made Professor Snape administer the test.

That is how a table full of pretzels, chips and ice cream became an examination with a passing grade on the line. Miss Bug had to study each sample, smell it, taste it and decide which one was the name brand.

At least the homework was edible.

What Was on the Snack Exam?

The comparisons included:

• Snyder’s pretzels vs Great Value pretzels

• Pringles vs Great Value potato crisps

• Cheez-It vs Great Value cheddar cheese crackers

• Pop-Tarts vs Great Value toaster pastries

• Hot Pockets vs Great Value stuffed sandwiches

• Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream vs Great Value vanilla ice cream

Each pair gave her something different to consider. Sometimes the shape stood out first. Other times, one bite did more explaining than a close inspection ever could.

The goal was to identify the name brand, but she also talked through which sample she enjoyed more.

Those two questions made the comparisons much more interesting.

Pretzels and Potato Crisps Set the Tone

Pretzels sound like a fairly easy place to start. They are crunchy, salty and familiar.

Put two versions beside each other, though, and suddenly there is a lot to discuss. One pretzel looked thicker. Another tasted saltier. Miss Bug had to decide which differences actually pointed toward the name brand.

The potato crisps brought another set of clues. Shape, crunch, sour cream and onion flavor, and the taste left behind after a bite all became part of her reasoning.

Snape, naturally, was prepared to question whether any correct answer was merely luck.

The Cheese Crackers Created Some Doubt

The cheese cracker comparison was a good example of how appearance can influence a guess.

One sample was brighter orange. The other looked darker and more toasted. Miss Bug studied both, tasted them and started weighing what looked familiar against what tasted familiar.

There is something funny about watching a person think this carefully about a cracker while Professor Snape waits for an answer.

It also makes you wonder how confidently you would choose if the boxes were taken away.

The Toaster Pastries Deserve Their Own Mention

The toaster pastry round involved icing, filling, strawberry flavor and an unexpected smiley face.

That little face caused more laughter than Snape probably would have approved of.

Both samples were tasted straight from the packaging at room temperature. Miss Bug compared the pastry, the amount of filling and how strongly the strawberry flavor came through.

This is one round I would let play out before deciding which brand you think wins.

Pizza Pockets and an Ice Cream Finish

The stuffed sandwiches brought the discussion around to crust, sauce, pepperoni and how the filling looked inside.

After that came vanilla ice cream, which Miss Bug was very happy to see on the exam.

She compared the color, sweetness, creaminess and overall flavor of the two samples. Apparently there is always room for another spoonful when academic accuracy is involved.

That sounds like a fairly good excuse to me.

Try Making Your Own Snack Exam

This would be an easy challenge to try at home. Have someone put two versions of the same snack into separate dishes and keep track of which is which.

Before revealing the answer, ask two questions:

Which one do you think is the name brand?

Which one would you choose to eat again?

You might find yourself much more certain about one answer than the other.

Adding a stern Hogwarts professor is optional. In this house, apparently it was necessary.