Which Is Better: Nutella Or The Aldi Brand?

If you're a fan of Nutella, you're in good company. The indulgent chocolate hazelnut spread is sold on every continent (excluding Antarctica, of course) and can be found in 160 countries (via BBC). So we probably don't need to tell you about how great we think it is because you probably already know. Created in Italy and popularized during World War II by the now infamous chocolatier Pietro Ferrero, hazelnut paste was added to chocolate to stretch the volume of expensive chocolate. Hazelnuts being prevalent in Italy, were relatively cheap, although their value has risen considerably over the last century. In fact, a quarter of the world's production of hazelnuts now goes directly to producing Nutella.

But if you go through a lot of Nutella (no judgment), it might start to get a little pricey. So we turned to ALDI to see if we could find a comparable substitute. The grocery store is famous for its store-brand versions of popular mainstream groceries and selling them for a fraction of the price of name-brand products. ALDI delivered with a store brand version of Nutella under the Berryhill brand name, which produces the spreads and jams for the grocery store. So we purchased both Nutella and the ALDI brand, Berryhill, to see how they compare in cost, size, nutritional value, and most importantly, taste. If you can't get enough of this nutty chocolate spread, read on to see which one we think is the best.

The Berryhill hazelnut spread is only available in a 13-ounce size, so we bought the 13-ounce Nutella for the most direct comparison. According to the website, Nutella is available in seven different sizes ranging from 35.3 ounces all the way down to a .52-ounce mini cup. But the 13-ounce size is one of the most popular and widely available sizes, which is probably why the ALDI brand chose that particular size for the Berryhill hazelnut spread.

Our grocery store charged $4.69 for the jar of Nutella, although the price may vary depending on where you buy it. At the time of this writing, we found it for as low as $4.39 on Amazon Fresh and as high as $5.49 on Instacart. On the other hand, the ALDI brand hazelnut spread cost us $2.75, which is about 41% less than the Nutella of the same size. So from a cost perspective, it's hard to argue with the lower price of the Berryhill spread. But we know that cost isn't everything when it comes to your favorite indulgence, so we took a look at the nutrition information of each spread next.

At first glance, both chocolate hazelnuts spreads clock in at 200 calories per serving. For reference, one serving is considered to be 2 tablespoons weighing 37 grams. Most of the more detailed nutrition information is similar, within a gram or two of each other in the total fat, cholesterol, carbohydrates, and protein categories. The only notable difference is that Nutella contains 15mg of sodium, whereas the Berryhill hazelnut spread contains 20mg of sodium per serving.

Since there wasn't too much of a difference in the nutritional metrics, we also took a look at the ingredients list to see how similar the spreads are. The first ingredient in both products is sugar, which might surprise people who think Nutella is a "healthy" food choice. Interestingly, hazelnuts are the second ingredient in the Berryhill spread, followed by rapeseed oil and then palm oil. Nutella's second ingredient is palm oil, with hazelnuts coming in third. This might make it seem like the Berryhill hazelnut spread has more hazelnuts in it, but since three oils make up the total oil content (it also includes sunflower oil further into the ingredients list), it may only appear that Berryhill has less oil in it compared to Nutella, which only uses one kind of oil.

Ultimately, we can easily tell from the Nutrition Facts that neither Nutella nor Berryhill is meant for low-calorie diets or as a health food — which is perfectly fine given how divine it is.

As with so many of our favorite foods, it's not always about the price, how much you get in one container, or even about how healthy it is. So far in our comparison, the Berryhill hazelnut spread is a better value for the price, but available in the same popular size that Nutella is sold in. Nutritionally speaking, the spreads are tied which leaves us with the final consideration ... taste.

Both lids unscrew to reveal a gold foil cover, which you remove to reveal the heavenly chocolate spread. The Berryhill spread is ever so slightly darker than the Nutella, but unless you were holding them side by side in bright light, you would probably never know the difference. Both spreads are easily scooped up, smoothly spread on toast, and seem to have a similar viscosity. Until you actually put a spoonful of the spreads in your mouth, you might assume they're the same, but they definitely aren't.

We tried the Berryhill first, relying only on our memories of Nutella to guide us. Even without tasting the Nutella first, we could immediately tell that the Berryhill spread is thinner and sweeter than Nutella. We were surprised that the Berryhill was sweeter, given that it has a higher sodium content than Nutella, and disappointed that it wasn't as thick as Nutella. While Nutella is sweet, we thought it was more balanced with a better texture than the Berryhill.

Oftentimes people fall in love with a particular brand, and stay loyal to it even when other options make it to the market. It can be uncomfortable and downright disappointing when you try something new and it doesn't meet your expectations. Given how beloved Nutella is the world over, ALDI had their work cut out for them trying to replicate the taste and texture of Nutella. The Berryhill hazelnut spread is undoubtedly a more cost-effective choice for anyone looking to appease this particular craving for a portion of the price. It's a fine spread that is satisfying enough.

But if you're a true Nutella lover, the Berryhill spread isn't going to do it for you. Ultimately, the goal was to see if the ALDI brand compared to the name-brand taste-wise, and if it offered any additional benefits in nutrition or cost that would incentivize you to leave Nutella behind. While the cost is great, there don't seem to be any nutritional benefits to the ALDI brand, and the taste and texture just aren't the same. Nutella is the clear choice in this matchup, and continues to win over our hearts and tastebuds.

One additional note we'd like to make, is that if you're baking with a chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella brownies anyone?), we think that the Berryhill brand will perform comparably to Nutella since the carbohydrate count is mostly the same and shouldn't disrupt the sugar content of your baked goods. Now that's amore!