EVERYONE knows that the most important part of any cinema visit, or home movie night, is the snacks.
A bag of Butterkist popcorn cost an average of £1.65 last year, but the same item will set you back around £1.80 in most supermarkets, according to Trolley.co.uk.
Own-brand popcorn will cost you less, but will they satisfy those movie munchies?
We put put mixed-bags of sweet and salted popcorn to the test and gave each item a score out of ten for taste and value for money.
Here's what we found.
Butterkist Sweet & Salted Popcorn (£2 for 100g)
You can't go wrong with a classic Butterkist popcorn and this bag was a perfect combination of sweet and salty.
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But it's impossible to deny that a bag is pretty pricey. I picked up a bag from Tesco for £2.
Buying these bags will add up, especially if you have a big family.
- Taste: 9/10
- Value: 6/10
- Overall: 15/20
Tesco Sweet and Salted Popcorn (£1.25 for 110g, or £1.15 per 100g)
Tesco's offering just wasn't up to scratch for me.
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It was a bit off-putting from the outset when the first mouthful I took from the bag tasted burnt.
There also wasn't much of a balance between the sweet kernels and the salted ones.
The popcorn did have a good crunch, but for £1.25 a bag, I wasn't very impressed.
- Taste: 6/10
- Value: 5/10
- Overall: 11/20
Aldi Snackrite Sweet & Salty popcorn (99p for 110g, or 90p per 100g)
Good news for Aldi shoppers, because the supermarket's popcorn wasn't just tasty – it was also the cheapest.
I thoroughly enjoyed this dupe for Butterkist and it costs over £1 less for a bigger bag.
There was a good mix of sweet and salty kernels and both were really flavourful.
I could well imagine curling up on the sofa to watch a film and smashing through a bag of this popcorn pretty quickly.
- Taste: 9/10
- Value: 10/10
- Overall: 19/20
Sainsbury’s Sweet and Salty Butterfly popcorn (£1.50 for 110g, or £1.36 per 100g)
When I opened the bag from Sainsbury's, I was hit straight away by that lovely smell of fresh popcorn.
But unfortunately, I couldn't have been more disappointed.
The salted kernels were far too savoury, and it felt more like I was eating a packet of crisps than a bag of popcorn.
Plus, the salt completely overpowered any sweetness.
I also found that I was really thirsty afterwards because the kernels were so dry.
At £1.50 a bag, it was the most expensive own-brand I tried, and I don't think it's worth the price.
- Taste: 5/10
- Value: 4/10
- Overall: 9/20
Asda Sweet & Salty Popcorn (£1.10 for 100g)
Asda's sweet and salty popcorn was just a bit bland.
There wasn't much difference between the sweet and the salty popcorn and I found I was bored after a few mouthfuls.
For £1.10 a bag, it's one of the cheaper options, but it's no substitute for Butterkist.
- Taste: 6/10
- Value: 6/10
- Overall: 12/20
Lidl Snaktastic Popcorn Sweet & Salty (£1.69 for 200g or 84p per 100g)
If you have a sweet tooth then Lidl's popcorn might just be for you.
The sweet popcorn definitely outnumbered the salty pieces, but both flavours were really pleasant.
Out of all of the options I tried, it tasted the closest to cinema popcorn.
It was also the biggest bag, which means it's great for sharing.
- Taste: 8/10
- Value: 8/10
- Overall: 16/20
Morrisons Sweet and Salt popcorn (£1.15 per 100g)
Morrisons popcorn was a surprise contender and I found myself going for handful after handful.
It was really tasty and there wasn't one flavour I preferred over the other.
At £1.15 a bag, it's one of the cheaper options, but it's still packed full of flavour.
I would definitely pick up a bag of this popcorn over the costly Butterkist.
- Taste: 9/10
- Value: 8/10
- Overall: 17/20
Waitrose Sweet and Salty popcorn (£1.10 per 100g)
There is a great balance of flavour in this bag of popcorn from Waitrose.
It makes a great snack, but it's just missing that extra something to make me want to go back for another handful.
At £1.10 a bag, it's fairly priced but there are better own-brand options.
- Taste: 7/10
- Value: 7/10
- Overall: 14/20
Overall verdict
It's easy to become dedicated to one particular brand, but having tasted the alternatives, there's no need to stay loyal.
Nearly all of these own brands had their good points, whether that's on taste or value for money.
Often you have to fork out a little more for something that's top quality.
But that's not always the case – Aldi was my favourite and it was the best of both worlds – cheap and delicious.
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