4 Jan 2014

Quick Review: Sunpat Crunchy Hazelnut Spread


I picked up this Sun-Pat Crunchy Hazelnut Spread yesterday in Sainsbury's. As soon as I saw it I was hooked by the idea of a hazelnut spread - it conjured up the image of a chocolate-less Nutella! Obviously that is not the case here, since this Sun-Pat Crunchy Hazelnut Spread has the minuscule word peanut just before the word Spread. Didn't catch that? It's PEANUT. On the back of the jar it's actually called a Peanut & Hazelnut Spread, with roasted peanuts making up 62% of the ingredients and hazelnuts only 12%. I was in quite a rush when I picked up the jar so perhaps I should have stopped to read the label properly - especially the back!


Once I got home and realised that this is basically a peanut butter with 12% added hazelnuts I lost the initial excitement I felt about reviewing this, so excuse the lack of photos. The spread itself is nice enough. It's a very crunchy peanut butter. The nut pieces seemed to be larger that usual, giving it a much crunchier consistency. The flavour comes mainly from the peanuts, and at first it tasted like any other peanut butter. However, I could certainly taste the hazelnuts as the secondary flavour and they added an extra creaminess to the peanut butter. 

Sun-Pat seem to be releasing some very unusual products lately. Firstly the Choc-a-Nut peanut spread that contained cocoa powder rather than any chocolate, and now a Hazelnut Spread that is mostly peanut. 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Sun Pat Choc-a-Nut Peanut Spread

RATING: 6.5 out of 10
Buy them again?: Probably not.
Nutrition (100g): 645 calories
.
Vegetarian: Suitable for Vegetarians.
Ingredients: Roasted Peanuts (62%), Vegetable Oils (Palm, Sunflower), Hazelnut (12%), Sugar, Sea Salt, Glucose Fructose Syrup.
Purchased: Sainsbury's.
Price: £2.25.


10 comments:

  1. It really is a big con. This is not hazelnut spread at all.

    Try Meridian Hazelnut Butter - 100% hazelnuts and absolutely delicious. Avaiable from Amazon or holland and barett

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  2. How disappointing. Like Anon said above you can get real hazelnut butter from Holland and Barrett, although I've never tried it myself. I've tried almond butter though and it's seriously yummy!

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  3. I haven't tried this spread although I've found myself putting things in the basket without looking at the ingredients and not liking some of them (e.g. the chilli in the new Waitrose Roasted Butternut Squash and Five Grain Salad in a flatbread and the celery in the pickled onion dressing in Tesco's limited edition Double Cheese and Pickle Sandwich). Mind you I tried the Choc-a-Nut spread and the peanut flavour overpowered the chocolate flavour.

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    Replies
    1. That's very interesting, it shows how common it is. The hidden chilli and celery in those products would annoy me. I usually check ingredients but it's also when I see the word "new" that I get too eager and forget.

      The Choc-a-Nut spread was a strange one. I quite like it now, but the description is quite misleading. It's always worth double checking the ingredients!

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  4. Unfortunately, I got excited at the BIG print "hazelnut" and fell for this one too. This is very deceitful; as the way that the front label is printed, it implies that the main ingredient is hazelnuts. Shame on the manufacturers for this. Hmmm.......I think that this may be a case for the trading standards office.

    Thank you for the heads up RE hazelnut butter at H&B.

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  5. I fell for this too, rather annoyingly. It's clearly false marketing. I will try Holland and Barrett as Hazelnuts are my favourite nut, so thanks for the suggestion!

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  6. I took it back to Sainsbury and said it was not as described, they refused to give me my money back. It was horrible, far to oily - lots of cheap palm oil. Never again.

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  7. I too bought this product thinking it would be a hazelnut spread, as this is what is written en large on the jar! Very very disappointed that there was only 12% hazelnuts in it, so the spread just tastes like peanutbutter, but at a ridiculously inflated price!! Will never buy it again or any other Sunpat product as I will not reward any underhand tactics in marketing like this. Meridan Hazelnut spread is much, much better and totally the real deal.

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