There is something iconic about Lurpak. The branded salted butter has become notoriously unaffordable in recent years, with a 500g tub costing almost £5.
But there is something about Lurpak that makes it, arguably, worth the small fortune you have to pay for it. It's rich, creamy, and very spreadable, all with its distinctively salty tang.
But this hasn't stopped all the major supermarkets from trying to replicate the brand. My favourite names will always be Lidl's Danpak and Aldi's Nordpak - and I decided to put one of them to the test along with versions from Waitrose and Co-Op.
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I should say that at the outset, my hopes were not very high in this comparison. Lurpak is just so iconic I wasn't sure any of the supermarkets could rise to beat it. But I was completely wrong.
One of the supermarket butter's managed to be more buttery than Lurpak, a feat I didn't think possible. And when I put it on one side of my chicken bagel for lunch, with Lurpak on the other side, it was so much better I didn't believe it and had to replicate it the following day for proper confirmation.
So scroll down to find out which supermarket salted spread is both better than Lurpak and better for your bank account.
Despite having the most creative name, Danpak, Lidl's salted butter was just very unexciting. It didn't have much of a salty flavour when I tried it on its own.
It didn't have that thickness or richness that Lurpak offers either. I then put it on some toast and I felt I could barely taste it - all I was getting was the flavour of the bread.
There was no substance to this spread at all. This also meant it wasn't very spreadable either, and in the end, I concluded this butter was a good option only for those on a very tight budget but really just creates a bit of lubrication for a sandwich.
Anna's butter rating - 3/10.
Lidl Danpak - £2.19 for 500g.
Now I had a bit more faith in the Co-op's spreadable salted butter, but my hopes were dashed almost immediately. It was very similar to the Lidl butter, but with just a touch more thickness to it.
There was very little saltiness, and again no richness. When I put it on the toast, the salt came through slightly more, but overall the effect was underwhelming.
Anna's butter rating - 4/10.
Co-Op butter - £2.65 for 500g.
Now before you all come at me with your pitchforks, I want to emphasise that I love Lurpak. Perhaps not as much as this girl on TikTok, but still I could happily eat crumpets with Lurpak on forever and be very happy.
Lurpak is incredibly rich and creamy - which you'd expect given that you may have to take out a mortgage to even buy a tub - but it's the proper salty flavour that makes this butter just so good. It's also surprisingly oily, which makes for excellent spreadability as long as you don't look too closely at the oiliness itself.
But I have to go with my gut, and my chicken bagel taste test. Which leads me to...
Anna's butter rating - 9.5/10.
Lurpak - £5 for 500g (Sainsbury's).
Now this is butter. And by butter I mean the real stuff, that evokes a sense of the countryside, of cows being milked, butter pats and those little dishes where you keep the block of butter.
The Waitrose butter is thick, it's rich, it really is butter. It's much less oily than Lurpak, and a bit less obviously salty.
But it's also spreadable in a way those blocks of butter just aren't, especially if they've been sitting in the fridge. So it creates the best of both worlds between quick spreading and incredible taste.
On toast it takes over and is the star of the show, just as Lurpak is. But it was in the slightly spontaneous comparison I did where I made my usual chicken bagel with one half using Lurpak and the other Waitrose's spreadable butter.
I was fairly sure the Lurpak would be better, but when I bit into the Waitrose side first I almost had a religious experience. It was so flavourful, salty and rich I was convinced I'd just tried the Lurpak side.
And when I did try the Lurpak side, it simply wasn't as good. I didn't trust myself that I hadn't confused the two halves of the bagel so I repeated the test the following day for accuracy - and the same thing happened.
The Waitrose butter came out of its shell by force and was simply amazing. And it also happens to cost almost half the price of Lurpak.
Anna's butter rating - 10/10.
Waitrose spreadable butter - £2.60 for 500g.
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