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‘A truly scandalous Christmas scoop’: Chocolate biscuit selections from Tesco, Aldi, M&S and Waitrose appear identical

Despite having nearly identical biscuits, the boxes have varying price points

Kate Ng
Thursday 23 December 2021 15:52 GMT
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Similar biscuits have been found in four different supermarket chocolate biscuit selection boxes
Similar biscuits have been found in four different supermarket chocolate biscuit selection boxes (Getty Images)

Move over, Boris. There’s a more newsworthy scandal in town, and it involves chocolate biscuits.

Actor Niamh Walsh has revealed a “truly scandalous Christmas scoop” that appears to prove that all the biscuits featured in chocolate biscuit selections from Aldi, Tesco, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer are exactly the same as one another.

In a tweet, Walsh posted photos of the biscuits in Tesco’s Extremely Chocolatey Biscuit Selection, Aldi’s Extremely Chocolatey Milk, Dark and White Chocolate Biscuits, M&S’s Extremely Chocolatey Milk, Dark and White Chocolate Biscuits, and Waitrose Christmas’ The Ultimate Chocolate Biscuit Selection.

Each tray contained a selection of 12 chocolate-covered biscuits in various shapes. Some of them appeared identical in all four photos, while others looked similar in terms of design.

Walsh, who is best known for her role as Cara Martinez in the BBC One drama, Holby City, tweeted to her 15,500 followers: “In a truly scandalous Christmas scoop… All these various biscuit selections ARE THE SAME BISCUITS.”

One fan joked: “Move over Pippa Crerar, THIS IS THE REAL NEWS.” Another said the tweet should have had a “BREAKING” headline, with a siren emoji.

Pippa Crerar is the Mirror journalist who broke the news of the alleged Christmas parties held in Downing Street last year, when the rest of the country was under lockdown restrictions.

Responding to Walsh’s tweet, another person said: “Have checked with relative who works for a food packaging company. He says they were all made by Fox’s Biscuits but the recipes will vary slightly, eg. M&S specify Belgian chocolate.”

Walsh commended them on their detective skills and said: “Rachel this is an excellent investigation and I salute you.”

Another person appeared to confirm this theory and said: “All made by Fox’s. Knew someone who worked for them and basically they make all the biscuits for everyone. They just put more chocolate on the M&S and Waitrose ones.”

The price points of each box differ despite having seemingly identical biscuits. Aldi’s selection costs £2.99, while Tesco’s box costs £4, the same as M&S’ chocolate biscuit box. Waitrose’s box was the most expensive at £5.

One person said they were feeling “smug” because they “already bought the Aldi version”.

The Independent has contacted Aldi, Tesco, Waitrose and M&S for comment.

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