Whether you’re still feeling the effects of a rather expensive Christmas time, or you’re just looking to be more savvy with your expenditure, there are plenty of ways to save money. In the supermarket, it’s not uncommon for people to look beyond the branding of an item – if it’ll mean keeping more of your hard-earned cash. But, in actual fact, making one particular move when it comes to the food you buy could see you save even more.
While many of us go to pick up fresh food by habit, canned products may actually boast better money saving benefits.
In order to work out whether you could actually save money, the price of fresh foods from some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets have been compared with a canned equivalent.
The prices are correct as of January 17, 2019, and use data from Asda, Tesco, and Waitrose.
At these retailers, 100g worth of tuna steak costs around £1.78, while 100g of Princes Drained Tuna steaks comes in at £1.06.
When buying fresh, salmon tends to cost the same as fresh tuna – while Princes Red Salmon can be bought for £1.64 from the same supermarkets.
Fresh pineapple is also more expensive than the canned equivalent.
A 100g portion of the former is priced at 75p on average, while Princes Pineapple Chunks cost 38p per 100g.
If you’re looking to pick up some asparagus too, opting for a canned version could see you make savings.
Fresh asparagus spears retail at roughly £1.20 per 100g.
However, the Kingfisher canned asparagus comes in at around 77p.
Other simple money saving swaps you could make include:
Fresh versus canned (drained) per 100g
Tuna steaks, £1.78 vs Princes Drained Tuna Steaks, £1.06
Salmon, £1.78 vs Princes Red Salmon, £1.64
Pineapple, 75p vs Princes Pineapple Chunks, 38p
Asparagus, £1.20 vs Kingfisher Asparagus, 77p
Raspberries, £1.42 vs Princes Raspberries, 48p
Strawberries, 76p vs Princes Strawberries, 33p
Lychees (Tesco only), 80p vs Princes Lychees, 33p
Tomatoes, 32p vs Napolina Chopped Tomatoes, 19p
Cured Ham, £1.56 vs Princes Cured Ham, 62p
Corned Beef, £1.78 vs Princes Corned Beef, 60p
Should you be likely to buy all of the above items, this switch could leave to savings of £5.75 per shopping trip.
And, if you buy these items on a weekly basis, these swaps would then add up to £23 per month, and £299 per year.
While many people are often tempted to buy fresh food, Love Canned Food have highlighted the array of options that cooking with canned food can offer.
Whipping up a tuna, haricot and red onion salad for two could be done in a matter of minutes, for instance.
Ingredients
1 x 160g can of tuna
1 x 410g can of haricot beans
1 red onion thinly sliced
A handful of cherry tomatoes quartered
Chopped fresh parsley
50ml good olive oil
25ml white wine vinegar
A squeeze of honey to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Simply flake the tuna into a bowl, before adding the beans, red onion, and tomatoes.
Then, mix the ingredients together.
Make the dressing in a separate bowl, by whisking the oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper.
Drizzle this on top, and sprinkle the parsley on top.
For more recipes, visit www.lovecannedfood.com.
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