I tried coco pops from M&S, Sainsbury's, Aldi - a £1.70 box was superior to Kellogg's

Coco Pops are a breakfast classic: with every crunchy, chocolatey bite, they instantly bring back childhood memories. Whether you like hot or cold milk, the best part about the cereal is right at the end, where you slurp the heavenly chocolate milk after you have munched every pop and crackle.

But with the cost of living on everyone's mind, many of us are looking for cheaper alternatives to big-name brands like Kellogg's. I personally live with five children who are always in the mood for the chocolatey delight every morning, but it costs a pretty penny to buy. Curious to see if store-brand versions could match (or even beat) the original, I conducted a blind taste test with brands from M&S, Sainsbury's, and Aldi. Surprisingly, one box turned out to be even better than Kellogg's in taste - and it's cheaper too.

How I conducted my test taste

There's no one better to taste-test supermarket-brand cereals against the classic than my picky-eating nieces and nephews, who swear they cannot eat anything for breakfast but Kellogg's. After not much convincing, my seven-year-old, 13-year-old, and 14-year-old agreed to be involved, as did my older brother (36).

We used an empty cardboard box and cut a small square screen on one side. Each person had to close their eyes while I poured different cereals into uniform small white bowls. The corresponding cereal box would be placed inside the box underneath the bowl, so I could see the brand while the tester was blind to it.

The tester would then eat the cereal in each bowl (with their plain milk of choice) and then guess which brand they think belongs to that bowl. The tester would then tell me their favourite bowl.

The results

As expected, the seven-year-old was all over the place. Despite me telling him exactly what the brands are, he guessed "Lidl" or "from around the corner"...whatever that means. He also guessed Sainsbury's twice for the bowls and was convinced I was tricking him.

In the end, he voted for the second bowl as his favourite. He originally thought it was Lidl, but once I reminded him of the list, he concluded it was Kellogg's; however, he was actually eating the M&S brand.

My niece was up next, and she was the strictest one. She was absolutely disgusted by the Aldi brand and unamused by the Sainsbury's bowl. Despite mixing up the M&S brand, while eating, she said it had a little bit of flavour, but ultimately, nothing beats the "classical Kellogg's taste."

My 13-year-old nephew was up next. He had the least commentary and few facial expressions (as teenage boys do), so he was harder to read when I came to what he actually enjoyed. My nephew confused Kellogg's with M&S, but his favourite pick was bowl number two, Sainsbury's (despite thinking it was M&S).

As there were only three taste testers, I asked my brother, who is self-proclaimed as a cereal connoisseur, to try out this challenge. He quickly identified which one was Kellogg's, but mixed up the other brands completely (he also cheated by looking at the shade in each bowl, as Kellogg's is darker and shinier).

The kids didn't want the experiment to end, so with the help of their uncle, they tested me next. I was unsure about the first bowl I tried, as it was nice, but I didn't want to guess just yet. The second bowl, I immediately assumed, was M&S as it tasted rather boujee (fancy) and had richer notes of darker chocolate that I didn't enjoy (spoiler alert, I was wrong).

I instantly guessed that the third bowl was Aldi, as it had no flavour at all. I agreed with my niece that the 79p box was like eating cardboard. I also got the last bowl correctly after guessing it was Sainsbury's. The supermarket's own-brand foods have a certain taste to them (or maybe it was the smell) that is a dead giveaway - but as it is our go-to store, I probably am too familiar with the brand.

Surprisingly, my winner was M&S, which costs £1.70, a cheaper price point than the £2.35 Kellogg's box (which was smaller in size at 295g). Kellogg's was bitter to me, while the M&S one had the right amount of chocolatey goodness. The seven-year-old also picked M&S as his favourite, and it came in at a close second to my niece and brother.

If you struggle with picky eaters but want to buy cheaper, M&S choco pops are the best dupe you can buy, and they will save you a respectable 65p.