Nutella Vs Aldi Berryhill Hazelnut Spread: Which Is Better?

Welcome to Dupe Detective, a new column where I'll be reviewing a name brand food product's competitor product to find out how well it compares to, or even beats, the original.

After the Ferrero chocolate company officially debuted Nutella in the 1960s, the brand would become synonymous with chocolate hazelnut spread. Through a blind taste test, The Takeout even determined that the best hazelnut cocoa spread was the gold standard, with Nutella performing better overall than three alternatives. Absent from that blind taste test however — and similarly missing from The Takeout's list of 12 Nutella alternatives ranked worst to best — is Aldi's proprietary Berryhill Hazelnut Spread.

When I compared Aldi's Popz probiotic sodas to Poppi probiotic sodas, I found the Aldi dupe superior. So, I headed back to my nearest Aldi store in the suburbs of Las Vegas and picked up jars of both Berryhill Hazelnut Spread and Nutella in order to determine if Aldi's dupe might once again outshine its name-brand inspiration. Ahead are my thoughts after trying both products, before my pick for whether Aldi's Berryhill Hazelnut Spread is actually better or just not quite up to par with classic Nutella.

My first bite of Berryhill Hazelnut Spread was on a slice of Aldi's proprietary L'oven Fresh Country Buttermilk Bread. I tried the Aldi product first, and felt it delivered so strongly on the premise of a chocolate hazelnut spread, I would have believed it was name-brand Nutella if I was told so ahead of time. Unreliable dupes may be among 12 things people hate about shopping at Aldi, but it was quickly apparent that its hazelnut spread did not fall into that category.

Then, to better understand its flavor, I ate a generous spoonful of Berryhill spread plain. From that next bite, I picked up on just how prominently the Aldi product foregrounded its hazelnut component. Complementing that hazelnut was a rich milk chocolate — Aldi, notably, describes its product as a "hazelnut spread with skim milk & cocoa," whereas Nutella doesn't mention skim milk on the front of its label — and an abundance of sugar. It tasted delicious. Texturally, the Aldi spread was thick and oily, causing me to regret not toasting my soft bread slice. I don't hold that slightly excessive thickness against the Berryhill Hazelnut Spread, but I think it's worth noting. 

I typically avoid buying Nutella, but that's only because I know that it might be a gateway to excess sugar based on how much I love its distinct flavor. As delicious as I found my Berryhill Hazelnut Spread, I was expecting Nutella to go toe-to-toe with the Aldi dupe. I was surprised, then, to find the flavor of Nutella kind of dull relative to its Aldi counterpart.

Having particularly enjoyed the prominence of hazelnut in my Berryhill Hazelnut Spread, Nutella's flavor seemed to lack hazelnut in comparison. Its chocolate was also simpler, defined by mere cocoa rather than rich milk chocolate. For what it's worth, Nutella does include skim milk on its ingredients list, but it lacks some supplementary ingredients, like whey, that I believe contributed to the pronounced milk chocolate element in the Aldi dupe. 

Texturally, my jar of Nutella was even gooier than my Berryhill spread, occasionally sticking to the roof of my mouth like peanut butter. A few hours after my initial round of tastings, I reversed my initial order and tried some plain Nutella first and Berryhill Hazelnut Spread second — I enjoyed the Nutella initially, but as soon as I tried the Aldi dupe, Nutella's deficiencies came into focus yet again.

Ahead of this experience, I expected a close contest between two similar takes on a classic formula. As it turned out, Aldi handily beat the brand that popularized the very concept of chocolate hazelnut spread. It's safe to say Berryhill Hazelnut Spread belongs firmly among the Aldi dupes that are better than name brand, and not the Aldi products that are worse.

Everything Nutella does, Aldi's hazelnut chocolate spread did better — its hazelnut flavor was stronger, its chocolate tasted richer, and its texture wasn't as excessively thick. Plus, at my local Aldi, the price of Berryhill Hazelnut Spread is $1.94 cheaper, close to half of Nutella's $4.89 price point. At a nearby Smith's, Nutella is even pricier, at $5.79 for the same quantity. The only reason to buy Nutella over the Aldi dupe, then, is if shopping at an Aldi simply isn't an option. Otherwise, as long as it's available, Aldi's Berryhill Hazelnut Spread is the better choice, beating name-brand Nutella in every meaningful metric.

I bought my jars of Berryhill Hazelnut Spread and Nutella at the same Aldi store, located on the same shelf. At my local Aldi, a 13-ounce jar of Berryhill Hazelnut Spread costs $2.95, while a 13-ounce jar of Nutella costs $4.89. According to Reddit, the amount Aldi shoppers spend on a typical shopping trip is less than the cost of an average trip to the grocery store, and the price of Aldi's dupe tracks with that trend.

A two-tablespoon serving of Berryhill Hazelnut Spread totals 210 calories, 13 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of which are saturated fat, 20 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber, 19 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. That same two-tablespoon quantity of Nutella equals 200 calories, 11 grams of fat, 4 grams of which are saturated fat, 15 grams of sodium, 22 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. So, while each product has its advantages, those are slim enough that it's fair to say the two hazelnut cocoa spreads are just about nutritionally equivalent.

Since Aldi sells regular Nutella alongside its Nutella dupe, I bought both the name-brand product and Aldi's Berryhill Hazelnut Spread dupe at the same store in Henderson, Nevada. Since I imagine chocolate hazelnut spread is most commonly eaten on bread, I also bought a loaf of L'oven Fresh Country Buttermilk Bread at that same Aldi.

At home the next day, I started by trying each product on a slice of Aldi bread. I kept everything at room temperature to maintain a simple baseline. After having a few bites of first the Berryhill spread and then the Nutella on bread, I tried a plain spoonful of each product in that same order. Later that day, I had plain spoonfuls of first Nutella and then the Aldi dupe. My impression of both products is based entirely on the thoughts I noted down during this experience, and not any prior opinions I may have had about either item or its associated brand.