The Co-Operative - Loved by Us - 6 Deep Filled Mince Pies

If you were to list supermarkets / stores in order of prestige, most people's list would be remarkably similar. However, The Co-Op is often the store that's missed from that list entirely. In fact, on my list, I really wouldn't know where to place it. Maybe this is a good thing, I won't have any expectations from it and treat it as the humble mince pie that it is. Lets see how this one does.

Presentation - 8

I like the usual colours that one would associate with Christmas, it reminds of Christmas and triggers memories related to this. Many supermarkets rely on this technique, in the hope that you will buy their product. Most major occasions have default colours associated with them. The Co-Op seemed to have taken the risky move of stepping drastically away from the norm and produced a mainly pastel green colour with red writing and a little sprig of holly. Its very different. I like it, but I'm not sure why! I guess I'm impressed with the inventiveness of the design. The Co-Op have clearly paid attention to their mince pies and not simply re-hashed a previous years box. It looses a couple points because a fleeting glance at this box and you would think it's a box of tissues.

The mince pie itself is textbook. You get a pie that looks exactly as it does on the front of the box. There was the one pie that had a wonky lid, but i'll let that slide as probably being the odd manufacturing fault.

Nutritional Content & Price - 6

The nutritional information is clearly written and colour coded. 250 calories, 8.6g of fat and 19.8g of sugar. While they have managed to reduce the level of fat and sugar (and even salt) in the pie, the calories are still the same as last year?

At the time of writing, my fellow Mincer forgot to note the price down when it was purchased. Clearly the excitement of buying mince pies made her pie eyed. We believe the price to be around £1.45 for a box of 6. I would say that is reasonable.

Pastry - 23

The mince pie is quite large, but there is a nice even layer of pastry all around. It crumbles well, but still holds it's shape. It's well cooked all around and the mincemeat has not given it a soggy bottom. The pasty however, tastes a little too sweet. The sweetness is overpowering. I think that they should have cut down on the sugar in the pastry and relied on the sugar sprinkles to add to the sweetness.

Mincemeat - 23

Once again, after a bite, I'm left trying to calculate just how much I've paid for the air inside. These are very under filled. Granted, it is a larger mince pie, and had they have more to fill, but it's no excuse. If you make a big mince pie, everything has to be in proportion. What is there of the mincemeat is quite tasty. You can clearly taste the lemon, orange and cinnamon in addition to the sultanas. The lemon gives is a nice tangy flavour which goes nicely with the sweetness from the pastry. Unfortunately, the mixture is quite dry. I know I don't say this often, but a little more puréed apple would have done wonders.

Overall Satisfaction - 5

This is definitely an improvement on last years mince pie, but I don't think it will be enough for it to be at the top this year. The lack of enough moisture in the mincemeat makes the whole mince pie quite dry; which is a disappointment as this mince pie had a lot of potential.

Here are the scores from my fellow Mincers. 

Tester 1 
Presentation (8) Nutritional content & Price (6) Pastry (10) Mincemeat (21) Satisfaction Level (4)

"Have a glass of water standing by for eating this little pie"

Tester 2
Presentation (7) Nutritional content & Price (7) Pastry (22) Mincemeat (21) Satisfaction Level (6)

"Average, would still buy if on offer" 

OVERALL

59 / 100

Look at where these fit in on our leader board.
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