Marmalade: brands vs supermarket own-labels

Which marmalade has that perfect tangy taste and deserves to be spread generously on your morning toast?

We asked a marmalade-loving tasting panel to blind-taste and rate 11 different marmalades. These included a range of supermarket own labels from Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco, plus branded options from Duerr's, Frank Cooper's and Tiptree.

Morrisons 'The Best' Seville Orange Marmalade was the highest scoring overall and is our Best Buy. It's also cheaper than the big brands at less than £2 a jar.

Read on to find out which other marmalades impressed our panel, and which ones you might want to leave on the shelf.

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Best marmalade

Morrisons was the highest-scoring marmalade in our taste test. Duchy Organic (exclusive to Waitrose) and Sainsbury’s were tied for runner-up position. 

Our tasters also liked La Vieja Fábrica, which has a higher fruit content than the other top scorers.

Best Buy: Morrisons The Best Thick Cut Seville Orange Marmalade – 75%

£1.80 for 340g (53p per 100g)

Our tasters really enjoyed this marmalade from Morrisons and rated it highly for its look and texture. 

The majority of the panel also praised its colour, consistency and sweetness, and many felt the strength of the orange flavour was spot on.

The amount of peel and bitter marmalade tang were plus points, too.

All in all, it's a great marmalade and our only Best Buy in this taste test.

Available from Morrisons.

Duchy Organic Seville Orange Thick Cut Marmalade – 73%

£2.10 for 340g (62p per 100g)

Duchy Organic marmalade was another top choice. Our panel liked its consistency and pleasing colour. 

Most of our tasters were happy with the amount of peel, too, and more than half were impressed by the balance of bitterness and sweetness.

A similar number of people deemed the strength of the orange flavour to be just right – though some others would have preferred a more distinct orange hit.

Available from Waitrose.

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Bitter Seville Orange Marmalade – 73%

£1.80 for 340g (53p per 100g)

Sainsbury’s marmalade matches Morrisons on price and was also well liked by our tasters.

Its colour and consistency were rated highly, and the majority of our panel were impressed by the orange flavour. 

More than half of those involved in our blind taste test liked this marmalade's bitterness and amount of peel, but a third claimed it was too bitter and lacked enough peel.

Available from Sainsbury's.

La Vieja Fábrica Seville Orange Thick Cut Marmalade – 72%

£2.50 for 365g (68p per 100g)

This marmalade has a pleasing colour, and most of our panel thought it got the ratio of sweetness to bitterness right.

Plenty of tasters were fans of its orange flavour and overall consistency, and it was generally agreed that the amount of peel was ideal.

That said, some tasters did feel the marmalade could be thicker and would have preferred a bit more peel.

Available from Amazon, Ocado, Tesco and Waitrose.

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How marmalade from the other supermarkets and brands compares

The top three of the remaining marmalades – from Asda, Tesco and Co-op – all put in a pretty good showing. If you prefer a dark, moody marmalade, they might be right for you.

However, there was then a drop in scores with Tiptree, Frank Cooper's, Duerrs and M&S marmalades not quite hitting the spot.

• Asda Extra Special Thick Cut Dark Seville Orange Marmalade, 70% Thought to be too dark a colour by half of the panel, this marmalade was otherwise well liked. Most of our tasters said the sweetness-to-bitterness ratio was just right. However, some wanted it to be thicker and would have liked more peel. £1.95 for 370g (53p per 100g). Available from Asda.
• Tesco Finest Coarse Cut Dark Seville Orange Marmalade, 70% Although half of our tasters thought this marmalade looked unappetisingly dark, it was praised for its orange flavour, amount of peel and thickness. But it was too bitter for some. £1.80 for 340g (53p per 100g). Available from Tesco.
• Co-op Irresistible Seville Orange Medium Cut Marmalade, 69% A popular marmalade among our panel for its colour and consistency. Most tasters also enjoyed its sweetness, orange flavour and amount of peel. Again though, a third thought it was too bitter. £2.85 for 340g (84p per 100g). Available from Co-op.
• Tiptree 'Tawny' Orange Thick Cut Marmalade, 64% While more than half of our panel appreciated the amount of peel in this marmalade, it didn't score particularly well for bitterness, sweetness and orange flavour. Most also thought it looked too dark. £2.80 for 340g (82p per 100g). Amazon, Ocado and Waitrose. 
• Frank Cooper’s Original Oxford Marmalade Coarse Cut, 63% A lot of our tasters were put off by the dark colour of this marmalade, and not many were impressed by its orange flavour, sweetness, bitterness or amount of peel. £3.15 for 454g (69p per 100g). Available from Amazon, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
• Duerr's Thick Cut Seville Orange Marmalade, 62% Our panel were reasonably happy with this marmalade's sweetness, but it was thought to be too dark and a good number of people commented that its consistency was too thick. It was also marked down for its bitterness and lack of peel. Available from Amazon, Morrisons, Ocado and Sainsbury’s.
• M&S Fairtrade Dark Seville Orange Marmalade, 60% Least enjoyed of all, M&S’s dark-coloured marmalade was found to be too bitter. Nearly half of our tasters thought it was too thick and almost the same number felt it had too strong a flavour. £2.25 for 340g (66p per 100g). Available from M&S (in-store only) and Ocado.

If you're comparing prices in-store, be aware that jar sizes do differ slightly, so check the unit measurements when comparing prices. Most of the jars we tested weighed in at 340g, but La Vieja Fábrica and Asda were a little bigger (365g and 370g respectively). Frank Cooper’s marmalade was the largest jar on test (454g).

Does more fruit content make for better marmalade?

Not according to our taste test. Neither of the two marmalades with the highest fruit content – Tiptree (47g per 100g) and M&S (40g per 100g) – were popular with our tasting panel.

Our Best Buy from Morrisons had the joint lowest amount of fruit – 30g per 100g. Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco matched Morrisons' low fruit content and were also widely enjoyed.

While fruit content among the marmalades ranged from 30g to 47g per 100g, the difference between overall sugar varied less, from 62g to 67g.

Is marmalade healthy?

Like most fruit spreads, marmalade is quite sugar-heavy, usually around two-thirds sugar. While a good part of this sugar comes from the fruit, it’s still something to be consumed in moderation.

Recommended portion sizes are usually around 15g, the equivalent of a heaped teaspoon. This is around 40 calories. Depending on how thickly you like to spread your topping, this may be enough for one or two slices of toast.

Low-sugar marmalade

If you love marmalade but are keeping tabs on your sugar intake, then a reduced sugar option might be worth considering.

Various supermarkets sell own-label lower-sugar versions, or stock them from other brands, including:

• Morrisons Reduced Sugar Marmalade, £1 for 415g, available from Morrisons.
• Sainsburys Reduced Sugar Marmalade, £1.05 for 415g, available from Sainsbury’s.
• Streamline Less Sugar Thin Cut Marmalade, £1.65 for 340g, available from Asda.
• Tiptree Reduced Sugar Marmalade, £2.30 for 200g, available from Ocado.
• Waitrose Reduced Sugar Marmalade, £1.85 for 320g, available from Waitrose.

These usually have around a third less sugar content than standard versions.

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How to make marmalade

Marmalade is typically made with Seville oranges. These are less sweet and higher in pectin than other types. The higher pectin content gives a more reliable ‘set’ to the marmalade.

However, other varieties are available, and if you're making your own you can get creative. 

Any combination of citrus fruit can work, including grapefruit, lime, lemon, or different orange varieties. You could also experiment with adding fresh ginger or whisky to add a fiery twist.

Making your own marmalade also means you can cut down a little on sugar content. Be aware, though, that your marmalade may need longer cooking time if you do this. Also, it may not last as long as sweeter versions once opened (as sugar acts as a preservative).

There are plenty of marmalade recipes online, including this straightforward BBC Good Food marmalade recipe.

How we taste tested marmalade

We selected a line-up of marmalades that were comparable, identifying thick/medium-cut premium orange marmalade as the most broadly available option.

All the marmalades were then blind-tasted and rated by a panel of 64 people in January 2025 at our specialist taste test lab.

We recruited a panel of people who buy and eat marmalade, and who broadly represent the demographic profile of adults in the UK (age range, gender split and more). 

The taste test was blind, so our testers didn’t know which brand they were trying. They tasted the marmalades in a rotated order to avoid any bias. Each tester had a private tasting booth so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.

The tasters rated the flavour, aroma, appearance and texture of each marmalade, and told us what they liked and disliked. 

The overall score was based on:

• 50% flavour
• 20% aroma
• 15% appearance
• 15% texture

These weightings are based on what people ranked as the most important attributes when tasting marmalade. All our results are checked and analysed by our in-house statistical team.