Kirkland Signature Vs Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Bars: How Do The 2 Compare?

Costco is well-known for making more affordable versions of popular brand name products under its store brand, Kirkland. The Kirkland brand has a curious history, but it's now one of the biggest consumer brands — raking in more sales than Hershey, Campbell's Soup or Kellogg — for a reason. Its private-labeled products are produced by some high-quality brands; the brands behind some of the most popular Kirkland products may surprise you.

For those looking to save on their grocery bill, Kirkland Signature products offer a way to get quality items at a more affordable price. Still, Kirkland doesn't always get it right. In some cases, there are Kirkland products that are not worth buying. They may be downright bad, or they may just not measure up to the "real thing."

That's why we're comparing the Kirkland Signature Ice Cream Bars with Chocolate Flavored Covering and Roasted Almonds against the ever popular Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Milk Chocolate Almond Ice Cream Bars. I headed to my local Costco and purchased both items to put them to the test. Keep reading to see what I found, and whether these Kirkland bars are truly a worthy substitute for the name brand.

In general, Kirkland Signature items are expected to be more affordable than their brand name counterparts — it's the whole allure of buying store brand. But just how much more affordable are the Kirkland ice cream bars than the Haagen-Dazs brand?

At my local Costco in Montana, the Haagen-Dazs bars rang up at $13.99, while the Kirkland brand cost me $10.99. That's already a pretty hefty discount, but I also have to consider how much product I received for that price. The Kirkland box comes with 18 ice cream bars, while Haagen-Dazs provides only 15. Breaking it down by ounces, the Haagen-Dazs ice cream comes out to a price of 31 cents per ounce, whereas Kirkland is just under 20 cents per ounce.

Because that's a pretty big discount, it's safe to say Costco is delivering on its promise for savings here, giving buyers more bang for their buck.

The most prominent flavor difference that I noticed between these two ice cream bars is in the chocolate. The chocolate is the first thing you taste when biting into either of these ice cream bars — and it makes a big impression.

Haagen-Dazs chocolate is noticeably richer, leaving that melt-in-your-mouth creamy taste that really melded well with the ice cream inside. This richness could possibly be contributed to the presence of cocoa butter in the ingredients of its shell, which the Kirkland brand doesn't include.

Cocoa butter is the most expensive chocolate ingredient because it's costly to produce and the crops are often impacted by environmental conditions. This makes it an ingredient in the most luxurious chocolates, and it surely adds to the luxury of the Haagen-Dazs bar here — although it probably significantly impacts its price tag, as well. This is not to say the Kirkland chocolate isn't good, but it's not quite as indulgent as its opponent.

When reading the box of Haagen-Dazs ice cream bars, you may notice that each bar is listed as weighing 3 ounces. In contrast, the Kirkland Signature box states that its bars weigh in at 3.1 ounces. At first glance, this tenth of an ounce might seem small and barely worth mentioning, but it's hard not to interpret it as a subtle one-up from Costco.

This weight difference impacts more than just the dollar-to-ounce ratio, though — the ice cream bars also differ in shape and structure. The Kirkland bar is noticeably thinner and wider, which changes the eating experience. The ice cream is spread out across more chocolate surface area, giving you more chocolate and less ice cream per bite. If you're a huge chocolate lover, this might be ideal for you; I preferred the ice cream-to-chocolate balance of the Haagen-Dazs bar. If I came to eat ice cream, I came to eat ice cream, ya know!

If you're the type of person who reads the nutrition facts on every box, you're sure to notice something quickly. Both boxes list their serving size as one bar, but Haagen-Dazs is putting up some noticeably lower numbers in many of the nutritional categories.

Where the Kirkland brand has 280 calories per bar, Haagen-Dazs has only 270. This may seem self-evident, as we've already discussed that the Haagen-Dazs bars are smaller. However, in moving down the list, things start to get more interesting. Haagen-Dazs contains significantly less cholesterol; just 40 milligrams to Kirkland's 70 milligrams. In saturated fat, sodium, and protein, the two are equal; but Haagen-Dazs has 2 grams less in carbohydrates and sugars, and three less in fat.

Some of these differences in nutritional value can be attributed to size, but the fact remains clear. If you're on a strict diet or just want a lighter treat, Haagen-Dazs can give you your sweet fix with a little less guilt.

Haagen-Dazs is known as a luxurious ice cream brand, and vanilla bean is one of Haagen-Dazs' best flavors. So Kirkland has its work cut out to live up to that sweet creamy goodness. All in all, I would say Kirkland puts up a good fight here, but there are a couple notable differences in the two ice cream bars.

First, Kirkland's ice cream is slightly sweeter, with the sugary flavor shining through more than the vanilla. On the flip side, Haagen-Dazs has more of a strong vanilla flavor, where the sweetener is less prominent. Haagen-Dazs' ice cream is a bit creamer and thicker tasting, where the Kirkland brand is slightly thinner, although it's still a good tasting ice cream.

Overall, the difference between the two ice creams is negligible. However, I did slightly prefer the Haagen-Dazs ice cream filling when comparing the two side-by-side. If you're picky about your ice cream, you may have stronger feelings on this one.

If you're a nut lover like me, then almonds are a highlight of any treat where they're included. They also provide an added benefit that you might not know about, as almonds are considered a stress reliever.

The salty, nutty flavor of the almonds breaks up the sweetness and adds the perfect amount of crunch to any dessert, and these ice cream bars are no exception. Both bars have a decent amount of almonds, and they both taste crunchy and roasted as they should.

However, there are a few differences when it comes to the nutty coating. On the Haagen-Dazs bar, the almond chunks seem to be slightly bigger overall, and are more sparsely scattered around the bar's chocolate shell. The Kirkland bar, by contrast, has slightly smaller nut bits, although not too small. This bar does have more surface area, and the nuts are quite evenly distributed across it, leading to what I believe is more nuts overall and indicating possibly better quality control from Kirkland here. 

Overall, I think the Kirkland brand almond-and-chocolate-covered ice cream bar is a win for Costco. Though there are some noticeable differences in the two products when compared side-by-side, the Kirkland bar is still delicious. Haagen-Dazs has a slightly richer taste, but the differences are minor enough to consider this a good replacement.

If I was given these two ice cream bars in a blind taste test, I wouldn't have been able to determine which was the name brand and which was the store brand. If you're a total dessert snob, maybe you're willing to shell out the extra cash for Haagen-Dazs — but if you're looking to save a few bucks on the grocery bill and still get your chocolate almond ice cream fix, the Kirkland brand is the perfect dupe for this popular ice cream snack.