Aldi Shoppers Say This Chocolate Spread Is Made For Hershey's Fans

Aldi is a gold mine for finding off-brand products at affordable prices that taste as good as the originals. The discount supermarket chain also brainstorms genius riffs on popular processed foods, which steers customers to new items by capitalizing on brand recognition. According to Aldi fans, there's one such product that can be used in several versatile ways, comes in a jar, and tastes like a Hershey's cookies 'n' creme chocolate bar: Berryhill Cookies & Cream spread.

One shopper on Reddit said, "This is a melted down Hershey's cookies n cream bar in a jar. My fellow white chocolate lovers: Run don't walk!" Meanwhile, when one commenter asked, "So what would I spread this on? I need to at least make the appearance that I will spread it on something, when we all know that I will just eat directly from the container," A third Redditor responded with "I honestly have no clue haha I bought graham crackers to eat with it, but so far it has been spoon directly to mouth."

Berryhill's Cookies & Cream spread is available for $3.65 for a 13-ounce container. It has a distinctive cookies and cream appearance and a creamy consistency that's mixed with flecks of dark brown cookie (the ingredients include sugar, vegetable oil, skim milk powder, cookies, whey powder, and cocoa butter). Each two-tablespoon serving contains 210 calories, and its spreadable texture means it can be used in the same way as a chocolate spread or peanut butter.

Aside from spooning it directly into their mouths, shoppers on Reddit have been using the Cookies & Cream spread in several inventive ways. For instance, one Redditor spreads it onto crepes, along with fresh fruit and whipped cream. Another pairs it with Belgian butter waffle crisps, while a third slathers it onto low-carb English muffins. You can even mix it into a bowl of plain yogurt to sweeten it up, stir it through a bowl of overnight oats, or use it to upgrade French toast or stuff Medjool dates.

Berryhill also makes a hazelnut spread that's similar to the flavor of Nutella for $3.25 in addition to an off-brand cookie that tastes identical to Oreos (they're billed as Benton's original chocolate sandwich cookies and come in a familiar blue sleeve). Aldi gets away with so many copycat products because it's adept at tweaking well-known brand packaging (a completely legal practice) versus completely copying it. This clever move means the grocer can piggyback onto the success of recognizable brands and avoid spending money on memorable packaging, colors, and shapes without getting into lawsuit territory. The upshot? A product that looks and tastes like a well-known item that's ultimately cheaper.