I will start this article off, by stating that I have no affiliation with ALDI. So why write about the chips? I am all about the luxuries in life and sometimes it is the little pleasures that make life more interesting, the ‘what you know’ kind of thing and this is what I know. I know that over the last 8 years I have shopped at this store a lot as ALDI has evolved. This is my story of lavishly living a taste test out loud of DORITO’S VS. CLANCY’S ~ LET THE FACE OFF BEGIN!
Sometimes luxuries come in different forms, and sometimes it does not take a brand name to make a product good, rather it takes a good product to bring a brand to the front of the line. Such would be the case with Dorito’s vs. Clancy’s Ranch Chips. First please note, I don’t like all the Clancy Chip product line because the chips on a whole are flimsy, over-salted and while the bags may seem to be a good buy, the contents on the inside are less than delish. My disappointment in the Clancy BBQ Potato Chip was met the minute I opened the bag and saw the ‘lack of’ content and the taste is more like cardboard salted with BBQ. I am a straight-shooter, no coating the truth, who has time for that? So let’s get down to the facts of Dorito’s Vs. Clancy’s.
First it is Ranch to Ranch, and not their Nacho Cheese flavor because their Nacho flavored Clancy Tortilla Chips are downright awful. I am simply comparing the Dorito’s Ranch to the Clancy’s Ranch.
Price Perfect
The pricing on this product is really great as compared to the National Brand that is much higher. I am consistently impressed by the different products and how well other manufacturers and brands offer optional products that can take a competitors’ product, match the flavor and sell it for less. The ALDI brand, CLANCY’S Tortilla Chips Ranch Flavor in this case, tastes AS GOOD AS and sometimes even better than the leading BRANDED competitor. What is even more impressive is that ALDI sells their brand for more than 50% less than you would pay for the BRAND!
The price is perfect, Under $2, yes, Under $2.I have to apologize for the 1/2 eaten bag. As soon as the bag comes home, it gets attacked because it’s QUITE GOOD.
Honestly, I think they are as good as, if not better than a DORITO in the RANCH flavor ONLY. The other point to be made: Dorito’s on average cost $3 a bag on sale or $4 when they are not, and the CLANCY brand is under $2. Everyday savings on quality items that match the competitor brands, ~ that’s when it becomes a truly lavish deal and that is what these are!
The Salting/Seasoning
The salted flavor on both a Dorito and a Clancy in the Ranch flavor tastes similar to me.
The Crunch
The crunch on a Dorito is a little more solid, but again, their chip is a tad different in design, from what I can taste. The Aldi brand CLANCY’s is a bit ‘weaker’ of a chip when it comes to the dip test, it does not hold it’s own after a pass across a nice dip~whereas a Dorito no matter the flavor does.
Overall, the small disadvantage of dipping can be overlooked because the price on the CLANCY’S Chips is far better than that of the Dorito’s National Brand.
Next time you are in ALDI, snag a bag of these, they are right when you walk into the store, where the junk food reigns supreme. See what you think! I will not promote the store as I believe the brand itself has evolved into a more mainstream and less true to its grass roots, there are some good foods to be found there. Want to see other Products that you might not know about? Check out the one below!
Lavishly live food shopping out loud and taste test Dorito’s Vs. Clancy’s in your own home, to see what you think! Start your own face off with different foods and be surprised with the taste test results.
These are my opinions yours may differ.
We call them Dragon Breath chips. They have a lot more flavor than Dorito’s chips. But they could seriously cut back on the garlic. If you taste like Ranch dressing and other ranch flavors you see why this is a bit overkill. I love the price and I do like garlic. But a bit much on the garlic. I don’t eat them often. When I do I’m at home and don’t plan on being around anyone. lol I don’t want to support Dorito’s anyway. So guess I’ll have to swear off ranch until someone comes up with at least an in-between alternative.
Does anyone know how we can notify Clancys that their Hot and Spicy Pork Rinds are WAY TOO SALTY?
Haven’t seen Clancys roasted garlic bagel chips. Are they still available? Also I love the kettle cooked chips that are suppose to have less salt but are still too salty, as
Are the bagel chips, and I am a salt lover. I think you could easily lower the sodium by 20% for both products and they would still taste good.
What a fun taste test. I like to shop at Aldi and by a lot of their brand products.
If I can get chips for a fractions of the price of name brand and they taste the same or better, I will! I am definitely going to try these because ranch Doritos are my favorite.
Love this taste test! Please do more
Does anyone really read the labels? I have a bag of Clancy’s Original Corn Chips which is thinner than Fritos, and perhaps less salty. However, would Fritos label say the following: serving size 1 oz (28g/ about 32 chips), calories per serving 160, calories per gram: fat 9 • carbohydrate 4 • protein 4. This does not compute any way you slice it or dice it. 17 cal per gram but 160 cal for 28 grams? Do the math. Way bad. Perhaps something is lost in the translation from German to English. (Me, being snarky)
I am with you. Clancy Chips are awesome.
Actually they seem to me to be like Doritos use to be before they started laying on the extra heavy coating of whatever that stuff is on their chips.
Go Clancy!
I agree totally with allergies I use to only use to buy produce milk and eggs. But then I tried their snacks and they are delicious. I can give several examples their version of fudge stripes are good but the reason I looked up this sight is to request the Clancy’s wavy salt and pepper chips they were a special item and I hope the will return they were the best chips I ever tasted and I am a BIG Lays chips fan they will periodically put out a feature flavor like the Blueberry cheesecake ice cream. I am not sure why they don’t continue to sell these great tasting products. I used to buy Hillshire Farms Turkey Keilbasa but now they only sell fit and trim it is not as tasty but same value. Does anyone know who I can write to, to ask them to bring these loved items back.
I’m sorry to hear about your son’s allergies. I have a food allergy and know how challenging it is. I agree that ALDI has some of the best foods. I’ll have to try the Clancy’s brand on my next visit!
I hope that you find the products helpful;) We love ALDI
clancys chips are better than doritios 🙂
I had some small bags of Clancy’s nacho cheese flavored chips turn up in the pantry. They expired in December of 2013, but the bags were intact and air tight (tested before opening!). I’ll have to get my hands on some fresh ones for a fair comparison, but these did not compare favorably to Doritos AT ALL. Unfortunately, this is pretty much what happens with most nonbranded or off branded flavored tortilla chips. Often, the flavor is just too strong, as if they’re trying to overcompensate for or hide something. Doritos are a highly ‘engineered’ product that an unbelievable amount of time and money has been invested in, and they’re where they are in the market for a reason! I’m sure they probably tweak the formula periodically to keep it in line with people’s evolving tastes, too. It would be extremely difficult to match or beat Doritos as a result.But…. as any lefty will tell you, something that seems to be ‘spot on’ for 90% of the people may just not do it for the rest! It could be that the folks out there who dislike Doritos may find Clancy’s to be what they’ve waited their whole life for!
Actually it could be that people are looking for alternatives to foods, brand names and in its own right ALDI is a brand name. The food we eat basically serves a quick function — the flavor end result is personal to everyone out there. But head on we tested– as stated. These are my opinions and while yours may differ, if you have not tried them, you really can’t make a judgement call- Fact is, ALDI has a test kitchen where they take great pains to test foods and make sure they fit the market, the taste and the people’s wants. As a case of chips is put up in ALDI it is quickly pummeled by consumers because the pricing is fair and taste is great. Shopping at ALDI is a great way to get the groceries into a house, providing great options from gourmet to basic without paying those nauseating grocery store prices that are stinging many consumers, like chain markets that are tied into a community. Say goodbye to large price tags, get better values and food that tastes great with ALDI.. and BTW — I don’t work for them, these are my own purchases. Not an endorsement.
Could be, Dana. Anything is possible.
ALDI has been in my hometown for 20 years. I shop there on occasion for certain things, some in the family shop there quite a lot. I suspect that’s where the single serving bags of Clancy’s found in my pantry came from. ALDI is economical, yes. It is a favorite of people who stock up en masse on groceries because of that.
The ‘Clancy’s’ name is a house brand of ALDI, much like Market Pantry and Archer Farms are for Target or Sam’s Choice and Great Value are/were for Wal Mart. Competition is pretty tight in my area, and ALDI is fairly sleepy. They really buzzed in the early-mid 90’s when the Wal Mart and Target stores here had yet to carry any significant amount of groceries and the competition was the mainline regional supermarkets. Several of those have disappeared, and in recent years a couple of the large home and farm centers have begun to carry quite a bit of dry grocery themselves.
Most store branded and house brand product is going to be made by the very same producers and packagers that do the name brand fare. Canned goods and dairy would be the prime example. Bread the the like are handled by commercial bakeries that have numerous accounts, and I’ve worked in one, so I have seen first hand the diverse packaging the same product goes into.
With tortilla chips, especially those similar to Doritos, there’s a bit of a problem. The first is that Doritos has long been the ‘gold standard’ in that kind of tortilla chip. They’re well established, very well known to the American consumer, and became that way by edging out any past competition they may have had (couldn’t tell you what that may have once been, either) principally on flavor, which is what people gravitate towards when picking out snacks. If that wasn’t the case, we’d all just pop popcorn and much down on rice patties whenever we get the munchies. So, Doritos has been around as long as they have by winning the marketplace’s popularity contest, however unhealthy they had to be in order for that to happen! If another brand of flavored tortilla chips steps too close to that ‘winning’ formula, it will be noticed immediately by the American consumer and a trademark infringement lawsuit based on the copying of the distinctive Doritos flavor and texture seeking an injunction is virtually assured.
There are many products throughout the years that tried to compete with a world beater but without the benefit of the desirable features the predominate brand had patented. Historically, it just has never been very successful. Trademarks aren’t a whole lot different, and the distinctive attributes of a very well known product are considered as trademarks.
My best guess is that the Clancy’s tortilla chips I’ve eaten probably contained less fat, sodium, and preservatives than Doritos do. As I had pointed out, the ones I’ve eaten were also months out of date. I’ve eaten Doritos just as far out of date, and they tasted perfectly fine. All those preservatives do that! Doritos net Frito-Lay (owned by Pepsi) several billion dollars annually. Any product misstep would be incredibly damaging to the Doritos product reputation, which they’ve been building since, I believe, the mid 1960’s. I recall from my college marketing courses that the then-recent updating of the product was accompanied by two years of research with thousands of testers and a fifty million dollar price tag. ALDI may have their test kitchen (all grocery chains do, in fact) but I guarantee you they don’t spend two years and fifty million dollars just to make an improvement in the corn chips they offer. If they try something new and it doesn’t work, a blase name like ‘Clancy’s’ can replaced with yet another one on a slightly different incarnation of the product in question. People rapidly forget the one they didn’t like, and the retailer doesn’t really lose much. Frito Lay doesn’t have that option!
If the taste is acceptable to your son (and I gather it very much is) and he can actually eat Clancy’s without ill effect, unlike Doritos, I’d say that’s perhaps the most valuable aspect of that product. I’d liken it to the small name sugar free candies on the market. Ferrara (Brach’s) and Nestle (Willy Wonka) have little to fear, but to a diabetic, I’m sure they’re a beautiful thing!
It’s nice to have choices in life, especially when one size doesn’t fit all, after all.
It is highly unlikely that Aldi would face a lawsuit if the “flavor” or “texture” of their chips was too close to Dorito’s. That’s why companies from Frito-Lay to Coca-Cola protect their recipes and formulas, so that other companies cannot copy them. There is nothing stopping a chip maker or soft drink manufacturer from making a product that is indistinguishable from its competitors in terms of taste. The only trademark infringement would be if Aldi tried selling their chips under a name or in packaging that was too close to that of Doritos. In that case an argument could be made that consumers might be confused and think they were getting Doritos when they were actually getting Aldi brands. Moreover, recipes (like the recipe for Doritos) are not trademarkable. In some cases they can be patented, but it’s unlikely that a product such as Doritos qualifies for a patent.
I know this post is a few years old but I do agree. Aldi’s has the best flavorful snacks, produce, etc for mucb cheaper. Although not everything tastes like “name-brand” …. the quality is still amazing and my bank account is happy. We used to spend $150 to $200 for what we now buy at Aldi’s (plus some) for $80 to $120. I wish they had a points card 😍😍😍😍
Also, speaking directly to the Ranch tortilla chips by Clancy 😍 omg!!!!! Much better price and my WEAKNESS!