The sandwich is a great British institution. Invented in 1762 by the fourth Earl of Sandwich, it’s been a go-to lunch for Brits for centuries.
But in recent years, the sandwich’s spot as our go-to lunch choice has been threatened by an increasingly diverse offering from everyone from bakeries to supermarkets – including the wrap.
In fact, Brits prefer wraps and flatbreads over sandwiches, according to 2018 research from Spitalfields Market, placing second and third respectively on a list of consumers’ favourite lunchtime options, while the sandwich languished in ninth place.
While a wrap is not a world apart from a sandwich, some sort of filling wrapped in bread, often those neat little boxes show off what appears to be a tantalising tortilla positively brimming with filling.
Yet crack them open, and all might not be as it seems. The filling may be the showcase of the wrap, but pull it out of the packet, and you can often find that realistically there’s a whole lot of folded bread and not much filling.
Ellen Manning, pictured, investigates how much filling is really in many of our favourite lunchtime wraps
With research from meal delivery firm Frive finding that 64 per cent of British office workers will buy a shop-bought lunch at least once a week, the chances are many of us are spending a pretty penny on numerous wraps grabbed for an easy feed.
But are we getting our money’s worth, or forking out for a filling-less tortilla?
FEMAIL tested a selection of wraps from the UK’s biggest names supermarkets and sandwich stops to see if we’re amidst a Great British wrap rip-off…..
M&S
Ham & mozzarella Wrap – £3.80
With sweet tomato chutney and rocket
Chicken & Houmous Wholemeal Wrap – £3.80
Peppered chicken breast, carrot & Spinach
High protein Korean chicken egg wrap – £4.50
Special edition. Marinated British chicken, pickled slaw, spicy red chilli & pepper mayonnaise with spinach – in an egg wrap
Ellen started off with some high end supermarket wraps from M&S
The high protein Korean chicken egg wrap was the most expensive, coming in at £4.50
The limited edition option had tasty slaw but crucially lacked in chicken
The chicken and houmous wholemeal wrap came in at a slightly less expensive £3.80 and had some decent chunks of chicken inside
The ham and mozzarella wrap also cost £3.80 making it one of the more mid priced wraps at M&S
There was a decent amount of ham and a couple of lumps of mozzarella
Living up to its reputation, M&S was on the pricier side when it came to wraps. We grabbed a ham and mozzarella version, as well as chicken and houmous wholemeal option – both priced £3.80.
When it came to filling, neither were bad, with a fair amount of ham in the former plus a few lumps of mozzarella, with decent sized chunks of chicken in the latter.
But as expected, hidden inside the pretty packaging is a fair bit of folded wrap and at nearly £4 – almost 50 per cent more expensive than some similar wraps from other big names – you might feel like you’re not getting the best value for money.
A ‘High protein Korean chicken egg wrap’ was the curve ball of the crowd – a limited edition number aimed at the health conscious among us.
And with a price tag of £4.50 possibly not a staple for your average person wanting an affordable lunch.
A tasty option thanks to the pickled slaw and spicy mayonnaise, but definitely more wrap than chicken once you unwrapped it and analysed how much filling was inside.
PRET A MANGER
Humous & Chipotle Wrap – £5.30 (although price can vary slightly store to store)
Humous with spicy chipotle ketchup and fresh coriander. Topped with sliced red peppers, crunchy carrot & mooli slaw, pickled cabbage & carrot and baby leaf spinach.
The Humous & Chipotle from Pret cost a whopping £5.30
There was a fairly generous amount of filling and the ingredients seemed fresh as though they’d been made recently and not several days before
If, like me, you don’t happen to live in a big city, then grabbing a Pret sandwich or wrap isn’t quite as easy a pastime as it sounds.
We don’t have this big player in the lunchtime market in my small town, so getting my hands on a wrap required a trip to motorway services where I spotted one lonely wrap left on the shelves, surrounded by other options.
A clear sign that we’re wrap fans perhaps? I’d have chosen a Thai style Avo & Slaw Wrap, but had to settle for the last remaining Humous & Chipotle Version, which set me back a hefty £5.30.
I wondered if this was a motorway service station price thing, but having checked, it seems this is how much you have to part with to get a Pret Wrap.
My cynicism levels soared, especially as the way they’re packaged is different to most supermarket wraps, so you can’t really get an idea of how much is inside.
However, on unwrapping it, I was pleased to find it had a fairly generous amount of filling – all of which seemed pretty fresh and fitting with the idea that it had been made fresh, rather than several days ago.
Crispy carrot, fresh, crisp spinach – no limp leaves here. Yes, it’s a pricey option, but worth it perhaps.
ALDI
Hoisin Duck Wrap – £2.29
With cucumber & spring onion
Ham & Cheddar Cheese wrap – 1.99
With mayo
Aldi wraps come in at a generally much cheaper price with some costing less than £2
While the Hoisin duck version looked fairly well stuffed from the outside, it proved to be pretty paltry once opened with around a tablespoon of hoisin sauce and a few sad looking leaves
The ham and cheese, which cost £1.99 had an alright amount of wafer thin ham and a fair spreading of cheese
At under £3 – some even less than £2 – Aldi is one of the better value wraps out there.
But while the Hoisin duck version looked fairly well stuffed from the outside, it proved to be pretty paltry once we delved inside. About a tablespoon of duck in sauce, and a few sad-looking leaves.
The ham and cheddar cheese, which is just £1.99 is a better offer, with an alright amount of wafer thin ham and a fair spreading of cheese, so given the price you can’t really complain.
LIDL
Southern Fried Chicken Wrap – £2.19
With coleslaw lettuce & barbecue sauce
The southern fried chicken wrap from Lidl cost £2.19 and contained a few big chunks of southern fried chicken with a fair bit of crispy lettuce
Another cheaper place to grab a wrap, Lidl’s offering is one of the least disappointing. It looks fairly well stuffed from the outside, and proves to be not bad at all.
A few big chunks of southern fried chicken, a fair bit of crispy lettuce, and a more substantial lunch than some of its rivals – for less money!
Greggs
Spicy Mexican Bean flatbread – £3.35
Mixed beans in a Mexican style sauce with mixed peppers, sweetcorn and jalapeños with chipotle chilli mayo
The Greggs Mexican bean wrap cost £3.35
The filling was more generous than expected with plenty of beans and sweetcorn though it could’ve been topped up to account for there being no meat
There were no wraps to be found in my local branch of Greggs -a spicy Mexican flatbread was the closest I would find.
Given how much it lived up to the ‘flat’ part of its name, I wasn’t too confident in how much filling would be inside.
It actually was more generous than I thought, with a decent amount of beans in sauce, plus the promised peppers and sweetcorn.
But given there’s no meat, you might want a bit more filling in what is a fairly thick bit of bread for £3.35.
Sainsburys
Southern Fried Chicken – £3.00
With mayo, lettuce, carrot, cabbage, barbecue sauce an onion
Plant Pioneers Southern Fried No Chicken Goujon – £3.00
Wheat protein and pea protein spiced goujons, coleslaw, red pepper and red chilli sauce, lettuce and fried onion
Sainbury’s wraps come with the option of becoming a meal deal, making the good value when bought with a drink and snack
The Plant Pioneers version with wheat protein and pea protein chunks had reasonable sized chunks
The Sainsbury’s traditional southern fried chicken wrap was on a par with Lidl’s version when it comes to amount of filling – but is 81p more so arguably you’d hope to get a bit more
The Sainsbury’s traditional southern fried chicken wrap is on a par with Lidl’s version when it comes to amount of filling – but is 81p more so arguably you’d hope to get a bit more.
It’s tasty though, and part of a meal deal so arguably you could be getting better value if you’re going for it with your lunch and having more than just the wrap.
The Plant Pioneers vegan version wasn’t bad either, with similar-sized chunks of the wheat protein and pea protein goujons and again the option to be part of a meal deal.
Tesco
Chicken Caesar – £2.85
Tomato Tortilla filled with chicken and caesar style dressing
The Tesco chicken Caesar was probably the most lacklustre of the bunch
The wrap was very lightly put together and seemed to fall apart almost immediately
The Tesco chicken Caesar was probably the most lacklustre of the bunch.
It felt fairly lightweight the minute we opened the packed, and by the time half of the wrap was unwrapped (which was fairly easy as ‘hand wrapped’ seems to mean ‘loosely wrapped’), the chicken and Caesar dressing occupied such a small section of the wrap I kind of wanted to find it some company.
At £2.85 it’s not the most pricey of the collection, but you’d expect a bit more bang from your buck really. It can be part of a meal deal so maybe not bad value, but a bit of a sad sight.
ASDA
Chicken Fajita on chilli wrap (no mayo) – £2.85
Marinated chicken breast, medium mature Cheddar, sour cream and chunky salsa
The Asda chicken fajita wrap was better packed the other brands but could’ve still done with more
The wrap contained with a mixture of chicken, sour cream, cheese and salsa
One of the more difficult ones to unwrap, this no mayo version from Asda seemed fairly well packed with a mixture of chicken, sour cream, cheese and salsa.
While nowhere near as well packed as we all love to fill a homemade fajita, it seemed a bit more generous than some of the other options, and at 2.85 isn’t a bad price.
Co-op
Ham & Cheese – £3.25
Smoked ham, soft cheese, cheddar & lettuce
The ham and cheese wrap from Co-op might not have been as cleverly packaged as its rivals as it didn’t appear as voluminous from the packaging
Inside was just three small slices of ham, a smidge of cheese and some miserable looking leaves
The middle ground option, I had high hopes for Co-op’s ham and cheese wrap, but couldn’t help but think it was either a bit smaller than its rivals, or perhaps not packed into the box as cleverly – sitting lower inside the plastic window and leading you to wonder if you might need two for lunch.
I was right – unravelling one half revealed three small bits of ham, a smear of soft cheese and a few leaves.
Perhaps forgivable if it was a £1.99 version, but given it’s £3.25 I’d be choosing the Aldi option over this.