A woman decided to put the viral £160 mango from Harrods’ foodhall to the test as she compared it to a mango she’d bought from Marks & Spencer – put people say it wasn’t a ‘fair’ comparison
While prices at the supermarkets continue to rise, many shoppers have become skilled at finding the best deals and cheapest prices for their groceries. However there are still some who won’t bat an eyelid at spending hundreds of pounds extra for the quality of their food.
People visiting luxury department store Harrods in central London might have noticed the high prices of food in the store’s famous food hall, where you can find thing such as fresh meats, seafood, fruit and veg, baked goods, cheese, or meals ready to go. However, you will quickly noticed that the price tags of these items are higher than if you’d were to go to Tesco or Lidl.
But this doesn’t stop people from purchasing the items, as the higher prices often make people wonder if the products are ‘better’ than what you can find in different stores.
This was the case for Laura Khoshaba, who often heads to Harrods to try their expensive food products to determine whether or not they’re worth the luxury price tag. She recently made a video where she tried a Japanese mango she’d bought from the food hall for a whopping £160 as she wanted to see how it compared to a mango from Marks & Spencer’s food hall.
“I’m going to be comparing the £160 mango from Harrods to a mango from M&S,” she said at the start of her video.
As she cut the two mangos open, you can clearly see a difference as the mango from Harrods looks a lot juicer and has a bright orange colour instead of the yellow colour like the one from M&S. Holding up the mango from M&S, she said: “This is very dry, like, and quite hard as well.”
It was then time for the taste test. As she tasted the mango from Marks and Spencer, you could hear the crispiness of the fruit as she took a bite and chewed.
“No,” the woman next to her said after trying the mango. Laura then said: “It’s dry.”
“Very, very, very dry,” the other woman agreed.
Laura then went on to explain that they’d left the mango at home for a few days to ripen even more since they bought it from the store. They also showed the skin of the mango, which they said felt and looked ripe.
“It’s not ripe. It’s just a dry mango,” the woman who was off-camera said.
They then moved on to the Mango from Harrods. Having cut it into cubes, Laura went on to press the back of the mango so that the flesh poked out in the same way she’d done for the previous mango. She commented: “Look at the difference.”
As she took a bite of the mango, she quickly shook her head as a big smile came across her face while she chewed. She then said: “This is the best mango I’ve ever had in my life.”
“It’s just unreal,” the other woman agreed. Laura added: “I just can’t get over how soft it is. You don’t have to chew it.”
The other woman exclaimed: “I don’t think I’ve ever had fruit as tasty as this mango.” As she simply removed one of the cut up cubes from the skin, she commented: “A perfect square. You just pick it off. We won’t be wasting any of this.”
People soon took to the comments of the video to share their thoughts, with some saying it wasn’t a fair comparison.
One viewer pointed out: “They are two completely different mango variants so it’s not a fair test. Like the above comments, try the Indian or Pakistani Honey mangoes and see the taste difference compared to Harrods. Will be identical for a fraction of the cost.”
A second person echoed: “Two very different mango types at different stages of ripeness. Like comparing a banana and plantain.”
While a third person also wrote: “There’s many types of mango. In Brazil Mango Tommy is juicy, manga Rosa is delicious. Pakistani mangos are just another level.”
Another person couldn’t believe the price as they wrote: “Is it really true that Harrod’s would charge £160 for a mango? It’s not even £160 per kg?”