Tinned fruit was once an exotic treat and this week’s Shopping Trolley Hotline has sampled three different varieties found in Irish shops. 

For Simon and Kieran, two millennials, it all brought back fond memories of their childhood in the 1990s when tinned fruit was the height of luxury. 

“When I was growing up in the 90s, my Mum would crack open a tin of grapefruit on a Sunday morning before Mass - which was a treat,” Simon told The Hard Shoulder listeners.  

“Now you’ll get your strawberries from Morocco in December in Tesco.” 

The duo sampled Dunnes’ Own Brand Peach Slices for €1 - which Simon described as “cheap and cheerful”, Sunny South Peach Slices which are €1.95 and Lustre’s Fruit Cocktail for €2.29. 

“They all have around 59% to 60% fruit content,” Simon said. 

“So, that means about 40% of it is what? 

“Well, for the Dunnes one it is fruit juice - so, the juice of the actual fruit. 

“For the Sunny South it is ‘light syrup’ and for the Lustre it’s syrup.

“Zero saturated fats; with the syrup you can imagine that the Lustre and Sunny South have respectively 15 grams and 12.5 grams per 100 grams. 

“The Dunnes has the least amount of sugar because that’s in its juice.” 

Notably, the Dunnes product only goes out of date in August 2025 - meaning it could be a handy item to have stocked in the event of nuclear war. 

Despite this, Kieran said it was the taste that made the Dunnes product his favourite of them all.  

“I think I’d go with the Dunnes out of all of that,” he said. 

“I was a bit disappointed with the Lustre food cocktail; it brought me back but I had a good dig around, I rooted around in that can - there’s no cherry in that can. 

“In fact, I think they’ve overloaded on the grapes. I can get grapes whenever I want.”