Store Brands vs. Brand Names

Despite my lack of caffeine, I'm sleepless:mad: and watching a CBS news report on Store Brands vs. Brand Names.:o (Mr. Silver, what an exciting life!)

So, I thinking about generics and their value.

I know there are some products that I can't accept the difference, others I can. Example, generic Cheerios taste like cardboard to me and I wouldn't eat them. But, while the Kroger equivalent of Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Granola Bars tastes different, it is "good enough" and considerably cheaper.

Please share with the group:

1. A generic/store brand product you like and enjoy
2. Whether there's a difference or not
3. If there is a difference, is it still "good enough"?

Hy-Vee (Iowa based grocery chain) makes delicious alternatives to Cheerios - especially the honey nut and apple cinnamon varieties. They are a little different - the O's are a little thicker, but I think they are more flavorful and stay crunch longer.

Now that I'm located in Kroger-land (We have the Pay-Less stores), I really miss Hy-Vee. I'm not dissing on Kroger - their dried fruits are amazing quality and cost compared to national brands - I'm just tired of finding rotting produce and stinky meat in my store.

I do a lot of shopping at Trader Joe's. Their brands are often better & a lot cheaper.

We have Fry's, a division of Kroger's. They also have bad produce & meat. I've seen produce for sale that I would throw away. Plus, the store is filthy.

Sam's Club mega bottle of Ibuprofen.
Much cheaper than Advil and just as tasty! ;)

Ditto Trader Joe's. Almost everything I buy there is the store brand....

Whole Foods - I buy lots of 365 stuff - olive oil, milk, canned veggies, frozen veggies, etc.

Food Lion Raisin Bran - I like it better than the original.

CA

Stop&Shop's Nature's Promise line of organic foods is usually cheaper and is always good. Generic oatmeal is palatable, but it definitely seems mushier than Quaker oats.

Here in my area we have HEB for groceries and I find most of their brands just as good. Exceptions: Ranch Style beans (YUCK to theirs), their yogurt and Raisin Bran Crunch. I actually like their Frosted Mini Wheats and Cheerios better and their Creamy Creations Ice Cream is really good. The ice cream is no Blue Bell but then again not much can compare to the little creamery in Brenham. :D We also use Nature's Own Bread over the HEB brand but their Bake Shop stuff is good, just not the plan old loaf.

I usually try the store brand at least once and most of our canned goods will be their brand.

We buy a lot of Whole Foods 365 stuff. But we won't buy their toilet paper. Just not soft enough :o

I shop at Roche Brothers or Donnelans, both local chains. Donnelans only has 3-4 stores. At different points I have tried mostly store brand canned things, that all tasted terrible. It was not worth the savings. I do buy store brand zip locks and things like that. I hardly ever shop at Trader Joe's, as I go to a local health food store for that stuff, but when I go there, I do buy their brand name items. Like their 72% chocolate bars...

Publix fat-free yogurts. Really yummy. My BF buys WinnDixie's store brand yogurts and they're just nasty. Watery, tasteless, jello-y (new word!) and funky. Publix is just good.

At Sav-A-Lot, I buy the McDaniel's caffeine free coffee and it tastes better than any decaf, including Folger's and Maxwell House. Interestingly enough, the regular coffee is not as good. Also, their brand of cereals taste fresher and crisper than the major brands. I pay 1.35 for a box of cereal. :)

Safeway's "O" Organic line is pretty good - I love their lemonade - real sugar, not corn syrup makes it taste better. I like their chickpeas too - sounds strange, like there could be a difference in canned beans...., but they are smaller and a bit more firm. It's all very reasonably priced for organic too.

I have to agree with the trader joe's brand of stuff. All very good and cheaper at times. And I believe the ing are better as well. Now Target store's have a generic brand of stuff called I believe Archer farms. Tasty cerals and italian soda's (great to add vodka too shhhhh).

I've found a LOT of store brands that are good. I've been buying them off and on since I lived in Florida (then NC and now OR) - so the names of the stores and the items would be way too long to list here. In general, I've found that most store brand items from Publix, Lowes Foods, Harris Teeter and Safeway are good (particularly their 'natural' 'organic' or 'premier' items. I'd also like to give a special mention to Publix's bakery. Their cakes are fan-freaking-tastic. I only wish I'd used them for my wedding cake instead of using the fancy-schmancy pastry chef at the hotel.

The only two things I refuse to buy generic are birth control pills and diet Coke. And the items that I'll never buy name brand? Aluminum foil, pain relievers, trash bags & sugar.

Buyer beware though - there are times when the generic/store brand is not cheaper than the name brands. Make sure to compare the unit price before you buy. :)

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

Buyer beware though - there are times when the generic/store brand is not cheaper than the name brands. Make sure to compare the unit price before you buy. :)

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You've got that right! I was SHOCKED at how much more the Kirkland (Costco) brand wild canned salmon is as compared to the Bear & Wolf brand. They are right next to each other on the shelf. If I recall correctly, the Kirkland brand is 3 or 4 dollars more than the Bear & Wolf brand, and the Kirkland brand has less cans per pack as well. Both are wild (not farmed) salmon. The first time, I bought one of each to see if I could tell a difference in taste, and it was negligible. Definitely not worth such a price difference.

I still fondly remember Publix brand Apricot Preserves from a road trip years ago. Sadly, we don't have them here....

Full Circle Organic (from Lowes the grocery store) is pretty good too:)

CA

Since moving to Vancouver, we haven't bought hardly any store-brand/generic brand foods ..except for fruit leather, occasionally some juices.

For certain shampoos, toilet paper, will buy generic.

Not economical for us to shop at Costco's since it's just 2 of us at home. So I have no clue if Canadian Costco stores carries their own brand lines.

As for generic soaps, shampoos, etc....according to 2 sisters who are pharmacists and did work for Canadian national pharmaceutical store chains over a decade ago, sometimes the store /generic soap etc. is almost exactly the same as the original brand. And lower in price.

All generic drugs, sold in Canada must be tested/comply with federal law vis a vis Health Canada, federal government. I would seldom hesitate to buy if given a choice if competitive pricing was an option, ...again upon the advice of a diagnosing physician and ...family members who are licensed physician and pharmacists.


Of course, I had one friend who worked on clinical drug testing trials with physicians for a multinational pharmaceutical giant firm. She was ferocious in her defense of company created drugs vs. generic drugs because of R & D dollar investment. Whatever.

Some generic brands are actually brand names, you know.
Where do you think that stuff comes from, Generic, Inc.? ;)

Mr. Silver, did you get any sleep yet?

Wow! This group really is anti-walmart! Wal-mart/Sams was not mentioned once!

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Originally Posted by pardes

Mr. Silver, did you get any sleep yet?

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About 6 hours tonight...that's a two week record. Maybe it's the backlash of caffeine withdrawal.:confused:

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Originally Posted by Zen

Some generic brands are actually brand names, you know.
Where do you think that stuff comes from, Generic, Inc.? ;)

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:D I wonder what their stock certificate would look like?

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Originally Posted by Mr. Silver

Wow! This group really is anti-walmart! Wal-mart/Sams was not mentioned once!

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What?

Do you have me on "ignore"? :confused:

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Originally Posted by Mr. Silver

I wonder what their stock certificate would look like?

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GenX??

I have you on 'ignore' :D

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Originally Posted by Mr. Silver

Wow! This group really is anti-walmart! Wal-mart/Sams was not mentioned once!

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I shop at Sam's Club on occasion (Sam's much more regularly), but I've not been happy with their house brands. Can't specifically remember what I tried at this point, though. Wal-Mart is a whole lot further away from me than Target, and our Wal-Mart isn't very nice. It's old, small and has a very bad food selection (it's not a "super"). They're not my favorite company (for reasons that aren't approporiate for TE:)), but I do shop there on occasion. Sam's just has really good deals - we buy Silk vanilla soy milk by the case, mandarin oranges, peanut butter, cheeses, frozen fish, etc there on a pretty regular basis. I also get my contacts through their optical area.

Interesting about their Advil - I've tried other generics (Trader Joe's), and did not feel like they worked as well. Hmmm....
CA

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Originally Posted by Zen

I have you on 'ignore' :D

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Mmmmmmmm ... I can feel the love!!! :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Mr. Silver

I wonder what their stock certificate would look like?

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Plain white paper, Times New Roman font

:p

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Originally Posted by 7rider

What?

Do you have me on "ignore"? :confused:

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oOPS! I promise...I don't "ignore", but I may unintentionally disregard:eek:

My husband worked in the food industry for over 20 years. He said many of the generics are the same food stock, just put in private labels. Not all is that way - many are a second cut of product - not top quality. He knows when the fresh peaches are fresh and when they have been frozen. He knows which brands are first quality and which are second cut. He saves us a ton of money buying groceries because he knows the quality of the products. Sorry I can't give specifics - he has all that knowledge in his head!

generic popcorn is way better than brand names, and pops better too!

I'm surprised at the Kroger comments as my local one is immaculate. I think part of that may be proximity to headquarters. When the big dogs are apt to come into the store, things tend to stay nice. I've noticed that with other companies as well.

I use the McDaniels coffee as well.

I buy my meat at a local market though.

I was so excited when we got a Publix. But I was disappointed as I find their prices high overall. But one good side effect was that the competition drove some Kroger prices down.

I will generally try generics where available. One notable exception is that my cola must be Coke.

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Originally Posted by SouthernBelle

part of that may be proximity to headquarters.

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A lot of it is "what part of town," also, I think. I've heard more than once that produce that's too wilted for the ritzy suburban groceries is moved to the inner city stores, and discarded only if it doesn't sell the second time around.

In Ohio, Kroger is the "top end" grocery, but I think our Krogers are a separate corporation from the West Coast ones.

I don't buy a lot of processed food, plus corporate ethics matter to me as much as quality (they usually go hand in hand anyway) - so generic foods are pretty rare in my house. Baking soda, yeah (but most of it goes in the laundry ;)).

I do use pharmaceuticals (yeah, I know I shouldn't, but I do) - OTC painkillers and allergy medicine I'll always buy generic unless the brand name's on sale for less. With prescription drugs, I'll get generic only if it's the identical drug. No "bioequivalents."

Well, it's too rainy to ride, but the bright side of that is I get to go to the farmers' market - so I'm off. No generics there! :D

I don't even know where the closest Walmart is located and I live downtown surrounded by many stores.

Haven't sought it out because truly what we need are essentials which Walmart is not necessary at this point in life. Have all the clothing I need, no more rm. to stuff interior decorating stuff, etc.

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Originally Posted by NoNo

Stop&Shop's Nature's Promise line of organic foods is usually cheaper and is always good. Generic oatmeal is palatable, but it definitely seems mushier than Quaker oats.

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I get the Bob's Red Mill Rolled oats and they are far better than Quaker - not mushy unless you overcook them, and way tasty. Better texture in general, larger "flakes"

I tend to buy a lot of store brands and have found them to be mostly good. However, one thing I have noticed on occasion is that sometimes the store brand of a product has more crummy ingredients like partially hydrogenated oils or artificial additives. Triscuit-type crackers are the first example that comes to mind; I will not buy the Shaw's brand because they contain trans fat while the brand-name version (or Trader Joe's brand, for that matter) does not. Yogurt is another example (unnecessary additives, not trans fat) other than, again, Trader Joe's. Other than cases like that, I'm not picky and so tend to buy the cheaper store brands.

mostly farmers market. Trader Joes for carbonated grapefruit juice, eggs, milk (store brand) When we do buy meat, its at an organic store called Sprouts.

We used to be okay with Whole foods but much of their frozen food is from China, so we stopped shopping there (also far more expensive).

Paper towel is from Costco and its a brand name... Cat food and dog food are from boutique supplier. No Science Diet and big NO to alpo and the like.

I don't trust the "organic" label from a big box store.

We really don't have too much need for brand name items.