Store Brands vs. Brand Names

[Blueberry]

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

[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.

[Aggie_Ama]

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. 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.

[Flur]

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

[Crankin]

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...

[Pedal Wench]

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.

[sundial]

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.

[wolfak]

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.

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"

[Jolt]

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.

[smilingcat]

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.