Do you buy store brands?

[always quiet]

I had gotten into a discussion with my father a little bit ago. I was talking about the new Walmart that just opened near us (not a "superstore" but at least this one has A LOT of food items, including a frozen section! ) I told him how cheap some of the food items were (like a 15oz box of their cheerios for $1.50!). He responded to me "Yeah, but that a no name brand. I don't buy no name". Do you buy store brands? I don't think I'd buy a no name food product at a dollar store or something, but a name like Walmart I trust.

PS This is the same man who goes to the wholesale meat store and gets frozen food items really cheap.....because they are ALL past dated!!! Go figure!!

 

[blanq]

This is the budget board, so I am sure you will find you are in good company on the store brand issue! I don't have a Walmart Superstore near me, but I do have a regular Walmart that has a food selection that carries some of their store brand items (juice, crackers, cookies, etc) and everything I have tried is good. I grocery shop at Cub here in Minnesota, and I have found that their store brand food is very comparable in taste (but less in price!) than the name brands. I am a bargain shooper when it comes to everything: food, clothing, vacations...you name it!

 

[crazymomof4]

I buy store brands! Most items are made by the same manufacturer that makes the name brands, they just slap a different label on it. My SIL she told me this. She used to work for a large printing company that made the labels.
Makes sense. Just think about it: I shop at Shop Rite. Shop Rite has many store brand items, for example, Bitz crackers are the same as Ritz crackers. Do anti-store brand people REALLY think that Shop Rite has a bakery that manufactures various crackers and breads along with a factory that makes jelly, one that makes OJ, canned vegtables, pancake syrup, etc.? Shop Rite is a retailer, not a maufacturer. Also, I once saw a Stroeman employee stacking Shop Rite bread onto the shelf!

Along the same vein: I got dress shoes on clearance at a dept. store they originally sold for $50. A few months later I got what I thought was a similar style shoe (different color) at Payless, not on sale, for $14.99. Brought them home and they are the same EXACT shoes, just have a different label sewn into the instep!

It's all a name-game!

PS- I often buy name brand grocery items bc. on sale and w/ coupons they end up cheaper than store brand.

 

[C.Ann]

My DH worked as a manager for a very large northeast supermarket chain for 38 years and was "privy" to loads of information that the general population is not..

One of the things he was "privy" to was the LARGE number of "store brand" products that were actually produced BY the "name brand companies"..

So yes - we did - and do....

 

[Alice28]

Most things I buy store brands....but some things I swear I can taste a difference- like soda or certain types of cereal (namely Fruit Loops- which I don't eat a lot of, but you know). But as far as canned goods, condiments, most crackers, cleaners, plastic baggies, etc., I will buy the store brands no problem. As far as clothes go I'm a bit more picky. I have bought store brand (like Target) for my family and we are all in agreement that it's worth a few extra bucks to buy stuff on sale at the local dept. store or Gap or whatever because the quality is just lacking in Target or WalMart clothes...after a washing or two the colors fade, the collars fray, etc. IMHO of course! Since I have two boys, I would rather buy stuff at Old Navy or Gap on the sales racks, and then have it last for my younger son to wear a few years down the road.

 

[Disney Ella]

It depends on what it is. The tissues and toilet paper are too scratchy for me and the green beans have a lot of ends in them. I used to buy the store brand cereal, but DH doesn't like it. I always buy store brand foil, sandwich bags, paper plates, ice cream, etc.

 

[ncbyrne]

I am the queen of coupons, and they are always associated with name brands. However, I'm also very frugal, so I DO buy a store brand when I don't have a coupon (my store doubles) that brings the price lower than the store brand. I watch the grocery ads closely and have a file system for my coupons. The more I save on food, the more $ goes into our Disney account!

 

[summerrluvv]

I don't usually buy store brands only because I use coupons and there aren't any for store brands usually. Cereal I only buy name brand and get it for less than a dollar a box and sometimes free with coupons. That's cheaper than the store brand, as are most things I buy.

A great place to check out for couponing how to's for food is www.mycoupons.com/boards and click on "TOT."

 

[maleficent1959]

I buy some store brand items if they are good, mostly at Albertson's but a few Sam's Choice things too. Target's salad dressings are really good. I also use a lot of grocery coupons, so sometimes the "brand name" is cheaper.

It is much different than when I was young. I remember my mom buying "no name" that came in white packaging with two thick black stripes. The label would just say "corn" or "macaroni and cheese" and that stuff was terrible. She did that rarely because we wouldn't eat it. But today's store brands can be really really good.

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

I buy a lot of store brand items, with the exception of cereals. THey do have a different taste to them. I have to go with the kids on this one!

Some things I will only buy name brand on, but for the most part, what's the difference?

 

[crazymomof4]

Originally posted by maleficent1959



It is much different than when I was young. I remember my mom buying "no name" that came in white packaging with two thick black stripes. The label would just say "corn" or "macaroni and cheese" and that stuff was terrible. She did that rarely because we wouldn't eat it. But today's store brands can be really really good.

Oh, I remember those. They were at our Acme and they were called "Ecno-Buy". Talk about poor marketing! It's a wonder anyone bought them. My brother and I would tease my mom endlessly when she brought them home!

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

I think ours was called "Generic". LOL THey did have good potato chips tho!

 

[DisneyFan09]

I buy tons of store brand things, especially at Walmart! It's so much cheaper. The few things that I won't budge on though are mac & cheese (we've tried lots of different brands but none are as good as Kraft) and kid's cereal. I eat raisin bran and Walmart's is one of the best I've tried, it has way more raisins than post and it's about $2 cheaper a box!! The kid's varieties are a different story though, they can really tell the difference and I'm wasting more money buying something that they won't eat!!

 

[tink2dw]

Our Cub stores are now Winco and carry many more of the store brand named Favorite which is the cheapest chioce. Their products are constantly higher quality than the medium priced name brands. I'll choose the Favorite anytime!!

 

[LKS]

I buy a few store brands and I'm usually willing to try them at least once. I have more success with staples like cream cheese, sugar, OJ and milk. A lot of things are not as good. I can also tell you that the grocery stores DO have their own plants for their store brand products so they are not ALWAYS the same. My husband did some work for Winn Dixie where he traveled to all their plants - cookies, yogurt, ice cream etc.... They were all over the southeast. Most of these grocery chains are huge and can support their own factories.

One thing I've just switched to is the Walmart brand of powdered dishwasher detergent. This got the top rating from Consumer Reports - above all the name brand gels. We have switched and it does work great and I agree, probably better than the name brands. Plus, it's SO cheap.

 

[kfeuer]

Depends on what it is. As several others have mentioned, I don't like generic cereals (especially generic Cheerios, they just don't taste the same). I do a fair amount of shopping at Aldi's and have been satisfied with most things (most of the things they sell are their brand). The good thing is, almost all generics have a money-back guarantee so it doesn't hurt to try them. I have returned a few things over the years and gotten my money back.

 

[Lewisc]

Some of the generic products (no matter where you buy them) are cheaper because they are not as good. Some of the bleach is more dilute (watered down). Some of the vegetables are seconds (more ends). The fact that a major company may manufacture the product is irrelevant, WalMart is big enough to get a differnt quality made. Try them and see if you are happy. Most stores will accept a return if you're not happy with the product quality.

 

[callaghan]

OOHHHHH!
You guys found out about the food manufacturing's dirty little secret! LOL!
DH, a chemical engineer IN the food industry, most manufacturing sites will not buy different ingredients for their "generic equal". Too hard to maintian separate inventories, with possibly separate suppliers,separate ingredients and such. So most manufacturing facilities (that are owned by major corporations) try to capture both ends of the market. They want name brand loyal people and the people who are just looking for a bargain.
The FDA has come out with some new labels in the meat and dairy arena. They are not on everything, but hopefully coming soon. These labels have the plant # on them. So take a store brand and take a look at the name brand, if the plant #s match up, more than likely, they are the same product. Take for example Pathmark "porkroll". It is made by the Taylor Ham people, the same plant. And Taylor Ham has their own production facility, so they are the ones contracting with Pathmark. Therefore the "porkroll" Taylor Ham is making for the Pathmark label is the same as the Taylor Ham "porkroll". And Pathmark's "better" hot dogs are Nathan's.
I know this is confusing, I only just understand it after listening to DH for years. I hope I expalined it well enough.

Oh and, by the way most pure vanilla extracts are the same. Too expensive to have multiple competing companies. So buy the store brand.

callie

 

[HappyMommy2]

Like a lot of other people said, I'm willing to try various off-brand products. Some are definitely better than others. I stopped buying off-brand frozen vegetables after getting several packages that had really stringy, woody, hard pieces (like the very bottoms of broccoli stems) in them. The last straw was when DS almost choked on an unchewably hard piece of broccoli.
I stick to name brands for frozen veggies now and have had no problems.

I find that some particular store brands for particular items are better than others. For example, some off-brand Ziploc-type bags just won't stay closed; some work better than actual Ziplocs. It just takes time (and word of mouth, and Consumer Reports) to find the really good values.

 

[Lewisc]

Originally posted by callaghan
OOHHHHH!
You guys found out about the food manufacturing's dirty little secret! LOL!
DH, a chemical engineer IN the food industry, most manufacturing sites will not buy different ingredients for their "generic equal". Too hard to maintian separate inventories, ......

Oh and, by the way most pure vanilla extracts are the same. Too expensive to have multiple competing companies. So buy the store brand.

callie

My example of bleach, the ingredients are the same but the concentration may be different. Companies like WalMart buy enough to get a different production run.

In many stores the store brand is not pure vanilla extract but is labelled imitation.

I agree in some cases the store brands are equivalent but in many cases they are different.