Store/Off brands better than the name brand

[Pendulous]

Or at least as good. I know this will vary from region to region, but I thought it would be a neat idea to see what people think. I have a few off the top of my head. Maybe we can help people save a little money as well.

1. Bread. Now, to clarify, I eat boring old plain white bread. It's very rare that I buy an off brand that tastes bad. The best bread I've had in a long time is actually Kroger brand. It's good. It's fluffy, and it's shaped like a square like it's supposed to.

2. Cheese. Quite simply. As long as it's the same kind, I don't taste a difference at all.

3. Zebra cakes. These kind, the Little Debbie kind. I just had a Wal-Mart brand version. Same taste, and the consistency of the different layers makes it easier for me to eat it in the weird ways I eat snack cakes.

4. Cereal. Pretty much any cereal tastes the same as long as it's actually mimicking a name brand version.

On that note, however, there is one reason I will buy a name brand over a store brand despite the same or better taste. And that is if the packaging of the store/off brand does not allow for easy storage. Don't make me use a sandwich bag or whatever because you're too lazy for a zip tie or something.

What does everyone else like that tastes the same or better with the off brands?

[Deleted]

Dry pasta. I know people that will buy branded dry pasta at like £1.50 for a 500g pack, when there's nobrand equiavelents for £0.20

[breadisfunny]

ice cream. i find it to be just as tasty as ben and jerry and much less expensive. lol 5$ for a quart of ice cream v.s. 4$ for 4 quarts of schoeps ice cream.(yeah i know schoeps isnt store brand but it highlights how expensive ben and jerrys is.)

[Pendulous]

Yes and yes on the pasta and ice cream, good ones. I will say, though, that I will end up buying name brand ice cream, if only because the store brand didn't have the flavor I wanted. I'm a simple guy, though, I just want my Death By Chocolate and live up to the name.

[breadisfunny]

Yes and yes on the pasta and ice cream, good ones. I will say, though, that I will end up buying name brand ice cream, if only because the store brand didn't have the flavor I wanted. I'm a simple guy, though, I just want my Death By Chocolate and live up to the name.

yeah but at 5$ for ONE QUART when i can get 4 times the amount for a dollar less......im sticking with the cheaper one. in the generic case its 4 times as much for only a dollar more. only time i buy ben and jerry's is when they have a new flavor out. which is why i suspect they keep making new ones.

[rayvio]

I don't know about better than but in my experience most store brands tend to be as good as the expensive brands. only exceptions tend to be superglue, batteries, coffee and electrical appliances. I tend to get a lot of my shopping through asda and their own brand is usually good enough for most things

[Ryken]

I cannot agree with ice cream, the cheaper stuff is pretty bad. In certain cases, they're not even allowed to be called "ice cream", brands like Eddys/Breyers call theirs "Frozen dairy dessert", because for in order for it to be labelled as ice cream it has to have a certain level of milk fat and milk solids (10% and 20%). Words like "Slow churned" indicate that the product will contain a higher air-ation level, which really sucks. Premium ice cream is labelled as such because it has to adhere to strict guidelines and you can honestly tell the difference. Check out http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/script...cfm?fr=135.110

Cheap bulk "ice cream" is a fraction of deliciousness.

Edit: In terms of amount, I find sucking on a spoonful of hagen daz or B&J will last a LOT longer than the airated crap. Of course, if you're shoveling ice cream down, the cheaper stuff is gonna last longer, but if you actually enjoy your ice cream and eat it appropriately, a pint of the good stuff will last you a surprisingly long time.

[Coraulten]

In your country people buy brand bread? Only very poor people buy brand bread here, most buy it from the local bakery

Theres brand bread and then theres bakery bread alot of people get both and use them for different things.

[Deleted]

Cleaning products and medicine are usually just as good if you buy the generic brand, medicine is covered by law so a 19p box of Asprin is as good as a fancy brand with a pretty box, and bleach is bleach no matter what container it comes in.

[Yunru]

Store brands here are nothing else than a bad quality food.

Its well known the industry who makes those, uses bad ingredients that should be trown away to pigs. And then sells them to store as their brand (super cheap).

So everytime you eat brand food, you actuly eat pig food.

[Deleted]

Well some items are the exact same thing, made in the exact same company. But because warehouses etc. buy them exclusively, have to get the goods themselves, and various other things, they get a different name and cost half as much. For the same product.

Some things like Smoked Salmon I like the somewhat more 'expensive' ones, as the very cheap ones aren't really salted, but injected with salty water (which makes the fish a lot more watery). They leave a lot more of the fat around the fish (so it gets to the sold weight faster) and things like that.

In general I prefer to shop at a shop like Delhaize compared to a Lidl or Aldi for example, purely because I have the feeling I'm shopping at a warehouse with better quality goods, even though I know this isn't necessarily the case. Damn you easy marketing strategies.

[Deleted]

Well you are also paying for the experience of shopping in a proper shop, which improves your mood and sense of self-worth and social standing as well as receive significantly improved customer service.

Well that's what I mean. I like shopping there because the shop actually looks good, organized, use of colors, the packages look better etc. But I'm aware it doesn't mean the goods are actually better. Colruyt and Lidl etc. have cheap prices part because of how simple their shops are. The bazillion tons of cooking programs are generally sponsored by 'expensive' warehouses too.

I know I'm getting affected by marketing, I just like shopping there. (I don't shop there exclusively of course, most is probably still from Colruyt and Lidl. However when making a 'true menu', like I'm trying to imitate a chef or something, I generally get all the parts from Delhaize.)

[Tojara]

Brand beef jerky is almost never as good as weird brands or local stuff.

[Deleted]

Brand beef jerky is almost never as good as weird brands or local stuff.

By a dehydrator and make your own, home made jerky rocks.

[Deleted]

Tights. No matter how expensive or branded they are, they always seem to ladder after like a couple of wears, and sometimes the cheap brands even lasts a bit longer.

[Deleted]

Tights. No matter how expensive or branded they are, they always seem to ladder after like a couple of wears, and sometimes the cheap brands even lasts a bit longer.

I agree, hate it when the crotch splits too.

[Krommm]

Depends what it is. Most food products taste the same regardless of brand. Though Ben and Jerrys while good is highly overrated and overpriced.

[Deleted]

Cleaning products and medicine are usually just as good if you buy the generic brand, medicine is covered by law so a 19p box of Asprin is as good as a fancy brand with a pretty box, and bleach is bleach no matter what container it comes in.

Instead of buying bleach, from a supermarket by the value bottles of lemonade, the ones that cost like 19p for 2 litres. When I used to work in a supermarket whenever we had to do deep cleaning we'd use it, that stuff can strip paint, no idea how they can sell that to drink.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Tinned tomatoes, dried pasta.

[Terahertz]

Basically everything here except for soda. Bread, cheese, rice, spices we all buy from the store brands.