Loading ...Store Brands vs. Name Brands
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1. I consider price - this would include any coupons that I may have that may bring the name brand down lower than the store brand based on unit size. If I don’t have a coupon, I go with the cheaper price per unit, unless number 2 factors in.
2. I consider value - If I have tried the store brand and I didn’t much like it, than I will try name brands. For instance, Bush’s baked beans are a better value than the Campbell’s cheaper baked beans, I like the taste better of bush’s beans as opposed to the cheaper brand. To me that is where there is value. However, I don’t buy Kleenex brand tissues, I prefer the Kroger store brand, they are cheaper, but they are also thicker and I go through them slower as I am not pulling out 2-3 to blow my nose like I do with the name brand.
Consumer Reports did on a study on name brand and store brand back in the summer of 2005, and found that national brands cost an average of about 25 to 50 percent more than similar-quality store brands.
The nice thing about store brands is that most stores offer a money back guarantee on their store brand items, so if after opening the crackers and taking a few bites, you seriously dislike them, you can take the package back (receipt needed in most cases) and get a full refund. Then go buy the brand that you prefer.
Though you don’t get the coupons for the store brands like you do the name brands, your savings between store and name brand is usually a difference of 15-20%.
So how do you pick a store brand:
1. Consider quality and value. Even though a national brand also makes store brands doesn’t mean the products are identical. Quality also depends on the retailer’s specifications. If a store brand wants to emphasize value, it might opt for lower-grade ingredients.
2. Know the differences within the same store brand. Most store brands come in several tiers to dispel the notion that store brands are strictly for saving money, you may find a high end priced store brand and a low end priced store brand, this could be due to the ingredients used or as a way the retailer can grab brand loyalty and have you pick up their high end price store brand
3. Try over-the-counter remedies. Store-and name-brand versions of aspirin, cold and cough remedies, antihistamines, and other such medications are likely to be even more similar than other types of products. If the active ingredient is the same in name-brand and store-brand products both must have met regulatory standards for efficacy.
Perhaps you want to know who makes what store brands, there are some ways to find out:
1. You can look on the back of the items packaging and look to see if it says the plant name, sometimes it will say “packed by”, “made by” or “manufactured at”
2. You can look up (800-555-1212) the toll free number or email the company and ask. The toll-free number reps are usually pretty open about that, if they know.
Based on Consumer Reports study, here are a few categories and favored store brands: (of course your opinion may differ based on personal taste and your standards for the product)
CATEGORY: Cereal
HIGH-RATED STORE BRANDS: Oatmeal: Great Value (Wal-Mart) Quick Oats 100 percent Natural; America’s Choice (A&P) Instant Maple & Brown Sugar; Raisin bran: Kroger
CATEGORY: Detergent (laundry)
HIGH-RATED STORE BRANDS: For most washers: Kirkland Signature (Costco) 38722; ShopRite Free ‘N Clear. For high-efficiency washers: Sears Advanced Formula Plus 9669 and 9820
CATEGORY: Ice cream (chocolate)
HIGH-RATED STORE BRANDS: Prestige Premium (Winn-Dixie) (for me, I like Safeway brand safeway selection)
CATEGORY: Peanut Butter
HIGH-RATED STORE BRANDS: Creamy: Kroger; Great Value (Wal- Mart). Crunchy: America’s Choice (A&P); Kroger; Great Value (Wal- Mart)
CATEGORY: Pizza (frozen)
HIGH-RATED STORE BRANDS: Kroger Self-Rising Crust 4-cheese Pizza
Also, if you are unsure what store brands your local store carries just ask or try Wiki’s entry on store brands
I buy a store brands for certain items, and it helps to save some money. But like you said, there are times to pay for quality! You simply have to know what you’re buying. Great article!
April 15th, 2008 at 10:18 amI buy no-name brand and President’s Choice brand products quite frequently, and often their products are better than named brands.
I do enjoy my heinz baked beans though!
April 15th, 2008 at 3:50 pmCostco’s diapers are *the* generic diapers to buy. We’ve tried samples of name-brand, and only Seventh Generation beats them. Huggies wasn’t flexible enough, same for Pampers, Luvvies (?is that right) ran small and had the wrong sizes listed - making it hard to find a good fit. Costco, and Seventh Gen more so, flexed comfortably and stretched so that one size always fit both of my twins well wihtout leaks - despite the consistent five-pound gap in their weights.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:00 pmIf you live in the southeast U.S., I highly recommend Publix generics. They’re super cheap and great quality, which is why I’m happy to live within walking distance of a Publix.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:12 amFrom Kroger, try their pasta sauce. I am convinced it is better than any others costing almost double. I also agree that Bush’s baked beans have no equal.
April 19th, 2008 at 7:26 pmI know a lot of people use coupons but we don’t. I can usually find an item cheaper with a store brand then with a name brand. There are a few name brands we use and I don’t use coupons for those because I like them so much.
Zig
April 20th, 2008 at 5:48 amI’m with Zig! I shop at Aldi every week, and also at Wegmans, which is from the Buffalo/Rochester area of NYS, but is growing in the northeast. Their store brands are terrific! But it is definitely buyer beware. I often chat with other Aldi shoppers about which products to use and which to avoid.
Case in point: Aldi brownie mix still has transfats in it, but their breakfast bars no longer do.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pmI once visited an organic salad mix packing plant: a labyrinth of washing and spinning leaves. I was impressed by the excellence through the packing process, and surprised when the packaged greens were finally divided onto four conveyor belts for labeling: as the company brand itself, but also Safeway, Walmart, and Trader Joe’s. It was all the same food!
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:23 pm