We've launched the new forums! Read more here

National Brand vs Store Brand

Nerdy

Nerdy

Revenge of the Nerds!
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Mar 2, 2017
Messages
15,426
Reaction score
23,726
Location
Central Ohio
Handicap
OH weather
I'm all for saving a little money at the grocery store and grabbing a store brand or generic brand most of the time. In most cases they do a great job versus the national brand, but what are those one or 2 items that you just have to go national brand on no matter what?
 
My general rule is the simpler the item the more likely the store brand is going to be ok and worth the discounted price. The more complex items are more likely to be a little off or less appealing to my taste buds whether it be taste, texture, etc.

Store brand tortilla chips generally ok, only 4 ingredients. Store brand Doritos - yeah these taste weird...
 
My one rule is no store brands.

I don't think the store brands work or taste the same as the national brand, even when they list the exact same ingredients.
 
I buy generic/store brands of a lot of things, but three I can think of off the top of my head that I insist on the specific brand:

1) Huy Fong / Túóng Ót Sriracha. None of the generics/store brands taste anywhere near as good to me.

2) Dave's Killer Bread. Their bread is soft and tastes good, unlike a lot of the other higher-fiber brands that have the taste and consistency of sawdust mixed with cardboard.

3) Fairlife milk. Great tasting milk, more protein than other milks. I drink nonfat and most brands' nonfat is watery and pale, while Fairlife's is thicker and more full tasting.
 
I like Meijer Peanut Butter a lot. It is very similar to Peter Pan. More fluffy and not as greasy as JIF, which I like.
 
I always find the generic or store brand cheaps are usually more flavorful than the national brand. And I'm sure not healthier.

But there are some things - granola is one that comes to mind, that I have to go with the national brand.

I think it varies across the board. I like to save money too, but sometimes you get what you pay for.
 
nabisco chips ahoy vs. great value classic chippers
on this one i can go chips nabisco
 
Last edited:
little debbie nutty bars vs. great value wafer peanut butter bars
on this one i can go great value..
 
Costco’s Kirkland brand diapers have saved us THOUSANDS with the twins.

Like anything though, there are good house brands...and shite ones.
 
Jman said:
Costco’s Kirkland brand diapers have saved us THOUSANDS with the twins.

Like anything though, there are good house brands...and shite ones.
Click to expand...
yep, diapers is a huge one you can go with the knock offs.
 
Jman said:
Costco’s Kirkland brand diapers have saved us THOUSANDS with the twins.

Like anything though, there are good house brands...and shite ones.
Click to expand...
Costco's Kirkland brand protein bars are better than a lot of the big national brand ones (IMO, anyway), and about half the price. They're one of the items that I insist on the store brand rather than the national brand.
 
Ketchup is the only one I can think of at the moment.
 
I shop at Aldi pretty regularly. Nearly everything they have is their house brand. The prices are fantastic. The good thing is, they have a great guarantee. Anything you buy that you don’t like they give you your money back. They’ll even replace the item as well as your money back. They only drawback is their selection. If they don’t have what I’m looking for, I buy the name brand at another store.
 
Agree with the Doritos above. Also Oreos I will glady pay the full price for.
My junk food has to taste right!
 
A lot of brands I like are being replaced by not so good knockoffs at Trader Joes, Target etc. The store brand for not main ingredients are usually ok, but if it's important to the dish or a tradition at our house the National brand stays.
 
Heinz Ketchup is the only way to go for me.

I was always loyal to Skippy peanut butter, although my wife has me sold on to the organic store brand ones too at this point. Just make sure to get “no stir” unless you want making a sandwich to be a workout.

I also tend to stick with name brands for crackers, chips, cereal... stuff like that that you really taste.

On the other end of the spectrum, I buy generic OTC medicines at Costco for a much better value and they seem to work just as well for me. Why buy 100 Advil for $20 when I can’t get 500 Kirkland Ibuprofen for $15?

Last, I only buy the cheapest milk on the shelf. All milk has a code stamped on it that tells you the dairy it came from. (See https://whereismymilkfrom.com), any many also have a date/time stamp and even a line number from being bottled. Almost always the more expensive “dairy branded” milk came from the same exact dairy as the generic store brand milk, often on the same day and sometimes even within minutes. I can’t say for sure that it means it’s the same exact milk, but it’s pretty suspicious and I can’t tell the difference. Maybe they have different sets of cows for different batches, but that seems pretty unlikely and difficult logistically.

Check it out next time you’re at the grocery store. (This doesn’t apply to Fairlife or other enhanced mills, just the ones that they have three identical gallon jugs with different labels and prices on each level).

And that concludes my milk conspiracy theory rant. Haha.

 
Haven’t really found any difference in most anything. I’ve been in enough food plants to know 99.99% of store brands are the exact same thing as the name brand. There may be a minuscule difference but it ain’t much.
 
Sanitizing wipes. I can wash my kitchen island with one Lysol wipe before it dries out. It takes two of the store brand wipes.
 
Jman said:
Costco’s Kirkland brand diapers have saved us THOUSANDS with the twins.

Like anything though, there are good house brands...and shite ones.
Click to expand...
First kid we went almost exclusively Pampers. 2nd kid was Luvs and it saved a ton of money and honestly the diapers were just as good if not better
 
  1. HEINZ KETCHUP
  2. DORITOS
 
Heinz beans.
 
Oatmeal, mustard and hot sauce are the 3 that come to mind for me. For my wife, her mayo has to be Dukes.
 
Ketchup has to be Heinz.
 
I buy some store brand things. Shredded cheese and peanut butter are a couple things I buy.
I saw someone mention Doritos as something you don’t. I agree.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top