Brand Name vs Store Brand | Pad Patter 10.21

[IntenseMagic]

I hit the grocery store bright and early this morning and I'm wondering, are there things that you always buy brand name? Do you buy store brands often? And are there certain brands that you must have?

I buy a lot of store brands! But there are things that I always buy brand name because they are just better to me. It has to be Jif Peanut Butter, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and always name brands in trash bags and aluminum foil.

 

[flowersgal]

Peter Pan peanut butter and Nabisco vanilla wafers are my unwavering choices. Otherwise I am willing to try store brands but do lean toward brands I know and have tested if there are only a few pennies difference.

Funny, I grew up without many store brands available but there were some choices. My mother would only buy Lipton tea and Quaker oatmeal. I, too, bought Lipton tea for years but now we have switched to green tea which we buy at Aldi. I think sometimes we just get into the habit of buying what we know.

Oh, yes, I did think of two other must haves -- Hellmans mayonnaise and Heinz ketchup. Funny story -- when our youngest daughter married and moved to Idaho she was distraught that she could not find Hellmans in the stores there. Said she'd just have to move back! We finally discovered that it is marketed as Best mayonnaise on the west coast so all is well. She's still n Idaho 28 years later and still enjoying her favorite mayonnaise.

 

[Kiana]

Pretty much store brands. We have a few
Skippy PB
Miss Shuberts rolls
Yogurts are usually brand name
different sodas are usually brand name
Townhouse crackers
Doritos, Cheetos,and most chips in general we like brand name better
Laundry soap/softeners
there might be a few others...lol

 

[michelepixels]

I try both and get whichever we like better.
And things change. For a few years I was getting Wegmans store brand flour tortillas but early this year they changed the recipe or something because they taste different and break easily. They used to be soft enough, even from the fridge, that I didn't have to heat them to roll them into burritos. I tried a few other brands and never found one that is soft right out of the fridge, but I have settled on La Banderita brand and just adjusted my routine, heating them on a griddle for a few minutes while I scramble the eggs and veggies or whatever I plan to put inside.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

We have gone to store brands more and more. Usually, we can't tell any difference, except they're normally cheaper. We don't use any store brand laundry products, however. With OTC medications of any kind, the store brands are the very same ingredients, and cost less. My hubby is a label reader and if he says it's the same thing, it is. Haha

Jiff peanut butter, Hershey chocolate powder and chocolate chips are a few that I won't substitute, I know there are others. Ice cream of all kinds, is Publix's brand and we can't tell the difference. Publix's brands of any kind is 99% great.

 

[wvsandy]

We try them both and stay with the one that we like better. We eat out a lot so I don't worry too much about the cost difference. I need to get something that we will eat/use before it goes bad.

 

[carrie1977]

Skippy Peanut Butter, Best Foods Mayonnaise, Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (any cereal for the most part), and most chips and/or tortilla chips, and coffee. I think most anything else is a combo of whatever happens to have the best sale price.

 

[HappyMamacita]

Being adventurous and trying different products has been surprising. I think some stores have great name brands, while others aren't worth purchasing for the sake of saving (because they're not the same quality/flavor). I do have certain brands I love. I'd rather pay a little bit more for something I know I'll be happy with, than buying something (even if it is name brand) and knowing it's not that great - realizing I won't enjoy it or it will get wasted...and sometimes I'd rather do without, if I can't find what I want.

 

[Tree City]

I'm like you, Jan: some things have to be name brand, but other stuff isn't a big deal. Last weekend we went to Lidl, a European-based discount grocery store that's making its way to the US. They have a lot of store brand items and they're a great deal. We picked up tortilla chips for $0.39 a bag! I figured that was cheap enough that if we hated them, it wasn't a big deal. They're actually really good and now I wish we'd purchased more. But I refused to buy non-brand-name candy for Halloween, so we didn't get any there. They had Hershey's/etc but the prices for that stuff wasn't low.

But name brand stuff...Yup: it has to be Kraft "blue box" Mac N Cheese! Heck, I know I've talked here before about how my kids won't even eat their dad's homemade MnC. (On the bright side: he still makes it and so it's just more for me!) I have to have good hair care products--they don't have to be expensive but they can't be "discount" or store brand. And coffee: DH and I are becoming more and more snobby about our coffee lol! And I don't buy discount electronics. I wish I could, but whenever I try, I have bad luck. Oh well.

I don't mind some store brand cereals but it has to be Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms. The kids like the store brand Golden Crisp (at least, I think that's what cereal it's supposed to be?) and since I empty cereal boxes into Snapware containers, sometimes they can't tell if it's brand name.

 

[cfile]

I am ok with some store brands, but I must have Hellman's mayo and Heinz Ketchup.. okay today when I bought the Hellman's Mayo 30 Oz size there was a coupon for a buy the 30 oz Mayo get a free 32 Oz Hellman's Ketchup. While I don't really like it as much as I love Heinz, for almost a $4 bottle of ketchup, it was free so I got it

Otherwise I will take store brand a lot of the time. It all depends what it is... I have to have Bumble Bee Premium (gold can) Solid White Tuna in water .. I will get reg BB solid White Tuna in water if there is no gold can, but that is it.. I am very picky with that too

 

[tkradtke]

At the regular grocery store, I stick with brand names almost exclusively... but since I switched to shopping at Whole Foods earlier this year, I almost always get store brand items. And then when I go to Trader Joe's, it's all store brand!

 

[djp332]

I'm not too picky. I buy a lot of store brands, except for Kerrygold Butter and Heinz Ketchup. When you live in Pittsburgh, you have to buy Heinz! We don't really notice the difference in other items. We have a lot of choices here - Giant Eagle, Shop 'n Save, Aldi, Fresh Thyme, Walmart, Sam's Club. I do most of my shopping at Fresh Thyme and Aldi and their brands are pretty good.

 

[IntenseMagic]

Peter Pan peanut butter and Nabisco vanilla wafers are my unwavering choices. Otherwise I am willing to try store brands but do lean toward brands I know and have tested if there are only a few pennies difference.

Funny, I grew up without many store brands available but there were some choices. My mother would only buy Lipton tea and Quaker oatmeal. I, too, bought Lipton tea for years but now we have switched to green tea which we buy at Aldi. I think sometimes we just get into the habit of buying what we know.

Oh, yes, I did think of two other must haves -- Hellmans mayonnaise and Heinz ketchup. Funny story -- when our youngest daughter married and moved to Idaho she was distraught that she could not find Hellmans in the stores there. Said she'd just have to move back! We finally discovered that it is marketed as Best mayonnaise on the west coast so all is well. She's still n Idaho 28 years later and still enjoying her favorite mayonnaise.

My mother only bought Lipton tea and Quaker oatmeal and I did as well for years, but switched on both counts. I think overall store brands have gotten much better over the years. Glad you daughter was still able to buy the Hellmans!

 

[IntenseMagic]

Pretty much store brands. We have a few
Skippy PB
Miss Shuberts rolls
Yogurts are usually brand name
different sodas are usually brand name
Townhouse crackers
Doritos, Cheetos,and most chips in general we like brand name better
Laundry soap/softeners
there might be a few others...lol

I got off the name brand laundry detergent for awhile, but realized my clothes just weren't getting as cleaned so I've switched back on that one. Same for the softeners.

 

[IntenseMagic]

I try both and get whichever we like better.
And things change. For a few years I was getting Wegmans store brand flour tortillas but early this year they changed the recipe or something because they taste different and break easily. They used to be soft enough, even from the fridge, that I didn't have to heat them to roll them into burritos. I tried a few other brands and never found one that is soft right out of the fridge, but I have settled on La Banderita brand and just adjusted my routine, heating them on a griddle for a few minutes while I scramble the eggs and veggies or whatever I plan to put inside.

Yep, I've gone back and forth on a few. If it's a really good deal, I will try it.

 

[IntenseMagic]

We have gone to store brands more and more. Usually, we can't tell any difference, except they're normally cheaper. We don't use any store brand laundry products, however. With OTC medications of any kind, the store brands are the very same ingredients, and cost less. My hubby is a label reader and if he says it's the same thing, it is. Haha

Jiff peanut butter, Hershey chocolate powder and chocolate chips are a few that I won't substitute, I know there are others. Ice cream of all kinds, is Publix's brand and we can't tell the difference. Publix's brands of any kind is 99% great.

Yes to the OTC medications. Those I always buy store brand!

 

[IntenseMagic]

We try them both and stay with the one that we like better. We eat out a lot so I don't worry too much about the cost difference. I need to get something that we will eat/use before it goes bad.

That's true for a lot of things with me as well. With the kids being older, I don't cook nearly as much as I used to.

Skippy Peanut Butter, Best Foods Mayonnaise, Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (any cereal for the most part), and most chips and/or tortilla chips, and coffee. I think most anything else is a combo of whatever happens to have the best sale price.

I'm with you on several of those, but I do really like the Walmart brand Great Value K-cup coffee for the Keurig. Lots of great flavors and cheap! lol

Being adventurous and trying different products has been surprising. I think some stores have great name brands, while others aren't worth purchasing for the sake of saving (because they're not the same quality/flavor). I do have certain brands I love. I'd rather pay a little bit more for something I know I'll be happy with, than buying something (even if it is name brand) and knowing it's not that great - realizing I won't enjoy it or it will get wasted...and sometimes I'd rather do without, if I can't find what I want.

I agree, some stores have much better name brands than others. And a lot of times it comes down to just what the price difference is or if it will be eaten!

I'm like you, Jan: some things have to be name brand, but other stuff isn't a big deal. Last weekend we went to Lidl, a European-based discount grocery store that's making its way to the US. They have a lot of store brand items and they're a great deal. We picked up tortilla chips for $0.39 a bag! I figured that was cheap enough that if we hated them, it wasn't a big deal. They're actually really good and now I wish we'd purchased more. But I refused to buy non-brand-name candy for Halloween, so we didn't get any there. They had Hershey's/etc but the prices for that stuff wasn't low.

But name brand stuff...Yup: it has to be Kraft "blue box" Mac N Cheese! Heck, I know I've talked here before about how my kids won't even eat their dad's homemade MnC. (On the bright side: he still makes it and so it's just more for me!) I have to have good hair care products--they don't have to be expensive but they can't be "discount" or store brand. And coffee: DH and I are becoming more and more snobby about our coffee lol! And I don't buy discount electronics. I wish I could, but whenever I try, I have bad luck. Oh well.

I don't mind some store brand cereals but it has to be Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms. The kids like the store brand Golden Crisp (at least, I think that's what cereal it's supposed to be?) and since I empty cereal boxes into Snapware containers, sometimes they can't tell if it's brand name.

My kids are those weirdo mac and cheese kids, too. They would much rather have Kraft than homemade. Crazy! And yep, I make it for myself a lot
Same on the discount electronics!
Great idea on the cereal!!

I am ok with some store brands, but I must have Hellman's mayo and Heinz Ketchup.. okay today when I bought the Hellman's Mayo 30 Oz size there was a coupon for a buy the 30 oz Mayo get a free 32 Oz Hellman's Ketchup. While I don't really like it as much as I love Heinz, for almost a $4 bottle of ketchup, it was free so I got it

Otherwise I will take store brand a lot of the time. It all depends what it is... I have to have Bumble Bee Premium (gold can) Solid White Tuna in water .. I will get reg BB solid White Tuna in water if there is no gold can, but that is it.. I am very picky with that too

Yes to the Mayo and Ketchup. Store brand ketchup always seems so watered down.
Oh, and yes to tuna...I'm picky about that as well!

At the regular grocery store, I stick with brand names almost exclusively... but since I switched to shopping at Whole Foods earlier this year, I almost always get store brand items. And then when I go to Trader Joe's, it's all store brand!

I buy more store brands at Walmart than the local grocery store. Some of their things are ok, but not as good as the Great Value brand.

I'm not too picky. I buy a lot of store brands, except for Kerrygold Butter and Heinz Ketchup. When you live in Pittsburgh, you have to buy Heinz! We don't really notice the difference in other items. We have a lot of choices here - Giant Eagle, Shop 'n Save, Aldi, Fresh Thyme, Walmart, Sam's Club. I do most of my shopping at Fresh Thyme and Aldi and their brands are pretty good.

I am picky about butter! I do wish we had more choices for shopping. We basically have Walmart, Kroger, and a locally owned store.

 

[QuiltyMom]

I shop mostly at Trader Joe's, so it's their brand!

Otherwise I try to purchase generic for the cost savings because I really can't tell the difference.

 

[djp332]

I am ok with some store brands, but I must have Hellman's mayo and Heinz Ketchup.. okay today when I bought the Hellman's Mayo 30 Oz size there was a coupon for a buy the 30 oz Mayo get a free 32 Oz Hellman's Ketchup. While I don't really like it as much as I love Heinz, for almost a $4 bottle of ketchup, it was free so I got it

Otherwise I will take store brand a lot of the time. It all depends what it is... I have to have Bumble Bee Premium (gold can) Solid White Tuna in water .. I will get reg BB solid White Tuna in water if there is no gold can, but that is it.. I am very picky with that too

Do you have an Aldi? Their tuna is very good.

 

[QuiltyMom]

Do you have an Aldi? Their tuna is very good.

I'll have to check theirs the next time I'm there. Most tuna companies add soy to the tuna under cover of "vegetable broth". I really wish they wouldn't do that!