Talking specifically about groceries here. Assuming there is a generic equivalent, and we are comparing conventional to conventional and organic to organic.
If you buy name brand groceries, why?
I've always assumed the taste and quality difference between name brand foods and their generic equivalents is negligible. But maybe I'm wrong.
I buy name brand things (e.g., Fleischmann's Bread Machine Yeast) if I have found no generic equivalent.
But I can't imagine a world in which I would choose to buy Kraft's cheddar cheese instead of Great Value if the GV is available, for example. Unless I guess there's some major moral issue I have against the generic food company.
So honest question: if you regularly buy name brand foods, why?
Honest question: Why do you buy name brand stuff?
byu/No-Examination8178 inFrugal
Posted by No-Examination8178
46 Comments
I have celiacs and I’m allergic to peanuts, there’s only certain brands of things I can eat safely (especially with the peanut allergy).
In this sub youll probably find most people don’t, but when they do its probably just preference.
Most of the time the difference is negligible but some products its not and its your call if the price difference is worth it.
For groceries its usually .50-1 difference. That’s worth it for most people to actually get what they like or want.
We generally buy store brand, especially with Kirkland, but sometimes the brand-name is just a better product. Not one company has figured out how to make a knock-off Oreo, Goldfish, or nesquick.
Only brand name i consistently buy is Philidelphia cream cheese. Nothing tastes the same. I’ve been disappointed by every other brand I’ve ever tried. For how infrequently I purchase it, its worth it to get the flavor I expect.
Celiac disease has serious brand limitations, though the Bettergoods Walmart store brand has some fun options.
I also buy brand name ketchup because the extra 30 cents every 6 months is worth it!
Specific brands can have specific taste, smell, and quality.
There are some good generics. Some people have food allergies and off brands are produced on shared lines. Some people are bakers and different brands are different quantities.
I buy certain brands because I like the taste better.
Take Philadelphia cream cheese for cheesecake making. If on sale or Im making for myself, I’ll buy it. If not or making for pot luck or something, I’ll buy the cheapest. Same for the graham cracker base, Honeymaid just tastes better.
Off brands trend to be inconsistent and sometimes consistently bad. I wouldn’t put GW stuff next to generics either.
Because generic isn’t always cheaper. You can often get the brand name cheaper with coupons or sales than the generic or store brand.
I always compare nutrition info, ingredients, and taste. Sometimes the store brand is not very good, but it usually is.
I can taste some chemicals that most people can’t. Most of the time things are about the same taste-wise but for somethings they aren’t and the extra dollar is absolutely worth it 🤷
Some of them tastes better than others. Beans Heinz vs store brand. Tried different brands.. heinz for me or SPC everything else yuck.
it goes with other brands, it’s more about quality than anything.
Daisy Sour Cream is a different texture and taste than the generic brand so I always buy that one.
I generally buy the generic brand shredded cheese but if Sargento is on sale and close to the same price I’ll buy that instead because their shreds are thinner, more consistent and their cheese tastes better.
But for things like butter, flour, granola bars – I buy generic.
We buy mostly off brand for all things. But for me, I’m die-hard for a can of coca-cola. Irreplaceable.
I generally buy generic brands. But the times I buy brand name, it’s because
* There is no generic equivilant
* The generic equivalent is worse in quality
* The generic equivalent has a defect that significantly impairs my enjoyment of it
* The generic annoys me in some way and it’s worth it just to pay the extra
It really depends… most things like 99% I’ll buy off brand, but if it’s something like Oreos.. that IS the product. I don’t want some shitty knockoff chocolate wafer cookie that tastes like shit
I only buy a certain brand when I can’t get it in generic form. I cannot eat sweets unless they are sugar free. Sadly, generic food does not have a good selection.
It’s all about the taste and depends on which one tastes better. For example I recently discovered Duke’s mayonnaise which, being on the west coast, is only sold in one store in my area. I’ll never go back to Kraft or Best Foods. Grated cheese? It all tastes kind of the same but doing the grating yourself is way better. I do go out of my way to get the grated cheese blends from Trader Joe’s though, they are the best I’ve ever tasted and I don’t think too expensive.
The name brand items that I buy are because I like them. Example is Worcestershire by lea and perrins. Why waste money trying to save a few Pennies on something that probably doesn’t taste as good .
Sometimes it’s just a taste issue. There are cases where I like the generic version better than the name brand and vise-versa.
I don’t eat anything other than Krafft mac-n-cheese, though. Why mess with a good thing?
There are a few things I buy name brand for if the store brand isn’t the same or better quality.
Sour cream and cream cheese are 2 things I only buy name brand because the store brand has a lot of fillers. I buy Daisy sour cream and Philadelphia cream cheese.
A couple other things, mostly condiments, Duke’s mayo, and we only buy Heinz mustard and ketchup.
Some generic foods are very similar to name brand. Some aren’t. Some generics are better than others.
Also, some people will swear that generic food X tastes *exactly* like name brand. Others will say that they taste very different. And honestly, some people just taste things differently. Our taste buds aren’t as universal as we assume. And I don’t mean preferences or being picky. I mean that the actual taste buds process the information differently. Just like some people can hear certain frequencies better than others, or color blindness. Our tongues aren’t magically immune to those sort of things.
I usually buy name brand when in store deals / app deals make the item cheaper or closer to the generic equivalent of the item. Most of the times, the taste is almost the same compared to the name brand.
There are some things I don’t buy name brand most of the times regardless of the price due to the taste factor- this includes spring water (anything other than Ice Mountain is a no!), protein supplements, and Advil/cold medicine. My body manipulates me to think generic Advil does not work. 😂
The only brand name items I buy are Cascade dish tabs, Glacial Freeze Gatorade powder and Tanqueray Gin. The brand name tabs work way better than generic and these are two flavors my family is specific about.
When I buy name brand its because that brand has proven to me its worth the extra money for the quality
Most of what I buy is generic or I swap to whatever is on sale. But certain things like Better Than Bullion cant be substituted imo
There’s a few cases where the name brand is generally better than the generic.
For example Cascade dishwasher detergent. I’ve used house brands before and they don’t work as well.
the reason i don’t buy Great Value cheese is because to me it tastes waxy or not as cheesy as the name brand cheeses
Over time I’ve noticed some generics are as good as the name brand, but some definitely aren’t. Like, store brand taco seasoning. My husband made it one day and I noticed it tasted better than when I buy/make it. He bought the name brand- and I noticed reading labels later that the name brand has several more spices, so the generic definitely isn’t the same thing.
I’ve also tried generic hot tea bags. Oof, I’m not even a picky person but whooo boy there’s a huge difference in the taste of generic tea and even the cheaper name brands like bigelow. Small price increase for significantly better quality/flavor there.
So it just depends on whether the generic is as good quality-wise and if that matters for the situation.
Depends on the product. For some there isn’t a generic version in my store. Like they may have a generic for one line from a brand, but they may have secondary variations that there is no generic for. Sometimes it really is just not the same product. One item that comes to mind is the generic oreos at my grocery store. They’re absolute garbage. Nothing like name brand. Or the peanut butter I like, there’s no generic version of the no sugar added Skippy. So it just depends on the product.
I buy few brand names and I have been doing that since like I was born so yeah I saved a ton of money doing this
but there are a few reasons to buy brand name
If it doesn’t taste the same or the taste is off then you won’t eat it and you have just wasted money on something bad you can’t eat. I’ve tasted some really awful generic foods over time but this does not happen too much these days.
If a coupon or sale makes it cheaper than the generic version
If the product works better and lasts longer than the generic version, making it a better value for your money, this is often seen with cleaning supplies or things like shampoo
Some generics are fine. Some aren’t. I buy what I enjoy. And usually with sales and smart shopping name brand is often cheaper than generic
Generally always go for the brand name for regulat groceries like sausage, cheese, bread and etc, but always go brand name for cookies (Oreo), Nutella, chocolate (Milka), laundry detergent, because of specific taste/smell preference
Store brand English Muffins have nothing on Thomas.
There are very few name brand products I buy. I use almost one small bottle of ketchup per year but buy Heinz because I like the flavor and texture. I buy FiberOne name brand cereal due to amount of fiber, flavor, and texture.
For laundry I buy Tide powder in a cardboard box because I live in the woods and my clothes sometimes get really dirty. Tide works well on really dirty clothes, and I use very little powder, always in cold water.
I use Crest toothpaste, and Lume deodorant- both products work very well for me
Some of it is legit good quality but for one brand that’s worth it there is 10 scams
With chips. I find that I like just the right amount of salt. Have tried many store and brand names, believe me!
i’ll try the off brand products first, but if they aren’t as good as name brand i’ll switch back to name brand. for example, i’ll never buy the off brand “chicken in a biscuit” crackers, they’re nasty.
Because I don’t skimp on good toilet paper.
Where taste/quality matter I buy brand name. Generic cereals/sodas/etc just don’t taste good imo. Some things it doesn’t really matter for or I find the taste similar enough so I will buy generic, like drugs or salt or whatever.
We have plenty of ultra cheap Asian grocery stores where I live. If I really wanted to, I could reduce my monthly food costs by over $100 if I exclusively shopped there.
Some things are just worth shelling out the extra cash for. I always try to balance frugality with health, and the truth is, some food is well worth it to get the quality stuff
I buy brand name for things that matter to me. Dish soap, paper towels and TP, mayo (Gotta have that Duke’s) and mustard (French’s / Guldens). Only store brand mustard, yellow or brown that’s good is Kroger. Great value is disgusting. Doritos (only B2G2), GV is good but the flavor consistency is unsatisfactory.
I mostly don’t, but here are some reasons as to why I do:
* Packaging, e.g. the only pasta that is sold in cartons rather than plastic bags is somewhat name brand
* Taste, something like Monster simply tastes different and imo better than alternatives
I only buy Philadelphia brand cream cheese because the other no-name brands have extra thickeners and other ingredients that I do not care to eat.
Generics have their place, especially winners like Kirkland! But there’s often a difference, and as we’ve gotten just a little less cheap in our lives, it’s been better to buy many brands (at a discount!) than generics,
Example, we eat a lot of pasta. Store brand pasta eats just fine, but when we switched to Barilla and De Cecco we immediately noticed two things,
First, the pasta was just a little toothier, held up to sauce better, and could be actually “al dente” and had a better margin between undercooked and mush
Second, unexpected timesaver, the store brand had a million more chips and tiny pieces in the bottom of boxes, and the durum broke down more in the water, left a ton of residue so both the pot and strainer would need to be actually washed.
Brand name I just rinse them off. Didn’t expect that.
Just for example!
All things being equal, I will choose the store brand over the national brand. But they’re not always equivalent. A couple of examples:
Trader Joe’s does not have good cream cheese. I consider Philadelphia to be the gold standard. But I recently discovered that Great Value is a pretty good substitute. Likewise, TJ’s cheddar rockets are not as good as Goldfish. But to me, pasta is pasta, so I’ll go with whatever is cheapest. Also, most of the time, I’m OK with store brand cheese, but Tillamook is my favorite. So for specific things, I’ll get that.
Another good example is that I consider Dawn dish detergent to be far superior to anything else. But I’m good with the performance of Kirkland dishwasher pods over Cascade and whatnot. It’s good enough.
Bottom line: there’s no one store brand that is equivalent to the national brand across the board. So it depends.
Some things, I don’t notice a difference and so I buy generic (rolled oats). Other things (canned whole tomatoes) are noticeably different tasting. Others (wheat flour) is, I’m not sure, sifted differently? a less regular protein content? In any case, my baked goods come out worse when I use generic.
TL;DR – when you notice a difference, buy the name brand