Store-brand Vs. name-brand: Where is your loyalty?
Store-brand or name-brand? (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Look at the products in your pantry and refrigerator. Are they store-brand or name-brand labels?
Store-brand products began filling our shelves as many of us cut down on grocery bills. And we found that in many cases Kroger’s canned tomatoes weren’t much different than Hunt’s.
Fast forward a few years and it seems that Americans have grown fond of store-brand products. The Wall Street Journal had this story yesterday about how many shoppers are now loyal to store-brands, even when they cost more than name-brand products.
The article also states that the prices of store-brand products is overall still less than name-brands, but the cost of store-brand products is rising more quickly.
Do you shop based on price or brand name? Are there some products that you refuse to buy generic? Which store-brand products do you particularly like?
February 1, 2012 - 9:00 AM
I definitely stick to name brands for plastic wrap and zip-close plastic bags. I’ve tried off brand for both of those and it’s not worth the cheaper price. WalMart’s zip-close plastic bags used to be a good substitute but the quality has gone down over the last couple of years.
We buy a lot of the generic items from Kroger…cheese, canned tomatoes, sour cream, tortilla chips, dip, frozen veggies, fresh veggies, spices, and some other things. A lot of stuff we have to buy name-brand only though, because of our food allergy issues and we know they’re ok for us. But, we will buy generics when we know we can have them, because for the items we buy, there’s no discernible difference in the products we use.
Depends on the product. I’ve generally been open to store brands for years, but as I get older I find myself willing to pay more for certain higher-quality products. The things that I’m personally pickiest about include garbage bags, bread & rolls, ice cream, and pet foods.
As kids, my sister and I used to be so embarrassed by the fact that our mother stocked our house with mostly Kroger brand items… As an adult, I take no shame in buying store brand(as long as it’s cheaper). The only thing I refuse to buy store brand is shampoo. You just can’t duplicate Head and Shoulders…
@RP: Garbage bags are also on my list of name-brand only purchases. So are batteries.
With the reduction of my own circumstances over the past couple of years, I started substituting a lot of Kroger brands. And I’ve found that I like them as much or, in some cases, more than the national brands. The only real brands I can not bring myself to give up are my beloved Coke Zero, Wheaties, and Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce. And, even as my situation has improved a bit, I find that the money I save on store brands can go towards the occasional little delicacy from Fresh Market.
I refuse to buy store brand toilet paper or paper towels. I have had a bad experience with every store brand I’ve tried. I do use a lot of other store brad items though, including cheese, pasta, and veggies. I’m always looking to save money.
I shop by price – if Kroger’s storebrand is cheaper, I will definitely try it. If it doesn’t measure up to what I want, I just won’t buy it again. Usually Kroger’s store brand is just as good.
I use store brands most of the time…but reynolds wrap, hellman’s mayo, and heinz ketchup are a must!
It depends on the product, there are certain items that don’t do or taste as good as the name brand. I do buy a lot of up and up products from Target. Very rarely will I buy Kroger brand items, the only time I really buy Kroger is when I do not have a choice, they seem to only stock their product on certain items, which is okay but I’d like to have a choice.
Is there a way to tell if a store brand is made by the name brand? I know that McCormick spices are sold under different names.
Like Jamie, I grew up with nothing but store brands around (and not only “Kroger” brand, but their lower-than-low-end “Cost Cutter” brand), so a lot of my loyalty to name brands comes from that. However, it’s undeniable that a lot of name-brand items are simply superior in quality to the store-brand equivalents. I used to try Kroger’s Big K sodas once in a while because they’d have an interesting twist on a popular flavor, but for the most part I stick with the name brands.
My wife grew up being able to get whatever name brand she wanted, so she has no problem going for the Walmart brand now. In a lot of different areas (especially grocery items like sandwich bags, etc.) the Walmart brand measures up quite well to the brand name. Still, my first instinct is to go with the brand name.
@David: That’s a good question. I don’t know of anything on the label that would tell you, but a Google search can tell you which companies manufacture certain brands. For instance, I searched for McCormick and came up with a list of brand-names the company sells under (Schillings, Old Bay Seasonings, ect.).
@Amanda
I don’t think there’s a one-stop source of what store branded items are made on which production lines, I do think that the name-brand companies only produce their items on their own lines, otherwise they would be undercutting their own sales if they made store-brand items on their production line.
There are a lot of contract factories out there that make products for the big names and the stores too, I’ve seen the production line that makes Big K soda, some dollar brands and the old ‘Rocky Top’ line, all of them are made in the same factory, the manufacturer just swaps out cans and the syrups when they change brands.
I’ve heard too that some potato chip brands are made at contract plants, the best potatoes are used for the name brands while some store brands get the second best potatoes or the broken chips from the brand-name batch, this rolls down the line to where the cheapest brands get the lowest-quality potatoes or the small screenings from the bigger batches (which explains why some dollar store varieties are broken bits that are overcooked)
Also worth noting, store brands have been ‘dressed up’ and improved over the years. Back when I was a kid, my parents bought a lot of generic products, but most of the generic products at the store where we shopped used plain white labels with black writing — for instance a bag of potato chips simply had a solid white label with block lettering that said “Potato Chips 16 oz”. That produced even more of a stigma at the time
Many times it is just the packaging, and of course the advertising, that costs less, so it is a huge savings buying store-brand (which is almsot always the same or similar product).
Reynolds wrap doesn’t have a comparable in a no-name or generic, nor do kitchen trash bags.
Oh Fritos – there is only one, no other brand compares. Some salad dressings as well, like Newman’s own etc, there is no comparable to those.
It’s not about “brand loyalty”,it’s about how much this crap costs.
I’ve found the Kroger and Great Value plastic wrap & foil, storage & freezer bags, and trash bags to be of comparable quality to the name brand types we would have used. But then again, my wife and I never did buy the really expensive things, so we don’t see much of a need for some of the products out there.
We will not, however, skimp on the cat food or litter. We buy name-brand only for those items, because we do notice a major difference in the ingredients and quality of the products…not to mention our cats give us plenty of indication that those products are not as good as the name brands…don’t ask.
I’m pretty sure some name brand plants make store brands also. I seem to remember when ConAgra had the Peter Pan fiasco several years ago certain lots of WalMart’s Great Value brand got pulled at the same time.
When it comes to store brands I don’t mind having most things. However, I refuse to let my wife get the Cost Cutter/Kroger Value brand and I won’t eat Kroger’s Toaster Treats because they don’t come close to Pop Tarts. Also I prefer LeSeur peas over any store brand peas, although I will eat store brand peas if that’s what we have.
On my vet’s advice, I always buy name brand on dog food. Also, on my family’s advice: soda, frozen veggies, spaghetti sauce. I stepped down from Del Monte – to Stokley’s – to Kroger canned vegetables, but there does get to be a noticable difference in the amount of stems, etc. as you step down in price. I’ve gone back up and turned to frozen veggies also.
For us, it depends on the item. I will usually be willing to try the generic brand, but if it is not good, I will go back to the name brand. Case in point: Kroger “Hershey’s syrup” vs. Hershey’s syrup. I ended up throwing almost a whole bottle of the Kroger syrup away because it was so awful. Heinz ketchup, Duke’s mayo, Tidy Cats litter and Cling wrap are few others off the top of my head that I won’t buy generic. But canned tomatoes, olives, cream-of-XX soups, etc. are some that I buy based on price. I have also discovered that paying more for certain products ensures a higher quality or more natural product. I recently switched to Daisy sour cream because it is just that (essentially) – sour cream. The Kroger sour cream has all sorts of unnecessary items in it.
In general, I get Kroger-brand staples and brand-name specialty items, but that’s more of a tendency than a hard and fast rule.
“It’s not about “brand loyalty”,it’s about how much this crap costs.”
Amen, brother. Rising food prices are corporate greed, plain and simple. Pork bellies are traded on the futures market just like a barrel of oil.
Kroger brand canned fruit is not worth a plug nickel! The pears and peaces are tasteless and hard. Scott toilet tissue only, Tide the original only, but like Kroger Mayo unless there is a good sale on Hellman’s. Enjoy Kroger brand dairy products and cultured products but prefer better brands of ice cream. Kroger frozen veggies that I buy are good, but generally purchase brand names for frozen dinners etc.
I mentioned McCormicks spices in an earlier post. Their “house” brand is Encore. McCormick’s is sold in the stores like Kroger. Encore is sold in the dollar stores and sometimes others, like Walgreens. Each competes with other brands in same stores, but does not compete against itself. I’m sure there are other products that do the same.
When it comes to food, I rarely buy an off-brand. I have tried most of them in the past and could tell a difference, especially with canned beans. I also never buy off brand cat food or litter, as John pointed out, it’s definitely not worth it! I will buy Equate brand on some items like mouthwash, contact solution, and pain reliever products, but never on toilet paper or trash bags. If the store doesn’t have the kind I want, I go somewhere else. However, I’m also not feeding or taking care of a big family either.
We buy what is cheapest. It is usually store brand unless we have coupons. The only exceptions to the rule are for toilet paper, tissues, diapers, cat food/litter (same boat at Other John), and a few personal care items.
When my son was in diapers, I loved the Up & Up diapers and wipes from Target. We still use their flushable toddler wipes as the quality is terrific and so is the price compared to the Pampers brand. We also use Up & Up body lotion and baby lotion, cotton swabs, bleach cleaning spray, and storage bags.
Just FYI – EL Grande Rodeo is opening in Christiansburg at the old Famous Anthony’s – they have a sign on the building saying “Opening Soon”
@Matt: Thanks!
Smiling at the sundry comments shared…
Competition! Buy “Encore” or buy “McCormicks” as shared by david. Either way the corporate entity has made a sale as their product has been purchased, instead of XYZ brand.
For the most part, major manufacturers make the “house” brands. But…
To the specifications set by the ‘house’. Cheaper ingredients, poorer packaging, lesser quality, etc.
Buy what you like, or can tolerate. We all have our preferences as so well stated in the various posts above.
We buy name brand dog food but do buy some store brand products depending on what it is\price. Reminds me of what someone told me about working in a diary plant somewhere else in the state. they would be running 1 gallon milk on the fill line and would only change the roll of labels from the name brand to whatever store brand was ordered. Same milk, same bottle. This was several years ago. Don’t know if this goes on everywhere, but we buy store brand milk, can’t tell the difference.
Also FYI to Amanda, I noticed yesterday that the old Texas Steakhouse on Electric Road is being remodeled, no sign out though.
@SloEddie: Thanks. There is a variety of things happening with that building. You’ve seen here that Play it Again Sports is going in the plaza, as is MedExpress Urgent Care. I’ve also seen from building permits that the landlord is doing some work to ready spaces for potential tenants.
Years ago my mom bought Kroger Cost Cutter toilet paper just to see how it was. The first time my daughter who was 4 or 5 at the time, used it she yelled very loudly, who bought this toilet paper!! My mom never bought it again.
I do buy mostly name breand stuff, especially paper products, but will try other Kroger products. Like someone stated earlier, if I don’t like it, don’t bouy it again.
I used to always buy store brand, but have become more conscious of all the chemicals and modified ingredients in our food, so if the name brand has purer ingredients I will chose that even if it costs more…I believe it will save on health care/quality of life in the long run! I agree with previous poster about the Daisy sour cream! Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on the Kroger brand? Too many chemical extras! Yogurt is another one to watch out for.
Kroger Private Selection “Salted Caramel with Chocolate Truffles” Ice Cream beats name brands, hands down!
Try it!
It is unbelievable!!
+1 on the salted truffle ice cream. It’s all my family asks for now.
I generally buy name brands for no particular reason, but the only times I’ve been really unhappy with off brands is with cleaning supplies and (of all things) razors. Low priced laundry and dishwasher detergent just doesn’t do the trick for me.