'Proper' brands v Supermarket versions

One miserable tomato!
I would have been fuming.
They're one of my favourite foods.

I always think I'm going to complain when I open fruit and veg that is already on it's way out, but i never do.

We buy mostly own brands with a few exceptions such as Felix cat food, Cathedral City cheddar, Shredded Wheat, Marmite, Roses marmalade, Anchor butter. I also buy own brand cheddar for cheese sauces rather than using the Cathedral City. We watch our budget carefully and the own brands taste just as good I think.

It was miserable indeed, MissA - very lonesome all on its tod in that tin, from Italy to Scotland!

I do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi. Mainly their brands. I really like Yorkshire Tea and they usually have it on special offer, they have a very nice French salted butter and a very mature cheddar which is really good.

I get partner discount at Waitrose so I get the fancier stuff there, for instance Mutti tinned tomatoes and tomato puree. I only buy bronze die pasta and when it comes to risotto rice I get really picky and have to buy the one I like on line because the supermarkets don't stock it.

I have to say that Aldi’s spreadable butter is pretty horrible compared to Lurpak. The only similarity is in the name - they both have “pak” on the end! But Aldi do a three fruit marmalade which is extremely good, but it tends only to be available around Christmas time for some strange reason as if they think people don’t eat it the rest of the year!

All my cleaning and laundry items are Sainsburys own brand. Also bin liners, kitchen roll, loo rolls and shower gel. As for food the only branded items I buy are Kelloggs corn flakes, Heinz baked beans and ketchup and Anchor butter. My best “swaps” are coffee pods, tea bags and granola. Sainsburys low sugar granola is excellent and much cheaper than the branded varieties. One of my favourite tv programmes is Eat Well for Less. Well worth watching.

We probably buy 90% or more own brands. I buy branded tea and coffee, chocolate digestive biscuits, baked beans and soup (but mostly make my own).

I think you have to try non branded goods in order to decide whether or not you like them. I worked during the school holidays 50 yrs ago for Tudor crisps and was amazed to discover they produced crisps for M&S as well as other companies on the same production line. I shop at Costco and find their own Kirkland brand products are excellent and very good value for money.

I think we all have our own ideas as to whether to buy brands or supermarkets' own. I found that Aldi premium dog tray meat was the same as a branded sold in Tesco.

they are all produced by the same branded companies just made cheaper

I buy Asda own brand...
Toilet rolls
The new yellow pack tissues are excellent at about 69p.
Shampoo
Washing up liquid
Cheese
Baked beans
Dried pasta
Tinned tomatoes

I find their digestive and rich tea biscuits bland, their chocolate too sweet, breakfast cereal tasteless.

Roses Marmalade in Home Bargains is only £1, paracetamol and ibuprofen are cheaper.

I live on my own now and shop daily. I walk to the shops and only buy what I can fit in my basket/back pack.

I help myself to supermarket leftovers at the food bank and community fridge. I'm told it gets thrown out if not eaten or possibly fed to pigs. There are often ripe bananas and M&S sourdough bread.
A few weeks ago I picked up a huge box of chanterelles from Lithuania

I don't want all the plastic packaging so buy loose fruit and vegetables and I use and also volunteer at our local farm /community store for rice, pasta, oats, lentils etc. and washing up liquid, washing liquid, hand soap etc.from the refillery.
I prefer real soap and it lasts 10 times as long

I shop in Lidl too and like their bargains.
As for own brands: toilet paper, tissues, beans and tomatoes are fine but I was given some co-op tea and it was horrid.

I think I eat well and cheaply.

I buy Lidl's face cream (moisturiser). It's cheap and as good as the vastly more expensive products.

Besides deciding if I like it, I test own brand food on DH. He doesn’t look at the packet, so if he says something tastes different I ask if the difference is better or worse. We’ve changed a lot of things that way. Lidl or Aldi spreadable butter is definitely worse.

Just bought Sainsbury's own milk chocolate to make Krispy cakes with the grandchildren. I could not believe how horrible it was. Well within date and stored correctly.

silverlining48

Always had to watch the pennies so rarely bought brands and happy still buying own brands.
It’s my understanding from an ex employee friend that Heinz and co produce the same beans on the same lines, just with different labels. Even if that’s not true I can’t break the habits of a lifetime. My favourite supermarket is Aldi. Way before it went mainstream.

A friend of mine used to work for Kipling cakes and she said exactly the same…

Like Coolgran65 I buy any-old paracetamol.
There is no way one brand of a straightforward drug can be better than another, I'm certain of that.

I do find myself avoiding one of the packs once I've got them home and have a choice though as one make are nearly impossible to push out of the bubble pack!

Luckily I don't very often need paracetamol.

A few weeks ago I picked up a huge box of chanterelles from Lithuania

That was a long way to go to save a few bob on your shopping Grammaretto !

MissAdventure

One miserable tomato!
I would have been fuming.
They're one of my favourite foods.

I always think I'm going to complain when I open fruit and veg that is already on it's way out, but i never do.

Do you not do online grocery shopping MissA?

That's one of the advantages - on the rare occasion that a couple of eggs are broken or the avocados are mush/rock hard a quick complaint to Ocado gets the price refunded to my bank account.

Morrisons Beefy drink is much nicer than Bovril. Aldi’s Meadowfresh is a pretty good alternative to Clover and can’t tell the difference between their tomato soup and Heinz.

Maw

I told a pal about all these boxes going to waste outside the food bank and she came rushing round to pick up a packet or two.
Her DH was taking a group on a Fungus Foray so she was going to pretend she'd picked them to watch his astonished face.

NotSpaghetti

Like Coolgran65 I buy any-old paracetamol.
There is no way one brand of a straightforward drug can be better than another, I'm certain of that.
You can read the contents and find exactly what you said NS.
The only thing it doesn’t take into account is the impact of the advertising of the branded stuff. A bit like the placebo effect. You think it works better so it appears to do so.

True. The placebo effect is powerful - and obviously the "branded" paracetamol will presumably work as it's not just a sugar pill!

I like Heinz baked beans but nowadays we buy Waitrose Essentials which are just as good. Why waste money propping up named brands?

Actually, for things like paracetamol, it can be the other materials which are different in cheaper brands.

For example, you may find that they start melting as soon as you put them in your mouth, because the coating is thinner, or made of less expensive ingredients.

Some people can find they may irritate their stomach more easily because of that.

Well, that is what I was told when training.