'Proper' brands v Supermarket versions

I live near Aldi so I am increasingly trying their brands. Washing and washing up liquids are good. They are also selling more well known brands now, including Heinz baked beans, but Ihaven’t yet seen the sugar-free type there.

NotSpaghetti

I think tinned tomatoes are extremely varied brand to brand (and unbranded).
I do buy lots of different ones but know which I actually like best...
Mutti ? - only for occasional use now though! £££

Tomatoes are one I get tied up with as well. When I lived near a Waitrose I bought everything own brand [Waitrose brainwashing}? Now I have to use Sainsbury's. their tinned tomatoes do not give the same taste to dishes even adding a little bit of sugar. I give in and buy Mutti or Cireao whichever is the cheapest.
The toilet roll has gone back to Andrex as we were getting through at least three times as many and can't buy quilted as it blocks our drains. I also buy Nescafe coffee.
I never buy Eco products, though Sainsbury's did give me Method granite cleaner when they did not have their own and it does give a lovely polish or is that me hoping it does?
Aldi has a lot of products with the Good housekeeping logo and I buy them.

Tesco,
dish tabs, baked beans, washing liquid & softener, tinned custard, long-life milk, toilet rolls, tinned toms, kidney beans, in fact any pulses, mayo. I don't work for them!

I really like clover butter, anyone know of a similar one?

I’m always happy to try own brands, especially at Lidl. If we like them or they work it’s a saving. If we don’t it would be a bigger waste of money to buy them.

I much prefer Birds eye frozen peas, Nescafé gold blend, fairy washing up liquid and lurpack butter. But will try anything else,and have been doing over the last few weeks. M &S tuna, soup and biscuits are nearly half the price of the big brands and very good.

I insist on Fairy liquid and Yorkshire tea, but most other things are whatever’s cheaper, be it own label or not.

Most supermarket own label items are fine. However, I’m not giving up my Taylor’s coffee, I’ve tried lots of different supermarket brands and none of them compared. The other thing I can’t substitute is the dog’s Forthglade, as there doesn’t seem to be a supermarket version which compares nutritionally.

I always buy Asda’s Smartprice pasta (penne) and their ditto packs of very small prawns, which defrost in no time and go well with a multi-veg stir-fry.

Their baked beans are fine, but I’ve generally stopped buying their own tinned tomatoes - branded ones have rather more tomatoes and rather less juice.

I think that proper Weetabix is very different from own brands but otherwise I am happy with own brands..oh except for marmalade as well. Own brands seem to be fairly tasteless in my opinion.

Aldi and Lidl own brands are excellent.
I just had a quick look in the kitchen and we have proper Marmite (bought from Lidl) and some Things tea bags (pinched from a hotel). These are the only brands in the house.

Cabbie21

My son is MD of a company which produces food for various supermarkets. In most instances, only the label changes. The food is the same.

We know there are a limited number of food production companies who make for various outlets. I was under the impression, from a son who worked for one of the big 4 a few years ago, that they often had their own recipe variations produced by the food producers. If you compare ingredient lists and nutritional tables on them there are differences. If the own brands are exactly the same as the branded, why do some people say they're even better than the branded?
That said I do use some own brands, another fan of Aldi washing up liquid. Own brand toilet paper was in use until a drop in quality so it's back, reluctantly, to Andrex. I've never found a difference between branded and unbranded pasta.

I think tinned tomatoes are extremely varied brand to brand (and unbranded).
I do buy lots of different ones but know which I actually like best...
Mutti ? - only for occasional use now though! £££

My son is MD of a company which produces food for various supermarkets. In most instances, only the label changes. The food is the same.

I do prefer Fairy Liquid as nothing else seems to equal it. Only buy it in Home Bargains or other shops, though, not the supermarket.

Aldi dishwasher tablets came out top in a recent survey I read and they do us fine.

Agree with M&S baked beans, they’re excellent, and their tinned toms and tuna. Their own cereals such as cornflakes, ‘Weetabix’ and bran flakes are good, too.

Aldi can be good but ime is very hit and miss. I wasn’t impressed by a tin of tomatoes that contained just one tomato floating in watery juice. On the other hand, my dd did a shop for a week for a family of four for £77 yesterday, which is good going.

The Lidl washing up liquid, Platinum is better than Fairy but frustratingly has been off the shelves for months. Their Formil liquid laundry detergent is superb.

I try all own brands of anything I use/eat and eject or adopt as a direct result of the sampling. I've also recently tried Asda's yellow labels. Some brilliant, some not so. Admittedly I don't read too many ingredients labels until after I've thought positive. That way I'm not prejudiced in advance.

I use a lot of own brands. Sometimes they are good, sometimes not so I try again with a different one. Have done this all my life.
Own brands are also going up in price though.

I am using Tesco own brand washing up liquid, the original not the lemon. I always look at the reviews when I'm doing my online shop and there were loads saying it was as good as Fairy liquid and I have to agree. I use lots of other own brands and find them pretty good too.

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.

I've been using Asda's own brands of some things for years-

soap powder
toilet rolls
washing-up liquid & dishwasher tablets
cream cleaner, cleaning wipes
shower gel
baked beans, tinned tomatoes, tinned tuna, tinned custard, jam, all frozen veg
coffee, lemonade, cordials

I prefer Tescos own brand of cocoa (not drinking chocolate) to Bournville Cocoa.

It is a whole £1 cheaper, but after years of refusing to even contemplate trying a supermarket version, I honestly like it much better.

Our only specific own brand products are tea bags, coffee and shampoo/conditioner. Other than that, I’ll try anything, even some of the value ranges, like tinned tomatoes, soft cheese for cheesecake and Greek yoghurt, to name a few, are fine.
I agree with the M&S baked beans Zoejury and I’ll try their tuna, thanks.

Known brands should not be confused with the best brands, they are just brands belonging to companies with a bigger advertising budget, thus meaning more people buy them.

When something is advertised ‘as good as the leading brand’ it is often the leading brand in different packaging.

Own brand for me, too.
Apart from a couple of things.

My first option offot everything is the own brand. A few items, cannot think of anything specific, are poor substitutes, but generally i cannot see, taste or smell any difference.