Great 'disguised Own Brand' Hunt.

MSE_Martin
MSE_Martin Posts: 8,272
First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
Money Saving Expert
edited 9 October 2015 at 11:36AM in Gone off!
You walk into the supermarket and see four levels of brands. But are M&S Jaffa cakes really made by McVities? Is there a difference between Tesco and Kellogs Bran Flakes? (see the Downshift Challenge section of the Money Diet for more info on this)

Using MoneySavers Collective Knowledge

I want to use the insider information of all MoneySavers to try and compile a list. Do you work in/or at a factory producing such goods. If you do - what's the difference or are they just the same things in disguise.

This could be both food and electrical or other goods.

What to do

Please put

A. What the main and sub-product are
B. How you know
C. Are there any differences

To submit your info, just click reply

Martin

PS thanks to sumosaver for the idea for this.

A Quick Warning

It's worth remembering there is no way to check the info below, so take it all with a little pinch of salt (own brand?) but still probably worth trying the cheaper one



Martin
If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply!

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Comments

  • rammy007
    rammy007 Posts: 1,050
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    my oher half used to work for mcvities and all the digestives are made by them,tesco,asda,sainsburys,m&s,aldi,lidl happy shopper,its just that m&s specify a different cooking time and are taken from the centre of the batch its the same for snacks
  • mjobson
    mjobson Posts: 11 Forumite
    rammy007 wrote:
    my oher half used to work for mcvities and all the digestives are made by them,tesco,asda,sainsburys,m&s,aldi,lidl happy shopper,its just that m&s specify a different cooking time and are taken from the centre of the batch its the same for snacks

    Does that mean they are of a higher quality because of this?
  • lyniced
    lyniced Posts: 1,880 Forumite
    A family member works for a leading supermarket told me that 'leading' brands have to be put at eye level on the shelf. Apparently the manufactuers pay the supermarkets to do so. Its all to do will psychology. So we have to start bending and stretching to get the same stuff! By the way I often try the economy brands. Some of them are yuk (Tesco's economy tea for example) but some are really ok (Tesco's economy chocolate digestive bars are really nice) so give it a go.
    Me transmitte sursum, caledoni
  • British Bakeries make Marks & Spencers bread. I know this because my other half used to work for them.
    What?
    Where?
    Ahhhh, got it!!
  • Lillibet_2
    Lillibet_2 Posts: 3,364
    Combo Breaker First Post
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    Humm......don't know if this is quite what is wanted but I have a family member who used to work for Tricity-Bendix as a washing machine engineer & he knew for a fact that the internal parts/motors/etc of all Tricity-Bendix products (ovens, washing machines, tumble dryers etc) were made by Zanussi. Zanussi brand appliances retail for almost twice the price of Tricity-Bendix but the only difference was the external housing of the product. Beware, this might have changed as he hasn't worked for them for a couple of years though.
    Post Natal Depression is the worst part of giving birth:p

    In England we have Mothering Sunday & Father Christmas, Mothers day & Santa Clause are American merchandising tricks:mad: Demonstrate pride in your heirtage by getting it right please people!
  • beachbeth
    beachbeth Posts: 3,862
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    On the subject of digestives, Sainsburys milk chocolate digestives are just the best!!! The chocolate is nice and they are just scrummy! I prefer them to McVities so whether its because the chocolate bit is nicer I don't know.
  • Hi,

    My nan works for Burtons Biscuits and apparently it's all down to the ingredients.

    For example the cheaper brands will use cheaper ingredients such as freeze dried eggs and the like, whereas the more expensive brands (M&S included) will use more expensive ingredients (as near to fresh as possible).

    I guess the same sort of guidelines would apply to all food products.
  • Is it me, or is all Corned Beef canned in Brazil and just labelled in the UK? My wife insists on buying Princes branded, when the ASDA own brand has the same stamp on the base of the can!!
  • garyclay
    garyclay Posts: 193 Forumite
    I recently had a repair man to my AEG dishwasher. "I've got the same model at home" he told me "But mine's Zannussi"

    After a little confussion on my part he explained that there are very few individual manufacturers left. The badge is just a front. My AEG is exactly the same as his Zanussi but the external fascia is altered so that they look different so the consumer doesn't realise.

    After a little research I found the following on the web

    "Many appliances are no longer made by the companies shown on the logo. Successful brand name companies go bust or are taken over by bigger companies but they usually keep the "old" name for various tactical marketing reasons. In a way, it shouldn't matter who makes which brand, but a couple of concerns should be considered.

    Firstly, if a customer is very unhappy with a product, or the service provided by a manufacturer, they are likely to avoid purchasing from that company again. They may well end up purchasing virtually the exact same machine with a different logo complete with the same company service engineers as well as the same company ethos.

    Secondly, there are sometimes differences between brands made by the same company - even when the machines are virtually the same. An example of this is with Creda and Hotpoint, both of which are now made by the same company. Hotpoint machines have a free five year parts guarantee but Creda machines don't. There is little difference between the two makes inside, but they are priced differently too. A similar thing occurs with Hoover and Candy who are both owned by Candy. Hoover have a free 5-year parts guarantee, but Candy's don't.

    Eventually, all washing machines are likely to be made by just a handful of companies and in fact we aren't that far off from this scenario already. Note that some brands retain all their original differences but are just owned by a rival company and some are virtually the same machine inside with different logos and trimmings. Here is a sample of some of the household names who are owned or made by the same company.

    Electrolux: own well over 50 brand names (though not all of them washing machines) Among the more well known ones are AEG, Tricity Bendix, Zanussi.

    GDA: manufacture Hotpoint, Creda, Cannon and GE, English Electric,

    Candy: own Hoover, Zerowatt and Kelvinator among others.

    Merloni: own Ariston, Indesit, New World, Philco, and have just bought a large interest in GDA (who make Hotpoint and Creda)."

    So next time I'll be going for the cheap option!!!


    If anybody out there is an appliance repair man, or married to one, do you know which models are the same under the different badges?

    Hope you find this useful.
  • I've just replaced a ceramic fuse inside a Crown microwave oven. All the working parts were marked Toshiba.
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