Great 'disguised Own Brand' Hunt.

Senjo

therealslimcj wrote: »

Hi folks

Great thread still going here and one that I've followed for a while.

Is it me or is there a strong undercurrent of people saying things along the lines of 'M&S and Tesco value (eg) biscuits are the same thing made by the same people so smart people buy the tesco value as there's no difference'?

There may well be some things that are pretty much the same but I think it's naive and overly simplistic to see it as black and white as that. I've shopped everywhere from Tescos to Asda, Lidl, M&S, Somerfield etc, (before I researched a bit about all the different stores and realised quite how evil Tesco and Asda were and stopped going) and found there to be a definite difference.

Quite frankly I can't stand the vast majority of the 'value' or 'basics' ranges and their ilk, and don't judge anyone who buys them on a regular basis, but I don't think it's right to say there's no difference between the top- and bottom-end products.

It's part of a tendency by some people to bring out a type of conspiracy theory that my friend trots out when we buy organic food: 'oh how do you KNOW it's organic/free range. You don't. They could just be saying that'. I agree fully with theonlyrick and his sentiments; people who buy organic/free range aren't stupid, as some people might suggest.

There is a snobbery about buying value and basic range goods, but there's also a bizarre reverse bad attitude going on; 'you're stupid to buy M&S Organic chicken when I can buy Tesco Value for a quarter of the price for exactly the same thing'.

Waffle waffle sorry for the length. I'll get off my horse now. It's ever so high up...

I just feel very sorry for everyone who has to buy fresh produce in the supermarkets. I feel very lucky to live in the South-West where I can go to a local farm for my eggs and see the chickens running around and to a butcher who gets all his meat from farms within a 5 mile radius and knows for example how to hang beef so it tastes so much better than what you buy in the supermarkets. Also if you buy mince from a good butcher and fry it, you don't get a load a water coming out which even supposedly best quality supermarket mince does. I buy my fruit & veg in a local greengrocers and it is nearly always cheaper than Tescos, e.g. last week pineapples for 35p! Also by buying there and at the butcher's, it's not all wrapped in unnecessary non-recyclable packaging. I would urge you all to look for similar places to shop near you.

Regarding biscuits etc, they may be made in the same factories as brand names, and sometimes there's no difference but I've tried for example Tesco's economy custard creams and they're rubbish so the ingredients or cooking methods must be compromised by the supermarkets sometimes. But on the other hand I buy plenty of other unbranded products which are OK. Just buy what you like and be open minded - it's studid to just assume you're getting a better product if you pay more.

alanfp

slipperyshoe wrote: »

Thats's right VW own Seat and Skoda among others. The Seat Ibiza, Skoda Fabia and VW Golf have practically identical chassis. As do the Skoda Octavia, Seat Cordoba and VW Passat.

Hope you don't mind me correcting you, but Ibiza & Fabia are based on the POLO (or vie versa, since the new model Fabia now sometimes comes out before the new model Polo)... which led to an interesting quote in a motoring magazine a few yrs ago "The new Polo is basically the same car as the Skoda Fabia, so it should be good" !!!!!

And an Octavia is NOT a Passat (I've lost count of the number of people I've heard of who think it is - you're not alone)- it's a Golf with a boot (or Jetta, as they are now known) . If you want a Czech Passat, you need to buy a Skoda Superb.

.... oh yes, and a Mitsubishi Colt is basically a Smart ForFour (or however it's spelt).

..... and Alfa Romeos are Fiats underneath - just ask anyone who bought one thinking it was a luxury sports car!

alanfp

bluekat wrote: »

..... Plus they don't clog the machine, helping it to last longer, cutting costs on new machines and keeping old ones out of landfill.
Hope this is the sort of thing you're looking for?

Thanks - this is EXACTLY the sort of thing we're looking for on these forums.:beer:

Torkijo

alanfp wrote: »

Hope you don't mind me correcting you, but Ibiza & Fabia are based on the POLO (or vie versa, since the new model Fabia now sometimes comes out before the new model Polo)... which led to an interesting quote in a motoring magazine a few yrs ago "The new Polo is basically the same car as the Skoda Fabia, so it should be good" !!!!!

And an Octavia is NOT a Passat (I've lost count of the number of people I've heard of who think it is - you're not alone)- it's a Golf with a boot (or Jetta, as they are now known) . If you want a Czech Passat, you need to buy a Skoda Superb.

.... oh yes, and a Mitsubishi Colt is basically a Smart ForFour (or however it's spelt).

..... and Alfa Romeos are Fiats underneath - just ask anyone who bought one thinking it was a luxury sports car!

Saab 9-3 = Mazda 6 = Vauxhall Vectra

But anyone know what the Mazda 5 is shared with?

sal_strawberry

L'Oreal also own The Body Shop. Now I am sure the products are very different, Body shop do not test on animal however...L'Oreal do so if you are bothered about that or ethics then this info may be interesting to you.

bernie_inn

Torkijo wrote: »

Saab 9-3 = Mazda 6 = Vauxhall Vectra

But anyone know what the Mazda 5 is shared with?

I thought ford Produced Mazda's. They were also involved with Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin. Some have now been sold off

Saab were owned by GM (vauxhall) but with all the upheaval i'm not sure if they still are.

Audi-VW-Seat- Skoda all owned by VW audi group and use the same engines and chassis as each others coresponding car.


The fiat 500 and the ford KA are made on lines next to each other at a Fiat plant in Italy

doug63

Argos are selling Haier washing machines as Bush, which seems to have become Argos' own brand now. If you zoom in on the images of the washing machines they still bear the Haier logo. Beware, one of the ones sold is an older Haier model. Later versions are sold as Haier at Lasky and Comet (same company incidentally) By the way I have read neagtive reports about Haier washing machines; mine bought in China is still going strong after 3 years and has had nothing go wrong - maybe it's just the ones for the UK market that have faults - a thought. On the Bush front I bought an excellent record turnatable branded as Bush from Currys some time ago, which was being sold as Sony for £20 more.

Also to note Bush fridges and freezers sold at Argos and their value fridge are Haier machines.

rev_henry

sal_strawberry wrote: »

L'Oreal also own The Body Shop. Now I am sure the products are very different, Body shop do not test on animal however...L'Oreal do so if you are bothered about that or ethics then this info may be interesting to you.

Thus making all the body shop's eco/ethical policies a total farce, seeing as how L'oreal have very little in the way of ethical policies. I seem to remember one of the animal rights organisations running a campaign returning body shop loyalty cards in protest when Roddick sold it off.

jonanjack

I worked at Macains and they make chips for all the big supermarkets plus M&S.

Celiamama

davercvi wrote: »

I have worked in the food industry for many many years. Most manufacturers make own brand and branded goods from the same ingredients. The biggest price difference I found:

Flour
Tesco Value Plain, Asda Smart Price Plain etc is EXACTLY the same flour as Allinson Plain Flour. You can't downgrade plain flour. However, you can downgrade self-raising, so never buy the 'value' lines - it really is poor quality stuff.

I work for the Allinson press office, so just wanted to clarify that there is actually no Allinson White Plain Flour on the retail market. Allinson has a range of breadmaking flours as well as wholemeal plain and wholemeal self-raising culinary flours.