Great 'disguised Own Brand' Hunt.

terra_ferma

I've been eating Waitrose jam for many years, so I can recognised it straight away...
Today I was at Asda and I decided to look at the jam because I've nearly run out and as soon as I saw the jar I knew it was the same jam. Identical jar, same flavours and identical colour/appearance. Bought a couple and tasted one as soon as I came home, and it's exactly the same.
Looked it up online, the ingredients are the same, but slightly different proportions (Asda's has more fruit in it). 65p v. 90p is not going to make a huge difference, just one more examples that you don't always get what you pay for (in the case of budget supermarkets you often get more!).

patman99

I spent a few shifts working in Wilkin & Sons jam factory and can tell you that at least in preserves and condements, the products will be identical regardless of the label.

This is because when the product is made, it is made for stock and not for a specific customer. The product is bottled into unlabelled jars (or bottles in the case of sauce) and palletised into a holding area.

It only receives it's label when an order comes in, so a jar of honey for instance, could end up being labelled as 'Tiptree Jam Co.', 'Harrods' or 'Morrisons'. There will be no variation in ingredients whatsoever as the orders are filled by 'oldest pallet first'.

VfM4meplse

patman99 wrote: »

I spent a few shifts working in Wilkin & Sons jam factory and can tell you that at least in preserves and condements, the products will be identical regardless of the label.

This is because when the product is made, it is made for stock and not for a specific customer. The product is bottled into unlabelled jars (or bottles in the case of sauce) and palletised into a holding area.

It only receives it's label when an order comes in, so a jar of honey for instance, could end up being labelled as 'Tiptree Jam Co.', 'Harrods' or 'Morrisons'. There will be no variation in ingredients whatsoever as the orders are filled by 'oldest pallet first'.

OMG! So all my trips to Tiptree / Essex branches of Waitrose for their "local" produce are a complete waste of time, then? :eek:

terra_ferma

Funnily enough W&S was the jam I used for several years, before a changed to Waitrose's own brand. I don't know if it's them who makes the cheap jam for Waitrose and Asda, but it's definitely not the same jam.
W&S is not worth the money, if I feel like a change I normally go for Waitrose own premium ranges, or occasionally St Dalfour.
I wouldn't be surprised if W&S were the ones making W's extra fruity, (similar recipes just a bit less fruit) but as I've not bought W&S for ages I can't really comment (last time I did I found the quality had gone down, they were far too sweet).

biggunsjocers

I worked for Tesco's about 10 years ago - got issued with blue (and red) checked shirts for the uniform.

Was walking through Debenhams and saw the exact same shirt for sale by Ben Sherman!

VfM4meplse

biggunsjocers wrote: »

I worked for Tesco's about 10 years ago - got issued with blue (and red) checked shirts for the uniform.

Was walking through Debenhams and saw the exact same shirt for sale by Ben Sherman!

Thanks for the midnight laugh!

Air_Cooled_75

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned (too long a thread to wade through ) but as I was rinsing out the milk 'bottle' from Aldi I noticed it said 'Arla' on the bottom. Don't they produce Cravendale? Aldi milk lasts for ages which now makes me wonder...

Doc_N

Air_Cooled_75 wrote: »

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned (too long a thread to wade through ) but as I was rinsing out the milk 'bottle' from Aldi I noticed it said 'Arla' on the bottom. Don't they produce Cravendale? Aldi milk lasts for ages which now makes me wonder...

Arla's a co-operative producing milk for many retailers. Aldi milk certainly isn't Cravendale, and I find it goes off incredibly quickly (probably because of poor storage somewhere in the chain).

Air_Cooled_75

Doc_N wrote: »

Arla's a co-operative producing milk for many retailers. Aldi milk certainly isn't Cravendale, and I find it goes off incredibly quickly (probably because of poor storage somewhere in the chain).

I find the opposite though, I have never had Aldi milk go off quickly, if we haven't used it a 2l bottle will still taste the same 5 days after opening. I was having an issue with Co-op milk that was spoiling after just a day or so.

pambler

I've never had a problem with Aldi milk either. It normally doesn't last long enough in our house to go off, but when my son was away travelling this summer I was using the same 4pint bottle for a week with no issue