Great 'disguised Own Brand' Hunt.

full-time-mum

chrisico wrote:

just remembered Nestle own L'oreal and so by extension Lancome.
unilever also own PG tips

I've been told recently that The Body Shop has now been taken over by L'Oreal and therefore, Nestle.
Two companies with totally different moralistic outlooks.

I used to be a home consultant for The Body Shop and was proud to be associated with the image, community trade, non-animal testing, human rights, charitible works etc. If the above is true then I will no longer feel able to buy from TBS.
(Nestle is associated with promoting formula milk in third world countries in contravention of WHO rules)

Anyone out there able to confimr/deny this?

Schamansky

unmissable wrote:

Please challenge me if I am wrong. I have a friend who is a buyer for Tesco, (just like the Dudley Moore character in the adverts). He goes to factories / producers around the world to get a good deal. If he is buying, say , Tuna, he goes to a variety of countries and signs up factories / producers which can meet his criteria for taste / quality. He then gives them a contract. In the shop , the product could well have come from a variety of suppliers, but has passed the Tesco standard for that product. It is quite likely that the same the same producer is supplying another buyer (eg John West) but JW's criteria are a bit different to Tesco. So even though Tesco and John West resource from exactly the same factory/ producer they still may have different quality control targets. Chances are that the supermarkets get good deals by buying the slightly lower standard product from the same factory than the major brand. So, same producer / factory does not mean same product quality. But in the end, if you like it....buy it, if it tastes good..... continue to buy it, if its cheaper......., even better

Very important point you're making here: the same maker does not necessarily mean an identical product.

Only the few insiders involved in the production of no name goods and the buying directors really know whether a brand product is actually identical with its no name counterpart(s). We as outsiders are confined to comparing products and analysing the rare hints given on the products. We can only make more or less educated guesses about the identity of products.

In this light, the criterium for the "maker's brand versus supermarket brand" decision should rather be in how far the difference in price exceeds the perceived difference in quality. As seen here with many examples, these perceived differences in quality are often minuscule or not noticeable at all, whereas the difference in price is very noticeable.

verynewmoneysaver

full-time-mum wrote:

I've been told recently that The Body Shop has now been taken over by L'Oreal and therefore, Nestle.
Two companies with totally different moralistic outlooks.

I used to be a home consultant for The Body Shop and was proud to be associated with the image, community trade, non-animal testing, human rights, charitible works etc. If the above is true then I will no longer feel able to buy from TBS.
(Nestle is associated with promoting formula milk in third world countries in contravention of WHO rules)

Anyone out there able to confimr/deny this?

I have received letter from Naturewatch advising people to boycott the Body Shop because it has been taken over by L'Oreal, and its profits will go to "the biggest cosmetic animal testers in the world". I won't go there again.

JollyNolly

clur84 wrote:

Totally off subject and i appologise, but jolly how can you have £1.49 in your £2 savers club? lol im not being rude just wondering

I'm just saving up to get a £2 in my savings!!;)

Ruggers

cheersthanksbye wrote:

A loaf of Morrisons Best White Bread (available in medium and thick sliced) tastes remarkably like a Warbatons (is that spelt right???) loaf to me, very!

And at 47p a loaf its almost half price!

As far as I was aware (close relatives working at Warburtons head office) they don't make bread for anyone else. There had been discussions with M&S but the quality control restrictions would have rendered it unprofitable.

But then, I get my bread direct from their staff bread shop at 30p a loaf, so not an issue for me...

lipidicman

Schamansky wrote:

Very important point you're making here: the same maker does not necessarily mean an identical product.

Only the few insiders involved in the production of no name goods and the buying directors really know whether a brand product is actually identical with its no name counterpart(s). We as outsiders are confined to comparing products and analysing the rare hints given on the products. We can only make more or less educated guesses about the identity of products.

In this light, the criterium for the "maker's brand versus supermarket brand" decision should rather be in how far the difference in price exceeds the perceived difference in quality. As seen here with many examples, these perceived differences in quality are often minuscule or not noticeable at all, whereas the difference in price is very noticeable.

I could not agree more. And I am a 'fussy git'

This thread has provided very little information to me. But it has made me try more own brands to make my own assessment. I have started with own brand 'bran flakes' and 'shreddies'. I have to say, so far so good. You have to take the risk and try something you might not like, but how bad can it be and the potential savings will mount up.

Schamansky

There we go. No name products are, in general, not cheaper because the ingredients are cheaper or the production process is less costly (although both may well be the case). They are cheaper because makers don't have to get the millions of pounds back from us consumers, the money they have spent in order to make us believe that brand X makes you sexy/good-looking/posh/smart/happy/whatever.

If a consumer is rational enough, he/she will only care for the product and its quality itself. Unaffected by the artificially created halo of associations, emotions, and motivations, one will go for no name products instead of paying for a mostly fictitious additional value (= brand image), in simpler words: forking out extra money for hot air.

northernstar_3

Garden Furniture
My ex worked for a large garden furniture manufacturing company for several years. The ranges they manufacture were identical but were given different names (and prices) dependant on where they were being delivered to - Asda, B&Q, Homebase, independant garden centres etc. They manufactured most of the plastic/resin garden furniture you see about, and also some wooden furniture, so it's worth shopping around.

TBeckett100

custard creams, whatever the brand they all look the same with that swirly pattern!

lapat

i know someone who works for a utility company and there gas and electricity is of the same standard as british gas and powergen just cheaper