Great 'disguised Own Brand' Hunt.

teddyco

You can look on the back of a lot of private label products and they will tell you who made it. If not, compare the factory address or markings on the package to get a better idea of origin.

Also, force yourself to look down or up to encounter alternative if not superior products that are located on the cheaper part of the shelf.

Another point: Shoppers are brainwashed by the BOGOF or 3 for 2 offers! Most folks start to salivate like Pavlov's Dog when they see BOGOF, but check to see that there isn't a value pack nearby with a cheaper price.

I do most of my shopping at Costco because they carry the Kirkland brand which in many cases is manufactured by a leading company. Duracell makes their batteries, Pampers makes their nappies, Paul Mitchell makes their shampoo and conditioner, Proctor & Gamble makes laundry detergent, and Agfa makes their Kirkland film and computer disks. Great value!

In lieu of there being a formal list of manufacturers that make private labels, this is the best I can advise.

sitronman_2

Supermakets own brand single maly whiskies: I've tried both the Sainsburys own Islay malt whisky and the Morrisons own Islay Malt whisky (I like Islay malt whisky!). I'm a fairly regular visitor to Islay, and have so far yet to discover a 'secret' distillery that only distills for supermarkets. Therefore these whiskies have to come from one of the 7 distilleries on the island.

I'm pretty certain the Morrisons whisky was Laphroiaig, and the Sainsbury's either Laphroiaig or a younger Lagavuilin, both for not much more than a bottle of blended whisky or about £5 cheaper than the branded bottles.

Slaithe!

Steve

ukmtymel

Apols if this is a repost, but, recently I have noticed Asda has come out with a caffeine free diet cola. It tastes the same as caffeine free diet coke and is a lot cheaper. It's in a 2 ltr bottle.

Hope this is some help to someone who is like me who is caffeine intolerant

Kernow_Kid

Kernow_Kid wrote:

I work for Roach Foods (now Tulip), and we make a huge percentage of all supermarket bacon. All the Tescos, Morrisons and so on are identical, just different labels. The only different ones are Sainsburys (very high spec), and M&S (even higher).
Low quality stuff such as Tesco Value and Aldi is the really cheap bacon, but the mid range own brands and named products like Tulip are as good as you can get, as they are all the same.
In my humble opinion, Danish is the best bacon by far. British is ok, French is really bad, but buy welfare if you can as this is where the pigs are reared in the best conditions.
Hope this helps, this is my first post. Dith Da to all the Janners out there.
Kernow Kid

Just to update this, most bacon is now the same.
There is very little difference between the M&S/Tesco/Morrisons and Tulip's own brands.
This is due to the raising of standards across the range which means that Tulip and Tescos have higher standards, not M&S lowering.
Aldi and Tesco saver range is still low quality though.:j

Phillip21

I was interested in the posting about the visit to the factory making Tesco o/b plain chocolate. I have been buying it in bulk for some years because I have some for breakfast each day. I buy it because, until recently, it offered 50% cocoa solids at a very reasonable price (around 50p for 200g). The Sainsburys' Basics equivalent did not match this on spec. On my most recent visit to Tesco, I noted that the cocoa solids content had been reduced to around 40% - os I guess they may have changed their supplier. I should be interested to hear of any other good o/b chocolate with a high cocoa solids content, and not too sweet, and any information on manufacture etc.

Phillip

lipidicman

MMnn that Sainsbury plain value chocolate was the worst dark chocolate I have tasted in a long time. I have never had anything that bad from Aldi or Lidl.
Sticking to my STAMP santas bought for 50p in January. I dont care what shape they are and I have a year's supply

pursekeeper

I love Lidl's chocolate, its cheap and nice across the board, even the high cocoa one is cheap, suggest you give it a go.

MarkVarley

George_Bray wrote:

I must admit I do, and I've never noticed a scrap of difference in road holding or anything else, not that I drive as if I was on a race track. Companies love you to be scared into paying over the odds when 'only the best is good enough'. It's illogical. If cheap tyres weren't safe, I doubt if they would be approved for sale.

(first post :j )
I bought a used jaguar a year or so ago and it came with Kumho on the front and goodyear on the back (kumho are much cheaper than goodyear), both part-worn about the same, I used to find the back-end came out more readily than I'd like (RWD) so swapped the tyres around and it gripped far better.

It could be because of wear patterns etc etc etc but that what I found, a few months later i replaced all the tyres with Kumho and found it gripped very very well and cost around half as much for the tyres. Perhaps won't last as long as goodyears, but i'd rather grip better.

racheldawson

the only dishwasher tablets we buy are the 'expensive' Lidl ones (not the basic W5 brand, but the other ones) - these are better than the leading brands, and own brands and the branded tablets.
For all you people in the know - what is the e symbol on the packaging all about - it's on almost everying - fresh and tiined, cold and warm and is a specific shape. Would love to know what that's all about.

DougWeller

All bacon the same? Hardly. I can easily tell the difference.
I can't comment on Danish bacon, the last time I cooked any there was a lot of water though.
The bacon I got from Sainsburys recently (whatever their top own brand is, I can't recall) had no fat or water when cooked, and was delicious -- one was maple cured, the other brown sugar. I only buy British bacon now.