Great "Best Generic Products" Hunt

hollymcr

Beware "own brand XXX is made on the same production line as YYY" comments - often this is true but remember that a production line is just an industrial mixing bowl, and what goes in at one end is usually far more important. I did some work for a major food brand and a lot of own brand chocolate mousse products went down the same line as big brand versions, but the quality of the chocolate and other ingredients used between the two differed vastly.

Of-course if they taste the same and you like the cheap one go with it (I certainly do!), just don't make false assumptions.

Personally I prefer a lot of own brand products; Sainsbury's cheap caramel wafers are almost as nice as Tunnocks but much cheaper, and I prefer Asda Smart Price Jaffa Cakes to the real thing - the real ones are just too nice and I eat too many in one go and make myself sick :-)

leisureman

:T I have been a member of Costco for about 1 year. I have definatly saved money by shopping here, particularly on meat. Also, it is of very high quality. Anyone can join; give it a try.

crazy_horse_uk

Lidl's version of Jaffa Cakes are far superior - better chocolate, better filling, very orangey. Also their 'Happy Mix' ice creams contains Magnums, mini-Twisters and Cornettos at a fraction of the price.

chuk

kathyb1230

I know it's not an own-brand, but I think the good old Stardrops deserves a mention here. It's so much cheaper than other cleaning products, and it can be just for just about anything, so no need to buy an entire range of stuff (bathroom, kitchen, windows etc etc etc)

Kernow_Kid

I've posted this before, but I'll put it out again.

Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury, Iceland, Tulip. All these are now using almost identical bacon.
The quality is so similar, and often they are using the same product.
This is due to the lower brands using better bacon, not Tescos and Sainsbury using lower quality.

A lot of the smaller supermarkets (Netto, etc), are also catching up quick!
:T

ZaZa_3

Tesco Ibuprofen is just as good as Nurofen (IMO) and costs about 30p for 12 tablets compared to about £2 for the branded products. Boots own-brand is good and similarly priced too.

Tesco own brand 'value' butter is better than Anchor (less greasy) and is about 60p rather than 80p+ per 250g pack.

Rough prices from memory as I don't have access to current prices at Tescos/Boots to hand!

Sunspots

I think that Tesco own brand of jaffa cakes are much nicer than the McVities ones - the orangey bit is more tangy and has more flavour.

alibobs20

I love Belsen's Choco Liebniz biscuits (9 in a packet). They cost £1.25 at Tesco's. Lidl's do their own brand of these biscuits which are better than the Belsen ones and about 60p so 50% saving.

Lidl's tinned tomatoes and other tinned goods are a fraction of the price of branded goods and you should definitely stock up.

mapcr77

Tesco washing up liquid 13p, bargain and lasts forever! Also toilet paper is great and recycled, so you do your bit for the planet too. I've actually tried loads of stuff from the value range and they do the job, no need to pay more really. I've used food wrap, foil, kitchen cream cleaner, toilet cleaner, and cat litter (which i've also used as slug stopper -basically the same stuff- and works very well!)

superhoop

hollymcr wrote: »

Beware "own brand XXX is made on the same production line as YYY" comments

Absolutely true hollymcr, well done for making the point.

Retailers are always changing the formulation of their own brands, and the focus is usually on saving money so that they can lower prices, increase margin or both.

In fact product formulation is vital in the way retailers present their ranges. For example, when I worked at Safeway HQ, the cake buyer would insist his Cherry Genoa cake had 10% more cherries in its than the Tesco equivalent, and argued that it should be 10% more expensive as a consequence. This was controversial because would the customer notice a difference? Safeway was always seen as expensive and it was arguments like this that did the retailer no favours.

In truth, all of the buyers know each other's product formulations. and in some cases use the same suppliers, sometimes this is the branded supplier. It all depends on how the retailer views that product and that 'category'. If it's a category in growth, like fresh ready meals, retailers will spend a lot of time and energy making their product special. For a product category in decline, they might not even bother producing own label. For example, ever wondered why you don't see much own label in canned meat, e.g. corned beef? There's no money in it, the brands there are strong enough already so it's a waste of the retailers' time to produce "me too"s.

By the way, I'll happily give a shout for Asda Shades toilet roll. I know for a fact they use a special way of 'fluffing' the fibres using hot air that other brands don't use. Much better than Andrex IMHO!