We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

Own brands that are better than known brands

I thought this might be a useful thread as so many well-known brands can be twice the price of supermarket own brands
here are two of my favourites;
Lidl 'Alesto' salted and dry roast peanuts are much nicer than KP ones
Lidl 'Rivercote' sesame crispbread are much nicer than Ryvita

What own brands do you favour?
«1

Comments

  • sarah1972
    sarah1972 Posts: 19,192 Senior Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Homepage Hero Photogenic
    edited 25 October at 5:23PM
    Can honestly say that there isn’t a single own brand that I prefer over branded that I can think of although I tend to not try alternatives out as been disappointed too many times and ended up wasting money 


    I’m a Senior Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Competitions Time, Shopping & Freebies boards, Employment, Jobseeking & Training boards If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • dealyboy
    dealyboy Posts: 1,855 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Sainsbury's peanut butter ... either smooth or crunchy.
  • HillStreetBlues
    HillStreetBlues Posts: 4,563 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Homepage Hero Photogenic
    I only have two branded products in my cupboard, Heinz BBQ sauce & Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce


    Let's Be Careful Out There
  • YoungBlueEyes
    YoungBlueEyes Posts: 4,607 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Photogenic
    Well I was gonna answer "all of them" but I'll not.

    It'd be easier to say which proper brands I do shell out for. Himself won't deviate from Head+Shoulders, nor I Dove shampoo, and I use Fairy wash powder. The cheapo subs for these are just not worth the itching.
    Saddam's bunker was designed by the grandson of the woman who built Hitler's bunker.
  • Any of the alternative beans are great having been a lifer of Heinz Beans….nerve again. Aldi, Lidl’s and Tesco are fabulous.
  • Mnoee
    Mnoee Posts: 876 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Posts Photogenic Homepage Hero
    According to my mogs, Sainsbury’s delicious recipes cat food is better than the name brand equivalents of Blink or Thrive. It's only slightly cheaper and still far more than whiskers etc, but they'll occasionally give me a decent 'Your nectar price' so I can stock up.

    Aside from that, I mostly buy ingredients or brands. Their organic firm tofu is as good as Cauldron, I'll happily use their own brand toastie bread, but I wouldn't say they're necessarily better, just cheaper for an equivalent. 

  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 6,369 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Most of Tesco bread doesn't contain palm oil any more so I have opted for that.

    Icelands own brands for the same reason, they have a policy of no palm oil. Their cooked chicken pieces also have dark meat which means they get to exercise and it's got Omega 3.

    Tesco Pollock which comes in 4's crumbed. Delicious. 
    It's exactly the same fish as the expensive Youngs Gastro ones and the only one of those which is good is Tempura imo. So buying the staple is 1/8 of the price. I've seen the same in Morries and I think Lidl too.

    Olive oil from Lidl - only place round here that does Greek.

    Spent years buying cheapest of all sorts then realised that the good stuff was worth the money. Pasta especially.

    viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on

    The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well


  • FlorayG
    FlorayG Posts: 827 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    twopenny said:


    Spent years buying cheapest of all sorts then realised that the good stuff was worth the money. Pasta especially.
    Oh absolutely -in fact, anything containing wheat the most expensive tends to be worth the money. pasta, bread, biscuits etc.
  • I buy own brand bread as I prefer uncut loaves from the bakery section. 

    In the cupboard right now, I have Sainsbury tinned tomatoes, sains reduced salt and sugar baked beans, sains barbecue sauce, sains orange squash. Almost everything else is branded. 

    Baking stuff, fruit, veg, milk, meat etc is all sains and I do a shop every 4-5 months at Costco which is either Kirkland (their own brand) or branded. 

    Quite surprised really - but I just buy what I know I like. Prefer not to compromise on food if I don’t need to, but also don’t spend a stupid amount on food generally either. 
  • Eldi_Dos
    Eldi_Dos Posts: 1,954 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Well I was gonna answer "all of them" but I'll not.

    It'd be easier to say which proper brands I do shell out for. Himself won't deviate from Head+Shoulders, nor I Dove shampoo, and I use Fairy wash powder. The cheapo subs for these are just not worth the itching.
    Or as it is known in some households, Head and mostly Shoulders.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 346.6K Banking & Borrowing
  • 251.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 451.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 238.8K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 614.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 174.8K Life & Family
  • 252K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.