Great “Battle of the Brands” Hunt

mike_paterson

spikeywan wrote: »

Mayonnaise - has to be Hellmann's. The own brands don't taste as good, go off quicker, and get rubbery bits in them.

I cannot agree - I have never liked Hellmann's - it has a strange taste unlike real mayonnaise. You cannot beat home made, but I find that the full fat Sainsburys/Tesco's own are very good (make sure they have very low carbohydrate around 1gm/100ml as some have extra sugar and other rubbish added)

Sarahsaver

re. mayonnaise, even premium brands may be made with so called 'wet eggs' i.e. the broken ones which are salvaged from the bottom of the battery cage EUGH :eek:
I dont buy anything just because of the brand I don't think, other that Earth shoes but then they are an almost unique product, so I buy rthem for what they do rather than the name.
Cant stand heinz beans - too sweet.
Any instant coffee can't beat proper ground coffee.
Ecover gave half of us a rash, we r fine with asda smart price laundry liquid.

mike_paterson

I should also mention that it is worth experimenting with mayonnaise - add garlic - or garlic granules/powder for a lovely alioli, or add tomato puree (I recommend the sun-dried tomato puree from Tesco and Sainsbury), black pepper and garlic for a decent prawn cocktail type sauce (also works with whipped cream for a lighter sauce)

tirednewdad

We tried down sizing everything in our normal shopping basket to supermarket brands (not value).
The only exception is meat as i won't buy low quality sausages or faggots

Most things we didn't notice a difference with, but the things we actualy like more were

1) Tesco alteranative to Cocopops. The Sainsbury's one sucked
2) Long life tesco value milk
3) Tesco squash
4) Tesco 'french red table wine box'- very nice but has ashorter shelf life once opened than other boxed wines

5) Tesco beans and sausages- A million times better quality sausages and cheaper than Hienz. (same standard as cocktail sausages)
6) tesco nappies and baby wipes

As for toothpastes- it doesn't matter which one you use, aslong as it contains a good fluoride level, which is comparable to your usual brand. (I am a dentist of 18yrs experience).
The specailist sensitive toothpastes vary and one will work better for one person, while someone else will find a different type more effective.
Don't buy any Whitening/ bleaching kits in chemist or supermarket- although they are cheaper they don't work as well as the stuff you get from your dentist, usually it costs more because of the amount of kits you have to buy.

Oki_Dokie

Do NOT buy Tampax Tampons a complete waste of money as they do not work. Most supermarket own ones are better.

The only branded food I buy is Helmans Mayo for the extra light variety, most other things just buy whats on offer.

kim629602

The information about "wet eggs" is really interesting and something I have never ever considered before.I might even e-mail Hellmans and ask them about it as this is the only type of mayo that my children will have and they do get through a fair few jars.
As for washing powder it has to be ariel for whites and persil for colours.
Fairy liquid is unbeatable but aldi a close second if feeling the pinch.
Have just tried lidl own gin and whiskey and they are excellent,much better than any of the other Supermarket own brands.(Drunk in moderation and sensibly of course!)
:beer:

Sarahsaver wrote: »

re. mayonnaise, even premium brands may be made with so called 'wet eggs' i.e. the broken ones which are salvaged from the bottom of the battery cage EUGH :eek:
I dont buy anything just because of the brand I don't think, other that Earth shoes but then they are an almost unique product, so I buy rthem for what they do rather than the name.
Cant stand heinz beans - too sweet.
Any instant coffee can't beat proper ground coffee.
Ecover gave half of us a rash, we r fine with asda smart price laundry liquid.

muggles

russetred wrote: »

Fairy liquid, unfortunately it really does last the longest and has the best lather.

Try Hederol, if you can find it. It's made by the same company (Proctor and Gamble), it's exactly the same colour, consistency and smell as original green Fairy, and seems to have exactly the same effect, although obviously it's hard to do a completely accurate direct comparison. As far as I can tell it's the same stuff in a differently-branded pot. The catch? I think it's only available in 5L tubs, presumably aimed at the catering market as opposed to domestic consumers, but at about £7.00 for a 5L tub buying bulk makes sense.

Penny1981

i watched something Jamie Oliver did on the TV ages ago and Hellmans Mayo said that from May they would stop using battery hens, so it should be guilt free by now?!

lessonlearned

Here's some of my best buys

Over the counter medicines - I use own brand comfort medicines, paracetamol, ibruprofen, hayfever tablets, indigestion tablets etc. Just check the box for the active ingredients.

Butter I love Lurpak but so expensive. I now buy from Aldi. "Greenfield" is just as good as Lurpak block butter and "Norpak" is the spreadable version. Much cheaper than Lurpak but just as good.

Face Cream - Aldi do some fabulous face creams etc. Siana anti-wrinkle day cream contains Co-enzyme Q10, the night cream contains Retinol and Q10. Absolute bargains at £1-89 and just as good as Olay, or various Boots ranges such as Protect or Time Delay. (I have sensitive skin and have been fine with them).

Other Aldi toiletries I've tried and liked are Protane shampoo and conditioner (as good as Pantene) and their deoderants. All at least half the price of other super market brands and so much cheaper than the likes of Dove etc.

I also make a lot of toiletries and cleaning products myself, using kitchen ingredients and essential oils. It's very easy and works out much cheaper than buying proprietry brands. There are some great threads on this in the health and beauty section.

Breakfast Cereals/Biscuits etc. - Aldi cereals are really good and about half price of the brands, especially muesli. OH says only Weetabix tastes right though. Both Aldi and Lidle stock lovely biscuits, much cheaper than McVities and Foxes etc, especially the luxury chocolatey ranges. Mmmmmm chocolate.

Tea & Coffee - These are my two little luxuries that I'm very loth to compromise on so I try to source my favourites as cheaply as possible. I drink filter coffee and buy a 1.362 kg tin of "Kirkland" from Costco, cost £5 and is really good. PG tips in bulk also from Costco, about £8 ish for 6 packs of 160.

Toilet Rolls - Fussy about these too!! Again Costco's own - as good as Andrex. Huge packs for about £15 and they often do a BOGOF. Only trouble is storing them - I end up putting some in the loft, but well worth it - saves a small fortune. One pack plus bogof last about a year.

Meat I never buy cheap meat such as supermarket value sausages, chicken or mince. After the CJD, BSE etc I am now very conscious of what I feed my family. I look out for good quality meat/fish etc and stock up on offers, or buy near sell by dates. We eat less meat and make it go further by filing up with vegetables/potatoes/pasta/rice etc. We also have a couple of veggie meals a week for health/economy reasons.

Just for interest Costco membership cost me and OH £23 per year and we save the membership fee over and over again. (No, I don't work for them and am not on commission - I'm just a convert).

My next step is to try our local Asian supermarkets as recommended by many of the OS posters.

Can't think of any thing else at moment.

recovering_spendaholic

I am not usually fussed on brands but there are some things that I only buy the one brand of:

Branston Beans
Andrex
Always towels
Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Cornflakes
Bold liquitabs
Longley Farm Cottage Cheese (by FAR the nicest cottage cheese in the entire world!)
Light Philadelphia
Hellmann's extra light mayo

I try and get these on BOGOF and stock up - except for the Andrex and Bold as I have never seen either on BOGOF anywhere.