# Do you buy name brand or store brand ketchup and/or mustard?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** food-cooking
**Created:** [January 5, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729 "2021-01-05T18:27:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/1 "2021-01-05T18:27:42Z")
I’ve always been perfectly happy with store brand (usually Publix or Walmart’s Good Value) and saving a few cents. But a lot of people must buy the Heinz and French’s since they take a lot of shelf space. Do people really taste a difference?
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/2 "2021-01-05T18:31:29Z")
I feel like generic ketchup is, if not a lesser quality, not a taste I’m used to. Mustard is a variable quality, store brands seem to match French’s pretty well and for other non-yellow mustard there are good and mediocre examples in both.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/3 "2021-01-05T18:35:21Z")
I don’t like mustard, but for ketchup, I definitely taste the difference, as do the others in my family. It’s enough of a difference to justify the higher cost of the brand name.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/4 "2021-01-05T18:37:37Z")
We don’t use much of either, so it’s Heinz for ketchup (my Wife is from Pittsburgh, nothing else will do). I like plain ole yellow mustard generally, but we usually have some special stuff around.
I remember the products in the white label with black lettering that where some of the first generics. There was one type of sour dough pretzel that was great. And after… sheese, 30 years, I still miss them.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/5 "2021-01-05T18:53:10Z")
For ketchup/catsup I only buy Heinz (because Hunt’s is for \*\*\*\*\*).
Mustard is a huge category. We usually have 3-5 mustards in the refrigerator and I do not think of any brand-name.
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### Author:  [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/6 "2021-01-05T19:05:42Z")
Ketchup is Heinz, for yellow mustard it varies, I grew up with Plochman’s, but Heinz, Store-brand, whatever is on sale will do.
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### Author:  [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/7 "2021-01-05T19:12:04Z")
Depends a little on the application. I always keep a bottle of Heinz ketchup in the box for the occasional burger or dog that needs it. I tend to make a lot of ketchup based sauces and dips though. When I make my big batches of BBQ sauce, I usually just grab a cheaper brand.
Mustard can be anything and it’s not at all odd for me to have several varieties available.
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### Author:  [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/8 "2021-01-05T19:14:03Z")
Too many mediocre experiences with store brand ketchup to keep buying. Watery, flat flavor. Heinz since that is what my favorite burger places use and so that is how my expectations are set. Hunts would work too I suppose. Mustard, I have at least 4-5 types at a time. Don’t do store brand there either, for the same reason. Hot dog yellow mustard is my least favorite type of mustard.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/9 "2021-01-05T19:15:01Z")
My ketchup doesn’t have to be Heinz. I’ve been perfectly satisfied with Wal-Mart’s Great Value brand. And being from western Pennsylvania, you’d think I’d be some kind of ketchup connoisseur. I love the stuff, I don’t care where it comes from.
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### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/10 "2021-01-05T19:17:28Z")
For ketchup: Heinz all the way. I have tried others and always found them varying degrees of less good.
I have usually bought store brand yellow mustard, but recently we got some that my wife thinks is too sweet (I really can’t taste the difference, but she has a much more nuanced sense of taste than I do), so I think we’re going to be French’s from now on.
Not in the OP, but I’m also a diehard Hellmans/Best Foods mayo buyer. I’ve tried many others and they’re less good.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/11 "2021-01-05T19:19:05Z")
Mustard, some times, but ketchup never. Heinz for me. Many years ago the New Yorker had an article about ketchups. Many people, it seems, have tried to come up with boutique ketchups, but they’ve never been as good as Heinz.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/12 "2021-01-05T20:51:52Z")
Well, our supermarkets don’t reliably have knockoff versions of Grey Poupon or Gulden’s Spicy Brown, or, if they do, it isn’t obvious that that’s what they are. So I’ll most often snag those when we’re running low.
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### Author:  [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/13 "2021-01-05T21:05:11Z")
I’m not a fan of the generic yellow type mustard. I do like a nice stone ground mustard with a hot pretzel or on a ham and cheese sam’mich.
As for ketchup, there is only one - Heinz. I’m a yinzer from Pittsburgh and there absolutely is a difference.
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### Author:  [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/14 "2021-01-05T21:21:33Z")
I don’t use ketchup, but the store brand spicy brown mustard is usually good. I haven’t found that the price varies much between, say, Gulden’s, and the store brand, though.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/15 "2021-01-05T21:22:53Z")
Eh, I’m not too picky about ketchup and ‘plain yellow’ mustard, but mayo _cannot_ be generic. Best Foods only!
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### Author:  [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/16 "2021-01-05T21:52:22Z")
Heinz Ketchup
Hellmans Mayo
Mustard doesn’t matter
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/17 "2021-01-05T22:02:05Z")
The ketchups definitely taste different. I’m one of the rare Hunt’s guys. I like Heinz fine, but Hunt’s is zippier to me: more tomatoey, tangy, and fruity. Heinz tastes a bit more concentrated/cooked down to me, less acidic, which a lot of people like, but I like the zippiness of Hunts. Plus, bonus, it’s often on sale for a buck a bottle.
For yellow mustard, I’m a Plotchman’s guy, though my favorite is Weber’s (from Buffalo) which is a yellow mustard with horseradish in it. I always stock up on a few jars when I travel to the East Coast.
And I’ve become a Duke’s convert when it comes to mayonnaise, now that my local supermarket carries it regularly. I still like Hellman’s (Best Foods) fine but, once again, I prefer the zippiness of Duke’s.
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### Author:  [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/18 "2021-01-05T22:06:34Z")
I have to try me some of this Duke’s Mayo. I have firm standards for Mayo.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/19 "2021-01-05T22:11:39Z")
I buy Plochman’s mustard because it’s good and it’s made near me. Ketchup I rarely buy, but I lean towards Heinz because I think there’s a John Kerry connection somehow, and I saw John Kerry on the Dick Cavett show making mincemeat out of a guy who would later be a “swiftboat” political lie pusher. I hate fucking liars.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-name-brand-or-store-brand-ketchup-and-or-mustard/929729/20 "2021-01-05T22:12:41Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#):
>
> I have to try me some of this Duke’s Mayo. I have firm standards for Mayo.
It’s definitely different than Hellman’s/Best Foods. It’s eggier and has a more acidic kick. And no sugar.
To round out your experimentation, try to find some Kewpie mayo, as well. (That’s a Japanese mayo, also a good bit different than the above two, especially as it has an extra umami kick with the MSG. Sometimes you can find it in regular supermarkets, but often you’ll have to go to a specialty or ethnic supermarket to find it.)
> [@bobot](#):
>
> I lean towards Heinz because I think there’s a John Kerry connection somehow,
I’m not sure if this is facetious, but, yes, his wife is Teresa Heinz.
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