To save money, I’ve been trying generics lately. For my three favorites, here’s what I’ve discovered:
Cheerios - generic is not good. This is the worst of the three I’ve tried. Tastes highly processed and not very oaty. Cardboardish.
Corn flakes - generic is significantly worse than Kelloggs, but it’s edible. Just less malt and corn flavor, but otherwise okay.
Life - surprisingly, because I assumed this was the most complicated of the three, the generic is almost as good as the brand name. A small enough difference that I pick it up when I see it (since it’s nearly half the price). The drawback is that it’s more rare than the other two - only a few stores nearby even have a generic Life.
I know there may be some variation depending on the store for generics, but I think it’s pretty small (at least for the stores I’ve been to). How do other generics match up against the brand names?
Surely this depends on just which generic you’re getting. Aldi has a generic Life (called Balance), and it’s acceptable, but the difference is definitely noticeable. So I usually get name-brand Life instead (when I go to a store other than Aldi, which isn’t often), because around here, even name-brand Life is usually close in price to the generic cereals.
I agree that the Aldi brand Cheerios is inferior to the real thing, but I find it acceptable. At least the Honey Nut: I’ve never liked plain Cheerios at all. And there’s, sadly, no generic for the Oat Clusters Cheerios, which is really good.
The only other cereals I eat on a regular basis are raisin bran (preferably the kind with crunchy granola), honey flakes with nut clusters, and frosted shredded wheat. For all of those, I can’t tell the difference.
I’ve recently been told I need to get more iron in my diet and started looking at breakfast cereals as a no-effort way to do that. It turns out that, at least with adult-oriented cereals, there can be a huge difference between name brands, which tend to be fortified with all sorts of good things, and generics, which really are mainly just preformed flakes of grain.
Pro Tip: any kind of oatmeal is likely to have little or no iron. OTOH even generic bran flakes will perk your blood right up.
I love Cinnamon Life. The last time I bought it I tried the Great Value version. I think it’s very comparable. I don’t notice a difference. The same for Special K Red Berries, the Great Value version tastes the same to me.
Lately for my cereal urges I’ve been buying Mateys, which until googling just now I assumed were generic but apparently are a name brand, although a no-frills one. I get it for $1.00 per 15.6 oz bag at my local discount food store.
I usually buy store brand breakfast cereals (cheerios, wheat or bran flakes) unless there is no store brand equivalent of a brand name. Unfortunately a few of my favorites disappeared during covid. There was a store brand meusli similar to Post Great Grains, and a “nutty nuggets” generic Grape-Nuts, both went away and never came back.
Store brand Oat Squares are just as good as Quaker, at about half the price. But I haven’t seen them for about a month and hope they aren’t also gone for good.
I have the Aldi Crispy Rice at my place. I haven’t had the Kellog’s kind in a while, but the Aldi kind is still good, and it even snaps, crackles, and pops when you put it in milk!!
SE Groceries (Winn Dixie/Harvey’s in the southern US) has a fantastic house-brand crunchy granola Raisin Bran.
Aldi bought SE Groceries last year, and most of our local Winn Dixie stores have closed and are being converted to Aldis. Aldi entered this market with a small number of stores in 2023, so we know what we’re getting. I hope they keep some of SE Groceries’ better generic products, even if Aldi ends up rebranding them.
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MaltoMeal’s Marshmallow Mateys were mentioned above. My kids lived on these when they were younger (now college age). They remind me a lot of early 1980s Lucky Charms, before the proliferation of special marshmallows.
Generic Rice Krispies are generally pretty good to my experience. I’d try any store brand these days and expect a decent product.
Kid went to St. Olaf College, which is one of four things in Northfield, MN… one of the others is The Massive Malt-O-Meal Factory. The college cafeteria has a wall of cereal dispensers, where I first tasted Marshmallow Mateys. (Not as lucky, but still fun!)
What I’ve discovered is that generics will have a slightly more cardboard taste, which I don’t notice on more in-your-face sweet flavors. But with a cereal that’s “almost the flavor of the box” like Cheerios or Grape-Nuts, the generics are full-on Box Flavor.
I’ve been confining myself to whole wheat, low sugar/low fat cereals, but luckily Mini-Wheats are the best for that. And Kroger’s (MetroMarket, Pick&Save) has a great generic (often $2/box)!
Yeah, this. I assume the OP is talking about store brands, since I haven’t seen many true generics in a long time.
For the most part, the store brands I’ve tried have been acceptable alternatives. Either I can’t tell the difference, or they’re noticeably different in a way that’s close enough to “alternative brand” as opposed to “cheap knockoff.” But then again, nowadays it’s hard to find groceries, even store brands, that are truly cheap.
What about the stuff they have at the organic supermarket, with names like Cheetah Chomps? I never gave it any thought before, but I figure they are branded and not generic? They do have muesli and loads of other cereals (and dried fruit, fresh fruit, whatever you want) for sale by weight, though.
Not sure about cereals (lactose-tolerance issues, so I don’t eat them anymore), but I know that Costco’s Kirkland products are often made by real brands, but labeled Kirkland. I would guess Publix and the larger grocery stores have the same kind of deal going. Easier than making their own.
When I worked for Quaker Oats in the late '90s, we had introduced a line of “bagged” breakfast cereals (i.e., in a plastic bag, no outer cardboard box), to compete against Malt-o-Meal’s line – both ours and theirs were positioned as being “value” options to the more-expensive brands, but still being a national brand name, rather than a store brand.
One of the Quaker flavors - Sweet Crunch - was, in fact, exactly the same product as our old Quisp cereal.
Not too long after Pepsico bought Quaker in 2001, they decided to get out of the bagged/value cereal business, and I believe they sold the line off to Malt-o-Meal.
You found something like Great Grains? I’m jealous! Every generic cereal that I’ve tried that purports to be a Great Grains alternative is just a mix of different flake cereals and the pecans, raisins and date pieces. Not even close.
We often drive through Northfield on our way home. I make everyone roll down their windows as we drive past the Malt-O-Meal factory. It smells so good, but I don’t know if I’d want to live across the street from it.
Not if there’s a Kellogg’s lawyer anywhere around (and I understand that as of 2023 they are stationed in close to 70% of American breakfast rooms). In that case your Aldi Crispy Rice better Clap, Sizzle, and Pow* or some other such nonsense.
*and let’s face it-- “Clap” for “Snap” is cutting it pretty close.
That doesn’t necessarily mean they are made to the same specifications of the Name Brands versions*. It’s possible the preparation of the “off-brands” uses cheaper or slightly modified ingredients, or there’s some other corner-cutting being done.
