I’ve never really eaten breakfast cereal or got the hype, but in the past few years I will get something like rice krispies or chex just to have something on hand that I can eat fast and digest easily. I have found generic rice krispies at every grocery store to taste exactly the same and I’ve found like the Giant/Family size boxes for around 2 dollars.
True. There used to be corner cutting in store brands particularly In packaging e.g. the product might be directly in the box, not in a plastic bag within the box, or the bag is not resealable, or you need a can opener to open the can vs a pull top. Or have less of some expensive ingredients (example given above of vitamin and mineral fortification).
But brand names themselves have been cutting corners right and left recently so who the heck knows any more.
I know some brands would say on the packaging that they do not manufacture store brands, but I haven’t seen that in decades.
I remember those well. Quaker’s and Malt-O-Meal’s budget cereals were/are both good products.
You also sometimes see it on the store brand packages, “Not manufactured by <big company>”.
A side observation on the Marshmallow Mateys:
I often snack on it dry, and by taking a handful and eating the cereal first, saving the marshmallows for last (I enjoy the crispy texture). I’ve noticed, though, that after literally only a minute in contact with my hand the marshmallows go from crisp to entirely .ushy. It surprises me that the change happens that quickly, and now I’m wondering if the big name cereal marshmallows are equally quick to failure.
On a recent road trip, we bought some Trader Joe version of mini shredded wheat. The texture was atrocious and the mouth feel was all wrong. I’m assuming “store brand” is the same as “generic” for the sake of this conversation, even though Tratorious Joe only sells generics instead of real brands?
Best Choice has “Extra Raisins Raisin Bran” that is the shit.
https://bestchoicebrand.com/product/0007003830904/
I’m assuming the same, as truly “generic”/unbranded grocery products – which were a thing, for a while, in U.S. grocery stores in the '80s – are pretty rare-to-nonexistent now, with that niche now being filled with store brands.
The picture below is what true “generic” grocery products looked like.
I don’t see what TJ’s sells as truly being generics; pretty much everything they sell is under their various store brand names.
If you want to absolutely enrage the branding and marketing folks in a retailer call their Private Label (or Own Brand) products “generic”.
It’s great fun.
Even more fun if you refer to a “contract manufacturer” as a “generic product” manufacturer.
Ohh, yes. I’ve met some of them. 
Ever asked about their Hershey bar “knockoff”?
I remember those! It was in response to buzz that so much of the product price was marketing, including the design of the product labels.
It looked really cool when there was a whole aisle of them
Years ago I remember reading somewhere, possibly here, that when Ralston-Purina sold off their Chex brand to General Mills, they sold the name but not the recipe. Purina continued to manufacture “chex” cereals for store brand labels. So if you wanted the closest thing to original Chex you’d be better off buying a store brand knock-off rather than name-brand Chex.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the plain white boxes at Kroger.
The store brand boxes are printed Kroger and have pictures. I guess they’re more appealing to shoppers.
I’d love to try a generic that even attempts to be Product 19.
Food Lion has a great generic of Crispix, hilariously called Crispy Hexagons.
I had forgotten about that cereal until just now. You’re right, I haven’t seen it in years. I haven’t seen the oat squares in a while either. Kroger makes a habit of discontinuing things I like.
You’re also less likely to open the dog food when you are wanting tomatoes
Victim of The Committee.
I miss the Raisin Bran with bananas.
I see ones with cranberries but thats not bananas.
One of my favorite stories from my time in advertising was when my art director and I took a client to lunch. The client was an engineer for an industrial company, a rough and tumble manly man. He ordered a beer with lunch and we launched into a discussion of real beers vs. sissy light beers. Finally my art director said, “I’m not really a beer drinker, but I buy the generic brand because the black and white cans look good with my apartment’s decor.”