Good Generic Foods

Cafe Society
1

I have yet to find a decent store brand of Cheerios. I know some store brands are virtually the same as name brands, simply with a different lable.

But for some reason all the store brands or generic brands of Cheerios suck. I can find Oatmeal, Corn Flakes, Rice Crispies, Lucky Charms, all good generic or store brands, but not Cheerios.

So two questions. Why not Cheerios? Second, what store brands do you find as GOOD as the name brands.

2

I actually like Safeway brand hot pockets MORE then actual hot pockets.

3

Welcome to the SDMB, sdguy. Cafe Society is the appropriate forum for discussion of food. I’ll move this there.

Moved from IMHO to CS.

4

Hmm, really? Cafe Society is the place for discussion abuot “cuisine,” but generic food isn’t exactly an artistic discipline.

5

From the American Heritage Dictionary:
Cuisine
n.

  1. A characteristic manner or style of preparing food: Spanish cuisine.
  2. Food; fare.
    Cuisine is any food. Mmmm…food. As for the OP, most of the dry goods that I purchase are store brand, like rice, pasta, oatmeal. I also go through an insane amount of store brand frozen spinach. I’ve not been able to tell the difference with those products, but I will agree with you on Cheerios. Luckily, it’s not me who eats the Cheerios in my household, it’s my hamster. She hasn’t complained about store brand yet.
6

Not quite generic, but cheaper than Cheerios, are Trader Joe’s O’s, which are great.

We don’t have “Generic” (as in, the black print on white labels) foods here any more like we did when I was a kid, but I do a lot of store label and discount label foods, especially from Aldi. Canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, diced tomatoes with chilis, canned mushrooms - all that comes from Aldi for this house.

Rice, pasta (shapes, not spaghetti), eggs, milk, cheese (the mozzarella, cheddar and deluxe American singles, not the fancy stuff), thick-cut bacon, refrigerator biscuits…all Aldi, because we can’t really tell the difference. Whole grain bread, frozen beef and cheese “chimichangas” (burritos), brownie mix and beef jerky (when I don’t make it) I get from there because we actually PREFER theirs to name brand stuff at the supermarket.

What won’t I get off-brand? Jarred pasta sauce, spaghetti noodles, toilet paper, facial tissue, dishwasher detergent or dishsoap, garbage bags and aluminum foil. I’ve had too many disappointments with those.

I also won’t get produce at Aldi anymore. Even if it looks fine in the store, it doesn’t last at home more than a day without getting soft spots.

7

Central Market and Whole Foods have generic goods. Mind you, a packet of CM Cheerios clones costs $2.99 :eek:

8

Our local grocery store chain carries Our Family brand products as the “store brand.” I buy almost everything in that brand that is available. Like WhyNot says, we can rarely tell the difference in the products, and there are several that we prefer to the name brand. (In particular, their blue box mac and cheese is Mr. Stuff’s favorite, and he’s quite a devotee of the stuff. I love the man, but a gourmet he’s not. He is easy to cook for, though.) It’s good stuff, and it’s cheap. Especially when they run sales, you can stock up on staples for very little.

There is no Trader Joe’s near us, blast them, or I’d have a list of stuff from them, too. I used to shop there quite a bit, and then I moved.

9

Food Lion’s Cheerios are pretty good. I’ve only tried the Honey Nut flavor, which were a little skimpy on the nut part, but the cereal pieces tasted about the same. We buy alot of Food Lion brand stuff. 98% of it is the same or better than the big brands.
Publix has really good store brand stuff. It cost a little more than typical store brands, but the quality is better.