# House brand superior to name brand equivalent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677 "2022-04-11T18:33:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/1 "2022-04-11T18:33:39Z")
Recently I’ve seen a lot of brand name/generic type discussions- usually around specific product types- laundry detergent, drugs, batteries, etc… I am sitting here drinking a “Big K Citrus Drop Zero Calorie” diet soda and got to thinking that I like it as much if not more than Diet Mountain Dew, which is what it’s clearly knocking off. So I got to wondering which products are objectively superior to the name brand equivalents. Not “better bang for the buck”, but actually _better_ in whatever ways that count. Nor am I looking for equal products either- there are lots that are for all intents and purposes the same as the name brand. This Kroger brand soda is an example - by my lights, it’s all around better, and I’ll be buying it instead of Diet Mountain Dew when I happen to go to Kroger. IIRC Target makes a dishwasher detergent tab that’s better than the equivalent Cascade or Finish product. Those are the sorts of things I’m curious about. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/2 "2022-04-11T18:37:12Z")
Kellogs brand granola breakfast cereal is more expensive and is coated in some kind of thing I dislike. Store brands were cheaper and didn’t have the coating. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/3 "2022-04-11T19:18:28Z")
The Washington Post [just named](https://getpocket.com/explore/item/what-s-the-best-hot-dog-in-america-we-tried-15-popular-brands-to-find-out?utm_source=pocket-newtab) Costco’s Kirkland brand hot dog the best in the country, beating both Nathan’s and Oscar Mayer. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/4 "2022-04-11T19:20:20Z")
Trader Joe’s has tons of house brand stuff that’s better than most name brand stuff. For example, their nuts and dried fruit are the best and pretty inexpensive. I use their walnuts in my breakfast every day. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/5 "2022-04-11T19:26:27Z")
Aldi sells a lot of items their own brand that are as good as, or better than, brand names. Their mayonnaise is great, for one small example… My husband was a Brand Name Queen and insisted only on ‘the real thing’. I told him a lot of store label food came from the same factories as the food he sees on the teevee commercial. No dice. Swore he ‘could tell’. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/6 "2022-04-11T19:30:56Z")
I haven’t run across many Aldi things that are actually _better_ than the name-brands they’re competing with/modeling themselves after. That’s just it- there are lots of “just as good” products out there, and even more “better value” products. But how many are actually _better_- like you’d pay more for the house brand vs. the name brand because the house brand is actually superior? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/7 "2022-04-11T19:47:10Z")
Safeway’s _Signature_ brand of frozen pizza are better than 90% of the name brands. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/8 "2022-04-11T20:04:23Z")
I’m partial to the Kroger frozen pizzas myself, but might well give Safeway’s a try at some point. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/9 "2022-04-11T20:24:25Z")
The Thin Crust option is the best. It’s actually a _thin crust_, unlike most name brands. Very Chicago cracker crust. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/10 "2022-04-11T20:30:55Z")
It depends on just which name-brand product you consider “equivalent”. For instance, Aldi’s house-brand tea, Benner’s, isn’t as good as Twinings or Stash, but it is better, by a fair margin, than Lipton or Tetlea. In addition to being much cheaper than any other tea you’ll find. For some other products, I’m not sure if there even is an “equivalent” name brand. Where else does one buy 85% dark chocolate, for instance? Most name brands, at least what you find on the shelf, seem to top out at 75%. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/11 "2022-04-11T20:34:33Z")
‘Objectively better’ is going to be tricky for a lot of stuff; Vitamin pills may be objectively better in their content or balance or fulfilment of RDA, detergent can be objectively better in performing the task of cleaning, but food being ‘better’ equates pretty much to ‘I like it better’, which is subjective. I like supermarket brand yeast extract\* better than Marmite. \*(any of them - the supermarket own brands are all the same as each other because they are made on the same production line as each other) ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/12 "2022-04-11T20:51:28Z")
My husband used to work at a Campbell’s plant (that one was closed in 2013), and reported seeing store-brand items being produced at that plant right along with the name brands. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/13 "2022-04-11T20:58:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > t depends on just which name-brand product you consider “equivalent”. For instance, Aldi’s house-brand tea, Benner’s, isn’t as good as Twinings or Stash, but it is better, by a fair margin, than Lipton or Tetlea. In addition to being much cheaper than any other tea you’ll find. Generally I’m aiming at what it’s trying to position itself against. Some things even have a “Compare to ” labeling on it. In Aldi’s case, there’s _usually_ a name brand with very similar packaging. Take for example, Aldi’s Clancy’s Corn Chips: [https://www.aldi.us/fileadmin/\_processed\_/c/6/csm\_9034-clancys-corn-chips-detail\_735cce5600.jpg](https://www.aldi.us/fileadmin/%5C_processed_/c/6/csm_9034-clancys-corn-chips-detail_735cce5600.jpg) and Fritos: [![](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/10d34172-a7dc-4339-9093-0622bf9c7a46.4db12b4bd8590213e9f3ed12291ca584.jpeg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFF) ](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/10d34172-a7dc-4339-9093-0622bf9c7a46.4db12b4bd8590213e9f3ed12291ca584.jpeg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFF) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/14 "2022-04-11T22:13:28Z")
Ralston Purina made Chex cereals. They sold the brands to General Mills, but retained the rights to make versions to sell as store brands. So store brand Chex are made by the original manufacturers of the cereal. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/15 "2022-04-11T23:03:33Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > ‘Objectively better’ is going to be tricky for a lot of stuff; Vitamin pills may be objectively better in their content or balance or fulfilment of RDA, detergent can be objectively better in performing the task of cleaning, but food being ‘better’ equates pretty much to ‘I like it better’, which is subjective. Yep. I’ve found Kroger’s “Private Selection” label to offer equal or better food compared to name brands. HemisFares pasta sauce, notably the sausage and fennel ragu with Barolo wine which is distributed by Kroger, is in my opinion one of the best commercially available jarred sauces (too bad I haven’t been able to find that particular one for about a year now). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/16 "2022-04-11T23:07:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The Washington Post [just named](https://getpocket.com/explore/item/what-s-the-best-hot-dog-in-america-we-tried-15-popular-brands-to-find-out?utm_source=pocket-newtab) Costco’s Kirkland brand hot dog the best in the country, beating both Nathan’s and Oscar Mayer. Well, let’s not set the bar too high by comparing with Oscar Mayer … Pretty sure I shit out a better hot dog. (OK, Nathan’s is decent, as is Hebrew National when it comes to national brands.) I prefer Kirkland mayo to Hellmann’s. (Though I’ll take Duke’s over either.) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/17 "2022-04-11T23:12:19Z")
Wal-Mart’s store brand seems to be hit or miss–of the ones I tried the ones I find to as good or better to the name brand: Oreo cookie knock-offs Glacier Ranch tortilla chips (Doritos Cool Ranch knock off) ginger ale and root beer cola (Coca Cola/Pepsi knock off) dry pasta they sell for $1.00 a box Their canned pasta I don’t care for–Chef Boyardee and Spaghetti-Os are better. I prefer the Kraft mac and cheese as well. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/18 "2022-04-11T23:15:56Z")
Kroger’s Private Selection salsa is good too. I haven’t found a name brand that I like as well as Kroger’s Black Bean and Corn salsa. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/19 "2022-04-12T00:32:58Z")
As a cerealaholic, I wasn’t going to skip breakfast to lose weight, so I switched to all-whole-grain cereal. Unsweetened Mini-Wheats had the most whole grains without going the “tree bark and hay” or Colon Blow routes. I tried some generics and found I prefer Pick&Save/MetroMarket’s store brand to Kellogg’s, and it’s half the price.If I want a treat, they have flavored ones, too (with a ton of sugar of course, but that’s why it’s a treat). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677/20 "2022-04-12T00:37:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Safeway’s _Signature_ brand of frozen pizza are better than 90% of the name brands. I agree with you. I particularly liked their Open Nature thin crust pizza. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-brand-superior-to-name-brand-equivalent/962677.md?page=2)