I’m a Diet Dr. Pepper fan so I stopped by Walmart before work this morning to pick a bottle up, but they were out so I grabbed the in-house Dr. Thunder instead…and liked it even more. Same goes for the in-house version of Chili-Cheese Fritos.
Are there in-house products you like better than the originals?
Small aside: Did you know that there are over 50 different in-store versions of Dr. Pepper out there?
The supermarket I usually shop at (a DC/Baltimore regional chain called “Shoppers”) sells “Culinary Circle” frozen pizzas. It’s a generic brand I’ve seen in other stores. One of their lines is a thin crust pizza that I’d compare favorably to the California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas, at half the price.
I was hoping for a line up… 50+ Doctors ‘side-by-each’…
Trader Joe’s Stone Ground Wheat Crackers is the store brand equivalent of Red Oval Farms Stoned Wheat Thins. The Trader Joe’s crackers are crisper and have a better overall texture. Most of TJ’s store brands are just rebranded products, and the two crackers look very similar, but the ingredient lists are somewhat different, so I doubt they’re made by the same company.
Fareway chicken soup is much better than Campbell’s chicken soup. That’s just one example.
I don’t know what one specific product you’d call the “original”, but Aldi’s house brand of tea, Benner’s, is pretty good, certainly better than Lipton’s, for a fraction of the price of anything else.
And I don’t know of any other easy American source for super-dark chocolate.
I’m not sure if they still sell them, but Wal-Mart used to have store brand chocolate chip cookies that were way better than Chips Ahoy and many other name brand cookies (I’m not sure what chocolate chip cookie you’d call the “original”). It seemed like the President’s Choice cookies sold at Harris Teeter in the southeast were the same ones; they tasted exactly the same to me.
I like the Safeway Signature Select brand of lasagna better than Stouffer’s. My husband agreed that he liked it better two. I have tried their frozen pizzas and liked them very much too.
I find most of Wal-Mart’s store brand foods to be at least equal to if not better than the originals. Some standouts:
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Their knock-off Oreo/Hydrox cookies are great. Other chain’s “Oreo” cookies were overly dry and almost uneatable.
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Their canned pasta I found too be just as good as the Chef Boyardee/SpaghettiO originals.
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Most of their canned soda—cola and ginger ale I drink mostly—I find just as good as the name brands.
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Their ice cream sandwiches are great as well.
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Their dry pasta and pasta sauces I use regularly and I always like its quality.
I’d be hard pressed to think of any of the store brand Wal-Mart food that** isn’t** good.
Aldi is a huge winner here, though none of their brands are specifically store brand.
Clancy chips equal or better any main brand. They also have great flavors like Garlic Bread, which is one of the better chips on the market. $1.29 a full-size bag at my home stores.
I prefer Kroger Cola Oh to ‘real’ Coke. And its zero calorie.
I don’t understand this statement; all the Aldi brands are store brands.
Costco’s Kirkland brand is supposedly as good or better than the original products.
Not food but the toilet paper from the Dollar Tree is as good or better than most national brands
Generally I find store brands to be at least as good as the national brands 80 or 90 percent of the time. There are a few things they just can’t seem to get quite right. There is nothing quite like real Coke, for instance.
I’ve never once been disappointed with a Wegmans store brand. Their ground canned coffee is especially good, far superior to Folgers, Maxwell House, and the like.
Hannaford, a regional chain here in New England, sells the best frozen pizza I’ve ever had.
The best root beer I ever had was the store brand of a small regional chain in West Virginia whose name escapes me. I haven’t had it since I moved away decades ago.
The knockoff La Croix unsweetened grapefruit sparkling water at Aldi is great and quite a bit cheaper. Aldi’s Bella Vie brand is $2.89/12pk to LC at 4.99/12, maybe $4.50 or 2/$9 on sale.
The no name at all tortilla chips sold in a clear bag with a twist tie. They have a crunch, texture, and saltiness similar to my favorite texmex restuarant. Not sure if made there or carted in, but I can eat a whole bag with my homemade salsa in one sitting. No other packaged brand even comes close.
Walmart bluejeans, not sure what brand that is. Perfect for working outside or as casual wear. I can buy 3 pair for the price of one Levi’s
OTC meds. 1/2 or 1/3 the price of Claritin, Nyquil, or Tylenol.
Back to food… whip cream. Store brand tastes creamier and feels whippier.
I used to go out of my way to get Winn-Dixie brand hot and spicy ramen noodles. I probably still would if there were any Winn-Dixies left and I didn’t have to watch my salt intake.
Clover Valley (Dollar General) corn chips are better than Fritos, IMHO.
As to Oreos- Well, Oreos are quite good. Hydrox were better. In store brands, there are some differences in textures and taste. However, I have never tasted any store brand Oreo-like cooky that wasn’t pretty good. The same goes for the vanilla ones.
Our local store, Giant has their brand of chocolate cookies that are also much better than Chips Ahoy.
I have to agree with another poster. There are very few WalMart brand (Great Value & Equate) items that aren’t just as good or better than the originals. WalMart has some cookies out just for the fall season that are really good.
Kwik Trip’s taco flavored tortilla chips are AMAZING. Much better than the Doritos version.
Aldi’s potato chips are pretty good - Although the last couple of times I purchased them, there wasn’t a single chip bigger than a quarter:( .