# Store Brand,Products vs. Name Brand Products **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495 "2005-12-20T19:14:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/1 "2005-12-20T19:14:36Z")
I was talking about this with my wife last night. We mostly by store brand stuff, but there are a few things that don’t taste as good as the Big Name Brand equivalent. We usually shop at Meijer, Farmer Jack, Kroger, and Target. What products, in your [humble] opinion, really require the genuine name brand? Let’s collect the high quality store brand stuff and the high quality brand name stuff. **Quality Store Brand Products** Any Hamburger, Tuna, or Chicken Helper Any Stuffing All canned/frozen vegetables All medicine Dehydrated Mashed Potatoes(especially Roasted Garlic) Ruffled Potato Chips Spaghetti noodles Spaghetti Sauce Cooking Oil **Things that require Brand Name** Doritos Any kind of soda/pop. We buy only Pepsi/Coca-Cola products. Store brand pop sucks! Cereal - It varies, but my wife insists that Store Brand cereals suck. The only exception is Target Brand(Market Fresh) Golden Grahams. What are some really good storre brand products and what are some other things you really have to have the Brand Name for? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/2 "2005-12-20T19:16:36Z")
**Quality Store Brand Products** unflavored corn chips. **Things that require Brand Name** Lucky Charms ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/3 "2005-12-20T19:29:36Z")
**Must be Name Brand** Doritos Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Spaghetti sauce - Newman’s Own or Bella Vita Cereal - Cheerios, Chex, Honey Bunches of Oats ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/4 "2005-12-20T19:38:58Z")
Raisins. Dole raisins or sun-maid raisins, take your pick, but either are better than store brand raisins by 100x. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/5 "2005-12-20T19:44:26Z")
I really like the Longs brand of dry roasted peanuts, so unless anyone disagrees, I’ll put peanuts in the category of good stuff that doesn’t require a brand name. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/6 "2005-12-20T20:00:25Z")
Ketchup, of course. All ketchup must come from a company headquartered in Pittsburgh. Jif peanut butter comes to mind as well. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/7 "2005-12-20T20:07:06Z")
Name brand: French’s brand fried onions (those things that go on green bean casserole and salads). The last time I was at WalMart, I bought one of each of the store brand and the French’s. The name brand was superior in both looks and taste (and artwork on the can). Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing Store brand: Shredded cheese ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/8 "2005-12-20T20:10:27Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Raisins. Dole raisins or sun-maid raisins, take your pick, but either are better than store brand raisins by 100x. I believe you are mistaken about this. The quality of raisins in general varies considerably. Sometimes you get a package of stale ones, other times they are fresh, but (as far as I can tell) it makes no difference whether they are store brand or not. Furthermore, the raisins, like all store brand merchandise, come from the same place as the other raisins (either Dole or SunMaid). I used to think that store brand made a difference, but now that’s all I buy. Sometimes the inside packaging will reveal where they actually came from (in my case, Sun Maid). ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/9 "2005-12-20T20:10:35Z")
Store brand is fine: aluminum foil Store brand isn’t fine: plastic wrap ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/10 "2005-12-20T20:11:58Z")
Pop Tarts–I don’t buy them very often, but the store brand is just not the same. Lubriderm lotion–generic doesn’t cut it. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/11 "2005-12-20T20:12:57Z")
Store brand: Store brand Chex cereal equivalents _are_ the original, so you might as well buy those. (Chex were originally made by Ralston Purina, who sold the brand name to General Mills in order to concentrate on making “store brand” cereals.) Frozen vegetables. Canned vegetables Canned fruit All-purpose flour Sugar Milk Potato chips No difference (buy whatever’s on sale): Ketchup Brand name required: Instant mashed potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/12 "2005-12-20T20:25:13Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Cereal - It varies, but my wife insists that Store Brand cereals suck. The only exception is Target Brand(Market Fresh) Golden Grahams. Their Cinnamon Toast Crunch is awesome, too. As is Aldi’s. Aldi’s Honey Bunches O’ Oats knock off is good, too. Almost everything on my shopping list is Store Brand Acceptable, but I still check prices, because sometimes the Brand Name will actually be cheaper on sale. Must be brand-name: Toilet paper. Second for Doritos. Also lime flavored tortilla chips. Ro-tel. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/13 "2005-12-20T20:45:48Z")
> [@Avarie537](#): > > **Must be Name Brand** > Kraft Macaroni and Cheese I used to think that, too, but I’ve found Publix brand to be quite an acceptable substitute. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/14 "2005-12-20T21:39:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I was talking about this with my wife last night. We mostly by store brand stuff, but there are a few things that don’t taste as good as the Big Name Brand equivalent. We usually shop at Meijer, Farmer Jack, Kroger, and Target… **snip** Whoa, they have all that in China? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/15 "2005-12-20T21:55:03Z")
I disagree with the following: **Mac & Cheese** - You can totally go with store brand on this. **Ketchup** I buy Valu Time Ketchup(89 cents for a big bottle) and it’s identical to others. Store Brand is fine. **Peanut Butter** Don’t pay more than 90 cents for a big bottle. I’l add to my original list: **Rold Gold Prezel Rods** - Store Brands are okay, but there is a freshness and almost “moistness” to Rold Gold’s Prezel Rods that are unbeatable. ---
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/16 "2005-12-20T21:59:07Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Store brand is fine: aluminum foil > > Store brand isn’t fine: plastic wrap Seconded! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/17 "2005-12-20T22:24:02Z")
Although as a rule store brand soda is inferior, Safeway storebrand is the exception. They have a huge variety of flavors, and almost everything in diet – Diet Cream soda, Diet Cherry-lemonlime (Cherry 7up), Diet cola with lime. Around $1 per 6pack, you can’t beat it. All the flavors I’ve tried are more than acceptable, and some of the flavors, like Diet Grapefruit, I prefer to the brand-name equivalent (Diet Squirt). I also like the Safeway oreo knockoffs. They actually have flavors Oreo doesn’t make – Neopolitan (Strawberry and vanilla filing) and Smores (graham cookiem chocolate and vanilla filling). Must buy namebrand: Mayonnaise. Bring out the Hellman’s and bring out the best! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/18 "2005-12-21T04:27:46Z")
I normally use some variation of Pert shampoo (it depends on what’s on sale and what I feel like buying.) Last time I bought the cheaper Western Family brand. There were just enough differences in the chemicals used in the cheap brand to give me lots more trouble with my hair. So now I know to spend the couple extra bucks on the name-brand. Other things that are just fine as store brand: Jelly/preserves Ice cream (sometimes, depends on the store) Milk Facial tissue (assuming you don’t want/need the lotioned stuff) Name brand: Bread Spaghetti sauce ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/19 "2005-12-21T12:52:51Z")
It really depends on the store. For instance, I’ve found Albertson’s in general to have pretty good quality store-brand (except for their chicken flavored Rice-a-Roni substitute, that stuff was just nasty), but Kroger I’ll only buy a couple store-brand products, and not many of those are food (mostly paper products or the like). ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495/20 "2005-12-21T13:38:34Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > Although as a rule store brand soda is inferior, Safeway storebrand is the exception. They have a huge variety of flavors, and almost everything in diet – Diet Cream soda, Diet Cherry-lemonlime (Cherry 7up), Diet cola with lime. Around $1 per 6pack, you can’t beat it. All the flavors I’ve tried are more than acceptable… That’s exactly what I was going to post. I buy the Safeway brand diet Cherry Lemon-Lime soda all the time. The taste is fine, and you can’t beat the price. > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Trunk** > Store brand is fine: aluminum foil > > Store brand isn’t fine: plastic wrap > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **taxi78cab** > Seconded! Thirded! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/store-brand-products-vs-name-brand-products/336495.md?page=2)