Me? I tend to get commodity items in the house brand- stuff like flour, milk, sugar, salt, oil, etc… because in those things, they’re probably made in exactly the same mill/factory as the name-brand things, and meet the same specs. I’ve had cookies made with Gold Medal and Imperial sugar, and I’ve had them made with Great Value flour and sugar, and can’t tell a difference.
I also get relatively simple US-style charcuterie items such as sausage, bacon and ham in the house brand. I mean, I can’t tell a difference between Kroger brand italian sausage for pasta sauce and Johnsonville (or whatever brand), and the same goes for bacon- house brand is usually ok, and there’s as much variation in name-brands as well.
Finally, some house brand sodas are better than their name brand equivalents- in particular, the Kroger “Diet Citrus Drop” is to my taste buds, better than diet Sun Drop or Mountain Dew. Same for their cherry cola.
So what items do you skimp out on and get the generic equivalent? (ugh… messed up the title!)
Strangely enough, I will only buy “generic” or store brand oatmeal, because tests have found it to be lower in gluten than name brand. My daughter’s gluten intolerant but not celiac’s; her body can handle a small amount of gluten okay. Since certified gluten free oatmeal is so bloody expensive, we get cheap store brand oatmeal and she’s okay with it. Quaker makes her ill.
(The theory is that most factories tend to run the name brand account’s stuff first, and in the case of oatmeal, that often means right after they’re done running the wheat. By the time the name brand stuff is done and they start the house brands, the name brand oatmeal has cleaned off almost all of the cross-contamination from the wheat. At least, that’s how it was explained to me by a person who runs a processing line; I can’t say I know that first hand.)
Most of the other stuff I buy that’s available house brand, I buy house brand. But that’s just because I’m cheap, not for any more interesting reasons.
Publix house brands are awesome for everything but the stuff you just know better than to get generics of (Zip-Loc bags, absolutely.) So I almost always get them, really. I do buy King Arthur flour and Muir Glen tomatoes, but absolutely Publix everything else. Especially things like dried beans and sugar and such.
Somewhat like the OP - flour, milk, eggs, sugar, butter, frozen vegetables, - stuff like that. Sandwich bread (if my regular brand isn’t on sale), paper towels, kleenex, baking stuff (spices, baking powder, baking soda, salt), aluminum foil, plastic wrap, napkins, ice cream.
Bacon, no - I will get store brand only if it’s for use in something as an ingredient versus being made for actually eating. I know - it’s hard to explain - bacon to be part of a wilted lettuce salad? Store brand is ok. Bacon for a BLT? Oscar Meyer. Bacon to be put all over meatloaf? Store brand is fine. Bacon for my meal (yes, I can eat a pound of bacon - just for a meal) then it’s got to be Oscar Meyer.
Sausage, no - I will only eat Johnsonville brats. Husband doesn’t care (he does Italian Sausage) so he’ll do store brand, but brats, for me, Johnsonville. Breakfast sausage is the same way - only certain brands. Lunchmeat is the same - we only buy one particular type of ham (we agree on this one - neither of us skimps on the ham.) Cheese (the American slices) will only be Kraft.
I really haven’t found any store brand that isn’t equivalent quality to name brand. Gone are the days of all stems in the frozen broccoli. There may be some variation in taste (such as with soft drinks) but that is a subjective preference, not a quality issue. The only time I buy name brand anything is if the store doesn’t have its own.
Also, there are a lot of small regional brands that stores carry now that are sometimes cheaper. I often try them and have found superior quality in some cases.
Kroger’s “Simple Truth” line of sodas are quite good in general. I particularly like their cucumber-melon soda; it’s the most refreshing soda I’ve ever tasted, and beats citrus sodas by a mile. I stick to name-brand for colas, though.
That aside, I also tend to get staples like sugar and flour in the house brand. I’ve never found it to make a significant difference.
Milk and eggs, always storebrand. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever in my adult life bought name-brand milk or eggs.
I almost always get store brand flour and sugar, though I’ll occasionally buy Pillsbury and Domino if I they’re on sale and I have a coupon.
And if I’m making chili, I’ll usually just get store brand tomatoes, beans, etc. In something like that, the flavor is much more dependent on the seasonings than the main ingredients, and I’ve found it doesn’t really make much difference what I use, brand-wise.
I have a similar anecdote about diapers. I used Kroger diapers on all my children and they worked great. Once when we were out of town and ran out, I bought some Luvs and they leaked. Was never so WTF in my whole life.
Bacon, in a regular grocery store. At Costco, their store brand is both cheap and high-quality, but I sometimes have to buy some at a regular store. Holy mackerel, the price of bacon is stunningly high! The cheapest known brand of normal, plain old strip bacon I found at Safeway was $7.99 a pound! Their El Cheapo (don’t remember the brand, but probably Sunny Select) was $3.99 for 12 oz., so I bought it, and it was decent. I found Fresh & Easy brand bacon at $2.99 for 12 oz. Also perfectly fine.
Yellow mustard. I love mustid, and go through a 20-ounce squeeze-bottle about every month. Store brand is fine.
Tissues - anything that has no scent or lotion or any other jazz on them.
Edit : Mentioned in the other thread : Cheerios clones. I don’t eat grains anymore, but I always actively chose store brand cheerios over Cheerios. They’re always just better, IMO.
I had the very same experience with Luvs. We were very happy with our White Cloud diapers from Walmart. A big twenty dollar box of Luvs leaked so badly more than once that I wrote in for their no-leak guarantee refund.
I buy store brand – usually Kroger, Publix, or Aldi – frequently. We are happy with almost everything from Aldi – crackers, cereal, coffee beans, pasta, sauce, canned beans, tortilla chips, taco shells, cheese, milk, eggs, yogurt, butter, ground turkey, mac and cheese, peanut butter, laundry detergent, dish detergent, paper products, and more. I cooked a Christmas dinner exclusively from Aldi a few years back. Everything was great.