I totally agree with the poptarts. It has to be PopTarts or nothing. Can’t deal with the generic “toaster pastry”. I have to buy name brand tampons too (Playtex). The other kinds just don’t “feel” right, know what i mean, gals? Also with the macaroni and cheese someone mentioned. It HAS to be Kraft. None of that icky sticky generic type magooroni and orangecheese for me, no sir!
Lorie
I spent a Summer working in a major biscuit manufacturer here in Ireland (Jacobs) that did store brand product for Dunne’s(a major supermarket chain over here). The only difference was the packaging. The same biscuits just a quick change over from Jacobs packaging to Dunne’s Brand biscuits. The Store brands are about 20% cheaper.
Walmart Equate (Generic Excedrine) takes longer to dissolve in water than Excedrine does. The excedrine pills can be easily – if bitterly – chewed. The Equate are like rocks. However, both do the same job.
Walmart antacid tablets (Generic Rolaids)YUCK!! They chew like paste and do not taste good nor do they do the good job regular Rolaids or even Tums do.
Walmart Equate cimetidine tableds (generic Pecid A/C)do just as good as the Pepcid brand.
Walmart Generic Soda is not as good as the brand names, including the cheap brand names.
Walmart Generic canned soup is not as good as Progresso nor Campbell’s.
Walmart Generic Vitamins are just as good as any out there.
Walmart Generic Chicken Broth is better than most name brands, especially a brand that begins with the name Sue and is in a blue can.
Walmart Generic baking soda is just as good as any other, but then again, how can one screw up sodium bicarbonate?
Walmart Generic margerine is not as good as the brand names and nowhere as good as Land O Lakes.
Something interesting to try if you have children (esp if they refuse to eat non brand name products) is to save the packaging on a brand name product and put in the store brand product in that packaging , and watch i have seen this in action helping a friend in a psychology experiment most didn’t notice .
I stick almost exclusively with store or non-name brands, because really, there is no difference with most of them, and the price is better. Even for mac & cheese, IMHO.
There’s a different taste with some foods, I’ve noticed, but in most cases, it’s not bad. The only thing I refused to buy a house brand on was peanut butter. It was Jif or nothing. Then I made my first trip to Aldi’s, one of those bag-your-own, all house-brand grocery stores. I tried the brand they had (can’t remember the name right off the top of my head). It was decent. Not quite as good as Jif, but it didn’t suck. I was surprised.
Another thing I don’t like to skimp on is baby wipes. Pampers are my favorite. BUT, CVS has a good house brand. Soft, thick, and they don’t fall apart when you’ve got to scrub on that stubborn poo that just won’t come off your kid’s butt. 
Sometimes the price diff is too great to ignore, at least for my wallet. In my area, Wal-Mart regularly sells a Coke clone for $1.70 per six-pack and $1.50 during sales. This is about half the price of name-brand Coke, even on sale.
Can I tell the difference? I think so, but both brands taste good to me so the price makes the decision.
Sorry, got my units wrong. Wal-Mart sells the clone for $1.50 per 12-pack, not 6-pack!
…and that’s for cans, not bottles.
I’ll be leaving now.
Engineer Don wrote;
“I spend a lot of time in food processing facilities, and most canned products are “bright packed”, meaning they put it in the cans before they put the labels on, and they don’t even know what labels are going on when they pack it. As orders come in, the cans get labels and are shipped out. There is no difference at all for these products.”
This is the common practice across the entire consumer packaging industry. Whether it be food products, cleaning products . . automotive, insecticides or spray paint. These products are formulated and filled at a limited amount of locations. ie; Wal-M**t does not own a plant that mixes disinfectant spray, fills and delivers product to their shelves. They have a contract supplier who does; Usually this is the owner of the “national brand”.
In the case of “raw” product such as canned veggies; the Libby’s is probably the same as the store brand and vice versa.
Although “bright packed” is a standard practice; there are exceptions . . Certain food processors may offer something other than their “same formulation” as a co-op store brand. Hence the difference in taste between “Pop Tarts” and “Kroger Pop Tarts”.
If I can be re-incarnated as a mouse; please let me be born in a General Mills warehouse. Its heaven on earth!
I have to say that on Diapers, White Cloud (sold at Wal-mart) are excellent if you’re already a Huggies’ fan. I use Huggies 90% of the time because Wal-mart is too far away, but I like White Cloud diapers. We’ve just switched to using Target brand diapers because my son’s body has changed and they seem to fit better than the Huggies. Gotta love when the cheaper one actually please you!!!
I’m with Cranky on the Target diapers. Cheaper (IIRC, there’s about $6 difference between Huggies & Target jumbo packages), and really just as good as Huggies. Never had any trouble with them. And IIRC, there’s more of them in the jumbo packages than there are in the Huggies jumbo packages.
I own a couple of cats and being a cat lover, I will not buy the generic store brand cat food in cans for them because most cheap pet food producers load up crap food with salt to make the animals like it and do not take good care with the ingredients. I do buy a generic dry, soft food for them, but only because, of all things, I found that Purina makes the stuff. I buy generic litter also, because it takes a lot to mess up litter. (No pun intended.)
The generic liquid hand soap is just as good as the stuff you pay twice as much for.
I have found that in electronics, the generic or cheap color TVs do not have as crystal clear a picture as the better brands. It’s like the pixels are too large when you investigate the screen closely. That blurs small print and all and often gives a slight fuzzy look to things.
The generic pull over shirts in the clothing area fade faster in their color and wear out sooner. I wear a lot of colored pull overs and noticed this.
Now the generic computer floppies are just fine. I buy them by the box in bright colors.
I almost NEVER buy generic products. It’s not that I’m a snob, it’s that I just don’t like them. I care a lot about what I cook, and I refuse to skimp on ingredients.
The exceptions (in the food aisle) are “commodity” items like salad oil, dairy products (especially milk and butter; margarine is not allowed at Chez Robin and the penalty for this is permanent banishment), salt, and that kind of thing. I don’t eat canned vegetables, but I do get the store-brand frozen veggies.
In the health and beauty section, I often get the Wal-Mart brand Oil of Olay clone body wash. I can’t tell the difference, and the price is several DOLLARS less than the name brand. For most of the other things, I splurge and get the name brand. I can’t abide generic shampoo, and I can’t use generic (or cheap) deodorant without breaking out.
Robin
Del Monte pears - always perfect
Safeway pears - always have some pieces with skin or stem, and also too hard=picked a couple of days before ripe.
I’ll buy generic drugs, but that’s about it.
Store brand veggies? The canned tomatoes seem to have lots more core chunks, and I find little sticks in the green beans. The corn and peas are clean enough, but they have no taste.
I’ll buy generic drugs from places like Costco. Nothin like two, one-pound bottles of generic advil on your desk to give you a sense of security from those aches and pains. Certain cereals I actually prefer the store/generic brand, like Lucky Charms, for instance. Quaker makes REALLY good cereals, and they are cheaper (and only have a bag, as oppossed to bag and box, so less waste.)
Pop Tarts are NEVER to be bought genreic. NEVER! To do so is to send your soul to Pop Tart Hell for all eternity. Soda is also something I can’t buy generic, other than cola, which I rarely drink. I’m a man who loves my rootbear, and the Price Chopper brand ain’t got nothin’ on IBC or Sterwart’s.
I make it a point to run into a Walmart for cheaper HBA items whwnever I’m out on Long Island or upstate somewhere near a store. Cetaphil facial cleanser is nearly $11 a bottle at drug stores in NYC. The Walmart version is less than $4. 60 oz. of liquid soap, $3.44 - 60 oz. of a name brand at Walmart is nearly $6 and in the city it’s $8. I’m not sure what the price of national brand acetaminophen or naproxen sodium are anymore, because I only buy the Equate (Walmart) brand. When the products are so close to identical, there’s no reason to pay more.
As for food, I prefer generic mac and cheese. You can flog me now.
Pop-Tarts aren’t that special. The Cub Foods version of them taste just as good, if not better.
Most types of generic / storebrand potato chips, pretzels, etc. are icky.
Storebrand icecream is often superior to the overpriced variety. The only problem is they generally don’t come in as many flavors.
I’ve found Harris Teeter (the strangely named grocery store we have here in northern Virginia) brand 100% juice to be better and alot cheaper than Oceanspray. Also generic stuffing tastes sorta like Stovetop if you are in a crunch. Generic mac & cheese is a NO NO NO NO NO. Spend the dime and get the real Kraft stuff. The Safeways up here also have really good Safeway brand frozen pizzas and ice cream. I was fairly impressed with the quality.
NEVER, EVER buy the Winn-Dixie brand of ravioli, unless you use it for disciplinary purposes (“Watch your mouth or I’ll give you a bite of Thrifty Maid ravioli!”). I’d say it tasted like the can it comes in, but that is probably an insult to the can. Food Fair generic is OK, though.
I prefer real Dr Pepper, but I’ll take the Dr. Thunder over Mr. Pibb any day
I don’t like generic diapers because they must be changed more often, negating any savings. Plus, I don’t like ANY diaper with the “cloth-like outer cover.” It frays and snags. Wipes–only Huggies Supreme. Not only are they thicker, they can be torn in half very easily, stretching their value greatly.
I’ve never tasted a generic mac and cheese that I cared for.
I buy the store brand of canned veggies–but, then, I HATE the Del Monte brand anyway. That goes for their ketchup, too, but I don’t like generic there either. Hunt’s or Heinz for me.
Never, the store brand of Miracle Whip–I’ve tried it and only the real thing will do!
I buy the Walmart colas regularly–my hubby likes them just fine and since he takes a case a week for all the men at work, it’s a BIG savings!