People always seem more willing to trust the quality of a privately-owned brand of food as opposed to a more generic kind. However, it may be somewhat surprising to hear that, while people think that private labels have improved over the years, they’re not much different from the generic kinds you can get in stores. As a matter of fact, some might even taste exactly the same. The Krazy Coupon Lady organized a blind taste test to determine which products people really thought were best privately-owned or generic. Here are the results.
Oscar Mayer Vs. Great Value Bacon
There’s a lot more than you’d expect that goes into making a package of bacon. One needs to consider the fat to meat ratio, as well as the the shape of the edges. However, when it comes to taste, you’re not any better off eating private brand bacon over the generic stuff. Taste testers were split right down the middle when it came to determining which ones was superior.
Clabber Girl Vs. Great Value Baking Powder
Clabber Girl is the more well-known baking powder brand. But, if you use it, it’s probably just because you saw someone else use it while baking. Clabber Girl and other privately-owned brands of baking powder aren’t any better than the generic kind. There’s virtually no difference in its flavor or ingredients.
Starbuck’s Vs. Seattle’s Best Coffee
Seattle’s Best isn’t technically a store brand and neither is Starbuck’s, but it’s still a good idea to see which brand of coffee might be worth more to you. Especially given how expensive Starbucks is in comparison. Fortunately for Starbucks, its flavor was a lot better than Seattle Best. 100% of the test tasters preferred Starbucks.
Gold Medal Vs. Great Value Flour
Flour is the cornerstone ingredient when it comes to baking. You’re not supposed to eat flour by itself, but when you make cookies or waffles is when you’ll notice the difference. Turns out there was a slight preference for the generic brand of flour as opposed to the privately owned Gold Medal flour.
Chobani Vs. Great Value Greek Yogurt
When it comes to texture and taste, Chobani won out over the generic brand yogurt. About 70% of taste testers agreed in this case. it was also determined that plain yogurt is just a little bit more gross than the other flavors.
Mrs. Butterworth’s vs. Great Value Syrup
To be fair to generic brand syrup, Mrs. Butterworth’s is just too sweet. It might not be that surprising that the private brand syrup won out against the generic one. Although, Mrs. Butterworth’s is also a lot higher in calorie and sugar content in comparison to the generic kind.
Darigold Vs. Great Value Milk
When it comes to Darigold milk, there’s actually no real reason to get it over the generic kind. Both kinds of milk are processed at the same dairy plant. The only real difference between the two brands of milk is that one’s more expensive than the other. So just get the generic kind.
Simply Orange Vs. Market Pantry Orange Juice
Generic brand orange juice might actually be a lot better than going for the privately-owned one in this case. Most generic brands are bottled regionally, so there’s less processing and transportation involved than with national brands. So, of course, they’re fresher. Market Pantry orange juice in particular was preferred 54% of the time over the Simply Orange national brand.
Jif Vs. Great Value Peanut Butter
Jif is actually the preferred brand when it comes to peanut butter. The Great Value brand has ten grams more of fat. Plus, Jif is just more flavorful. 78% of test tasters preferred Jif over the generic brand. And the price difference isn’t even that much to begin with.
Nabisco Vs. Great Value Saltine Crackers
About 80% of the taste testers preferred the Nabisco brand of saltines over the generic brand. The generic brand has a lot less flavor to it, and the texture isn’t that good.
Pantene Vs. VO5 Hair Products
Now this is something that you don’t exactly eat, but its still important to know which product’s better for your hair. Pantene and VO5 are still both from private labels though. After all, the gap between generic and privately owned brands is wide. But even in this case, more than 98% of the testers preferred Pantene over VO5.
Post Vs. Great Value Shredded Wheat Cereal
Post cereal brands are actually recommended by nine out of ten doctors. And that seems to be an opinion shared by many taste testers as well. 90% of the tasters preferred the named brand. Generic brand shredded wheat often has poor taste and texture. The other ten percent disliked both cereals.
C&H Vs. Great Value Sugar
It’s sugar after all. It’s hard to notice a difference in flavor when using it, especially when baking. The difference just isn’t worth the cost, because there isn’t one. So just save some money and get the generic brand of sugar.
Ore-Ida Vs. Market Pantry Tater Tots
When it comes to holding their shape, the Ore-Ida tater tots did a better job than the generic brand. However, when it came to flavor, they were nearly identical. If you don’t care if your tater tots stick together, then there’s really no reason to spend the extra money to get the named brand tots.
Bounty Vs. Up & Up Paper Towels
The ad campaign for Bounty has been pretty good, not to mention accurate. Bounty’s certainly durable enough to clean up all those fluids and other stains you may get in your house. Up & Up and other generic brands might save you some money, but Bounty will last a lot longer.
Cheerios Vs. Great Value Toasted Oats Cereal
The average preschooler sees 642 television ads for breakfast cereal every year. It’s no wonder they have a built-in preference for named-brand cereal. It’s all just a hoax keep people from realizing that the generic brand of cereals like Cheerios are just as good as the named one.
Arm & Hammer Vs. Great Value Baking Soda
There’s no real noticeable difference when it comes to using different brands of baking soda. The Arm & Hammer box may look nicer, but it won’t get you a better result than if you were to use the generic brand. So just save yourself some money.
Heinz Vs. Market Pantry Ketchup
It seems as though store brand ketchup manufacturers are getting close to the famous Heinz formula. When Consumer Reports had the staffers do a taste test between Heinz and a store-brand alternative, 40% of the tasters actually preferred the store brand. The only noticeable difference is really just the color. Heinz is a deeper red.
Honey Maid Vs. Market Pantry Graham Crackers
Turns out that the generic Markey Pantry graham crackers are actually a little bit better than the Honey Maid one. 70% of taste testers actually preferred the generic brand over the privately-owned one.
Quaker Vs. Great Value Granola Bars
The price difference between Great Value granola bars is actually indicative of how much worse they are than Quakers. They’re dry and overly sweet. Market Pantry’s granola bars actually turned out to be even worse.
Coppertone Sport Vs. Equate Sunscreen
SPF rating and UVA and UVB protection are the important factors when it comes to sunscreen. An SPF of 15 or higher helps prevent skin cancer. And those labeled as “broad spectrum” protect against both UVA and UVB radiation. As long as your sunscreen contains these qualities, whether the brand is generic or not, there’s no need to spend extra money.
Up & Up Vs. Tylenol Pain Relief Medicine
You really shouldn’t be taste-testing pain-relief medication, but it is worth noting that generic drugs are often significantly cheaper than the identical brand of the same name. And since FDA regulations are universal, they should be identical. So, in the case of drugs like Tylenol, don’t worry about getting the named brand. Just save money with the generic one.
Ghirardelli Vs. Great Value Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
When it comes to chocolate chips for baking, just go with the name brand. Ghirardelli really knows what it’s doing when it comes to these sweets. It’ll be more expensive, but you won’t regret the flavor either.
Breyers Vs. Great Value Ice Cream
The gap in price between Breyers ice cream and the Great Value generic brand is pretty big, relatively speaking. It’s about two dollars. Even so, nearly 60% of the taste testers preferred Breyers. The savings are at least worth considering, especially if you use the ice cream to make milkshakes or other foodstuffs as opposed to just eating it by itself.
