Name brand foods vs Store brands

upnover

upnover

Grumpy, decrepit Old Man
Moderator
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Morganton NC
I shop at Wal Mart, Ingles, and Aldi
I have for years, bought about all my can goods from Aldi. SO many things are cheaper there than Wal Mart, and Ingles. For the most part, I buy my can goods, cereals, some meats, and some frozen goods from there. Recently I strayed from a couple of my name brand items that I have been die hard won't eat anything else type things. Two to mention was Dukes Mayonnaise, and Peter Pan Peanut Butter. I tried both mayonnaise and peanut butter from Aldi. To my surprise, I like the Aldi Mao. It is as close to Dukes as you can get. I tried Aldi's Peanut butter, and to me(and I really like peanut butter) I like it just as good. I have also been using the Aldi Coffee. I used to use Maxwell House or folgers. I use sweetener and milk in my coffee, and can not tell the difference.
Other items I use regularly are
Any and all spices
All can goods, veggies and soups
Beef stew, and chunk chicken
The Vienna sausages and potted meat are as good as the name brands
Salad dressings.
Mao and Mustard
Cheeses(a lot cheaper than even the store brands elsewhere.)
bottled water
veggie oil and spray
cereals
pancake mix and syrup
canned bisc
margarine
romaine noodles
I am sure there are others. I have found, I do not like the bread there.

Thought this might help
 
I used to be the same way. But I have found. I like saving money more than the taste difference between the 2 products im choosing from. Now there are always things that don't make the cut...like ketchup....I have to get heinz.
 
Those places are too crowded, I like going to food lion and getting my stuff, I'm usually going late so no one is there and I'm single so I just buy stuff for myself or stuff to cook during the week when my girl friend is going to be eating too. I save enough with the mvp card and buying the off brand stuff. I don't skimp on food, I like my food and I like the good stuff. I like their beef and meats better. But that's really just comparing all to Walmart.
 
It all depends on how close they are...my wife wnats to drive 40 miles to Aldi to save $20..its doesnt work.
 
We do all our grocery shopping at Wal-Mart on Sunday morning to beat the crowds.
 
Started shopping ALDI about 4-5 years ago, cut our food bill by about 2/3's or so. We buy almost all our groceries there if possible.
in addition to Chip's list:
frozen black angus burgers are really good
Pasta sauce and pastas(frozen/dried or vacuum packed)
can soda's are decent
fruits and veggies are hit and miss, being available and being good
Milk is usually cheaper than anywhere else
Eggs, Bacon, hotdogs
ALDI's sport drink, i.e. Gatoraid, is ok depending on flavor

The White bread does bring the suck. Wheat is tolerable though.
 
Most everything I get at Aldi's is good enough to pass muster, if not better than big-name competitors. There's a few things I shy away from. I tried their mayo years ago, and it reminded me of a space-age polymer. It may have gotten better since then, but I'm not a Duke's fan, either. I also shy away from toiletries from there. I know what I like, and stick with those. Fresh produce can be hit-or-miss. I think a lot of restaurants raid the shelves when they get shipments in, leaving us with the stragglers, but it's cheap! What bothers me is their "special purchase" stuff. I've found some great stuff, but when I went back to get more, it was gone and there's no telling if they'll ever get it back! That's just one of those places where you have to try it and decide if it's worth getting again.
 
Ron said:
It all depends on how close they are...my wife wnats to drive 40 miles to Aldi to save $20..its doesnt work.
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Ron I understand this. We used to not have one here in Morganton. I went to the one in Hickory. So, I was indeed having to travel ~70 round trip to save some money. I tried bundling as much as possible. Hardly ever went there to shop, and that be the only place I was going. And, when I did go, since they were so far away, I bought a lot more, in some cases in the 6 month supply range. Back in the day I was driving a 84 Buick Estate wagon. I was full with grocery's flowing over into the back seat sometimes. But when the one in Morganton was built, I started buying less.
I have found the fresh veggies I buy are usually in supply and a lot cheaper. Green peppers, baby carrots, onions and taters.
The meats are usually touch and go, good selection one day, and out of most the next.
The only toiletries I have bought so far was TP, and have not tried it yet, but thought I would try it. I am about halfway through a bottle of liquid detergent, no complaints so far.
I currently have a box of their black Angus burger. It's a dollar cheaper than Wal Mart's, but have to admit, I like Wal Mart's better.
 
upnover said:
The only toiletries I have bought so far was TP, and have not tried it yet, but thought I would try it.
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We buy generics and cheapos for many things... however w/ TP in many cases, you get what you pay for... and cardboard-on-the-ass is just not worth the pennies saved to me:D
 
Store brand all day but my ass gets charmin with aloe lol.
 
I would buy store brand stuff, but most of the things I buy are not offered in a store brand. About the only things I can think of off the top of my head are chips, bread, cheese. I have to have certain things though like Duke's mayo, Heinz ketchup, have to have velveeta shells and cheese. They don't have store brand beer so I can't buy that.
 
And also I do have to have quality toilet paper. My new favorite is charmin extra strong. No dingleberries here :lol:
 
My wife has bought a few items from Aldi in the past and they were ok. I seem to remember very waxy peppers more than anything, I fed em to the chickens.

Any Aldi fans frequent Sams? Sams can be tricky on it being a good deal or average. I buy meats and veggies from there when I can make time. Break it into reasonable portions and toss in chest freezer.

And for the record Duke Mayo is the only way to go.
 
FYI for y'all mayo die-hards - try some of the new olive-oil based mayo. Tastes great and it isn't bad for you at all (real mayo is terrible for your body)
 
I can see it now..."Duke's Olive Oil Mayonnaise."





Oh wait, no I can't! :flipoff2: If I see that hit the shelves, I'm going to start looking for the other signs of the apocalypse!
 
There's a lot of things that I've found to be better when they're store brand. Cereals are the first things that come to mind. Food Lion and WalMart both have some great, no-name brand, cereals. Especially when you can buy a 5lb sack the size of a pillow case for what Kellog's wants for a few ounces in a box...

As for TP, I'm a fan of Quilted Northern. :D


Anybody else have a local Piggly Wiggly? They have an awesome meat department!
 
I used to haul local for a grocery chain in New England. Used to pick up back hauls @ Ocean spray and a local brand called "Teddie" peanut butter. Whats my point you ask ? I would pick up 10 pallets of Ocean spray and 14 pallets of Market Basket brand ! Same thing @ Teddie Talked to a production guy @ Ocean Spray who explained that the Market basket brand was the juice from a second pressing of the "A" grade berries combined with the first pressing of "B" grade. Slightly different taste but also $.90 cheaper per 1/2 gallon back in 1990 ! I am sure ALL other chains do the same. Buying the store brand can save you a good deal of cash and if you never had the name brand in the first place then you wouldn't know there was a difference.
 
Last time I bought Walmart brand canned foods it tasted like I took a bite out of an old ashtray. Never again.

With that, we travel about 20 miles to Harris teeter. Because their store brands taste good, often better than the name brand in my opinion. And with coupons and sales, my wife saves more than going to Wally World around the corner. And I have fresh tasting food.
 
mbalbritton said:
With that, we travel about 20 miles to Harris teeter. Because their store brands taste good, often better than the name brand in my opinion. And with coupons and sales, my wife saves more than going to Wally World around the corner. And I have fresh tasting food.
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Same here. If you can't tell the difference between Food Lion and Harris Teeter, there is no need to bother. But for me and my wife, we really appreciate the better quality/flavor of the Teeter. Unfortunately, they sold ALL of their stores in Gaston County to Lowes Foods. We have an Ingles nearby which is tons better than Food Lion/Bi-Lo, buts its just not the same.
 
This thread reminds me of one of my old favorite jokes from the 80s.

What happened when Dolly Parton bought out Big Lots, Piggly Wiggly, and Harris Teeter?
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The new chain was call Dolly's Big Wiggly Teeters :D

ok carry on...
 
I buy by unit price, whatever is cheapest.* Sometimes what is "on sale," sometimes store brand. I typically go to one of two Harris Teeter stores or a Kroger. There is a Food Lion that I've shopped some, too... But buying by unit price I've found it to be a wash.

As the kids get older, I can see buying in bulk maybe making more sense, but I mostly just stock up when stuff we eat regularly (canned stuff, mostly) is really cheap.

*Everything but TP. Cottonelle for this house. ;) I just stock up when it is on sale.
 
Oh regarding "generic" sodas - are there any non-name brands that have an equivalent to the Coke/Pepsi "zero" lines?
IME to whatever extent traditional diet sodas taste bad, the generics are even worse. But we really like the zeros...
 
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