Do you buy Generic products? is there generic products you won't buy?!


Question: Do you buy Generic products!? is there generic products you won't buy!?
Answers:
There is an awesome website which shows the results of taste testing for common generics!. http://www!.walletpop!.com/specials/generi!.!.!. I find the Kirkland and Organic 365 products to be fairly comparable to the original brand name items!. Kroger does well on veggies (same as DelMonte) in cans which we don't use too many of!.

I will not buy the generic on condiments, peanut butter, soups, or tuna (sugar & salt contents are too much higher)!. Www@FoodAQ@Com

I always at least try a generic brand over a brand name when I am first buying a product!. If the brand name is only 10-30 cents more than the generic and I know the brand name is a superior product then I will buy the brand name!. Soups are good examples of this!.

Crackers, cereals and other things like this, don't quite taste as good as the brand name items but are very close!. I usually buy generic for these because if their low price compared to the brand name!. $2 for a big box of cereal vs!. $6 for a little box of brand name!.

Juices, condiments, canned vegetables and fruit are basically the same whether it is generic or brand name!. I buy the generic brands!. Dairy products and baked goods are fine generic!.

A lot of non-food products, like cleaning and bathroom supplies are just as good and definitely worth the price!.

I would say soups (especially cream soups), cheez whiz, kraft dinner, chips and some frozen fruit are usually better in brand name and then a couple of odds and ends!. I bought no name burrito and they were awful!. They were apparently chicken burritos but I could not distinguish any chicken pieces and it tasted like chicken fat rather than real chicken!. You could also feel hard and sharp pieces (bones perhaps)!. I am quite traumatized!. On that note, I don't like buying anything generic that has chicken in it!. Eating unidentifiable parts of a chicken creep me out!.

Generic meats won't be as good as cuts and may have more fat on them than brand name!. Generic items can replace the expensive spices and sauces that brand names use in their products with cheap fats and salts to get the same kind of flavour, so eating brand name can be healthier!. Not necessarily though!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I buy generic products all the time from Stater Bros!. which is the store I almost always shop at!. However, I do occasionally buy other products from Wal-Mart which are their own private label!. I do not like any of their tomato products (canned tomatoes, canned sauce, tomatoes and chiles, etc) because they have a metallic taste to them!. also, I think that their canned veggies are a little lower quality over buying the Stater Bros!. brand or the name brand veggies!.

Buying generic makes sense since food prices are so high!

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I almost always find the generic products as good or better in quality than the brand names!.

I can't think of much that I would buy as a brand name that I wouldn't buy as a generic!. Things like canned vegetables and beans are exactly the same!.

Oh, I know! The generic canned soups are really very disgusting, especially cream of celery!. Campbell's tastes much nicer!. But then, I don't buy canned soups often anyway!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I buy a lot of generic food!. The one thing you can tell a difference in is mayo!. Stuff like taco season, and slopy jo, it's better homemade anyway!. With the prices all the way they are, I make just about everything homemade!. I have a garden, so a lot of herbs, veggies, and melons I freeze, can, and that way all winter I am saving bunches of money!. Ya really can't beat the smell of homemade bread wafting threw the house!!Www@FoodAQ@Com

I buy almost entirely generic!. I am a bit choosy in some areas, though!. For Whole Foods, I often find the regular 365 label has too much salt or sugar!. I'm sensitive to salts, so the 365 tomato sauces are out!. But, if I step up to 365 Organic, the salt levels are down and I feel good about the organic part!. Generic juice, canned goods, generic dairy - its all good! Not olives, though - never had good luck with generic olives!.
More than generic, though, is the bulk foods section!. I find that the Kroger bulk foods is shrinking in selection, but Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Vitamin Cottage, and the like all have great foods in the bulk foods section!. A great way to save a buck and packaging!Www@FoodAQ@Com

I have used a good many generic products and don't find much difference from the brand names to be honest!. The only ones I stay away from are the cream soups!. I made a casserole using cream of mushroom once!. It was one I had made many times and I thought I'd save a few pennies and buy generic soup!. The casserole turned out awful and just did not taste the same!. So I stick to good old Campbell's for cooking!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I am always willing to try the generics, store brands, and off brands!. Most of what I buy is store brand!. (I shop at Meijer!.)

There are a few areas where I'm more picky!. For example, taco shells!. The store brand and generics had far too many broken shells!. Unless you were making a taco salad where you planned to crumble them anyway, they were NOT a bargain!. I am also slightly picky about boxed macaroni and cheese!. I don't need name brand, but the generic isn't cheesy-tasting enough!.

Oddly enough, one of the things I'm most picky about is better in the store brand than the name brands available here!. (No generic is available!.) That's cultured buttermilk!. Meijer brand is some of the best I've ever had, whether for cooking, baking, or drinking!. (Yes, I do drink the stuff!)

I'd say the majority of foods I buy (but a slim majority, maybe 55%) are a bit better in the name brand, but not enough better to be worth more money to me!. Maybe if my income were higher, I would spend some of the extra there!. But many foods are no better in name brand, as far as I am concerned!.

EDIT TO ADD:
When I saw Sissy's reply, I realized there's another thing I am absolutely picky about: mayonnaise!. Helman's!. (That's called "Best Foods" in some parts of the country!.) Not even Kraft!. Just Helman's!. Certainly not store brand or generic!. But mustard I will buy in store or generic, and ketchup I will get off brands!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I buy generic whenever possible with two exceptions!. I will never buy generic Mac & Cheese, it has to be kraft, it just tastes cheesier and creamier to me!. And I will never buy generic condensed soups!. I don't use them much anymore anyways, but Campbell's just tastes better!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Yes I buy generic and I've been pleasantly suprised!. I like the spaghetti sauce better than the fancy expensive type!. I just add my own spices and herbs to dress it up!.I buy generic mustard!. The thing I won't buy generic is mayo, olive oil!. I buy generic cereals too!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Yes!. I buy generics all the time!. The only thing I will not buy is generic medications!. Because of the slight difference in the chemicals involved!. Such as motrin!. Is not the same as the generics!. My body tells me every time I try the generic for pain!. It simply doesn't work!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Whole Foods has a line called "365" which is often very good value without a big sacrifice in quality
Publix, our other local supermarket has a number of over the counter drugs and vitamins which I'm happy to use!.Www@FoodAQ@Com





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