Name Brand vs. Store Brand: Putting them to the Test

November 2011 - Posts

• Eco-Friendly Stocking Stuffers - Any Ideas?

  I am looking for ideas for some eco-friendly stocking stuffers.  Does anyone have any ideas? Posted Nov 28 2011, 09:42 AM by Spendwise Mom with no comments

• Are You Spending More, Less or the Same this Christmas?

  This year we are cutting back and spending about half as much as we usually do.  Are any of you cutting back?  Are you spending more?  Are you spending the same?  Posted Nov 28 2011, 09:33 AM by Spendwise Mom with no comments

• Thanksgiving Traditions: What are you having for Thanksgiving Dinner?

  Do you have the typical turkey, gravy, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, etc. for Thanksgiving?  What special family recipes do you make each year? Posted Nov 18 2011, 08:53 AM by Spendwise Mom with no comments

• Black Friday Shopping

  Are you going shopping on Black Friday?  Do you like to get out and fight the crowds for the good deals or do you like to just skip it and stay home? Posted Nov 16 2011, 07:47 PM by Spendwise Mom with 1 comment(s)

• Inside Gardening in Winter

  Has anyone had any success trying to grow things inside during the cold winter months?  Posted Nov 15 2011, 12:08 PM by Spendwise Mom with no comments

• Name Brand vs. Store Brand: Green Beans & Rice

  There was not a specific brand that was preferred for the beans or the rice.  Different people liked different brands.  It was all over the board.  I will just give prices and you can decide if you want to try the store brand or not for yourself.  Most store brands have a money back guarantee so you really don't lose anything if you don't like it.  Just take it back and get your money refunded if you don't like them.     Green Beans: Great Value   68 cents IGA bought on sale for 25 cents, but probably about 69-79 cents regularly Green Giant   82 cents  Del Monte   98 cents   Rice: Uncle Ben's parboiled  $1.38 per pound Mahatma parboiled   $1.29  per pound Great Value   84 cents per pound The Great Value rice didn't seem to stick together as well, but it may be because it was made last and the others had time to cool down. Posted Nov 07 2011, 07:36 AM by Spendwise Mom with no comments

• Name Brand vs. Store Brand: Vanilla Ice Cream

  Price Analysis Brand Price Size (L) Cost/L Edys $3.88 1.41 $2.75 Blue Bunny $3.78 1.65 $2.29 Great Value $2.67 1.65 $1.62 First Impressions Most of the impressions were based on packaging. The Great Value cardboard packaging is somewhat messy to deal with. The Blue Bunny was by far the best packaged—the lid snapped tightly onto the top, and the container was sturdy. The Edy’s container didn’t seal nearly as convincingly. Taste Results These were debated based on the two opinions used for this analysis. Rating Taster #1 Taster #2 1st Great Value Blue Bunny 2nd Blue Bunny Edys 3rd Edys Great Value Taster #1 liked Great Value best because it felt like the flavor lasted longer in your mouth. Taster #2 liked Blue Bunny best because it was the sweetest, and Great Value was not nearly sweet enough. Edys had good texture, but its flavor was not as good as Blue Bunny. Melting Test Great Value melted far more quickly than the other two (shown in the middle). The second most “melty” ice cream was Blue Bunny, and Edys held its frozen form the best. In the picture below, the Edys on the right looks second-most melty, but that’s because the melted Great Value ice cream had run into it.   Posted Nov 01 2011, 05:08 PM by Spendwise Mom with 1 comment(s)

• Name Brand vs. Store Brand: Honey Nut Cheerios

  Price Analysis Brand Price Size (oz.) Cost/oz. Honey Nut Cheerios 2.50 (sale) 17 $0.15 4.19 (regular) 17 $0.25 Great Value: Honey Nut Spins 2.24 17 $0.13 Malt-O-Meal: Honey Nut Scooters 4.18 25.5 $0.16 Kroger: Honey Nut Toasted Oats 1.88 12.25 $0.15 First Impressions On first glance, the Honey Nut Cheerios and Malt-O-Meal cereal looked the best. The real Honey Nuts looked more sugary and shiny than the Malt-O-Meal. The Kroger cereal lacked color and the Great Value one looked too “airy”—not nearly dense enough to be a good cereal. Taste Results 1st: Honey Nut Cheerios—A very significant difference between these and all the others—absolutely no question that they were the best 2nd: Malt-O-Meal—Tasted pretty good, but just didn’t have quite the flavor of the real thing 3rd: Kroger—Quite bland; could hardly taste the honey and nut flavors 4th: Great Value—Taste was off and rather weird; didn’t taste at all like honey Sogginess All 4 got soggy pretty quickly, but the Kroger and Great Value did so faster. Malt-O-Meal actually held up the best, just a little better than the name brand. Overall Opinion In this case, there really is no substitute for the name brand. And, as the price analysis shows, if you can get it on sale, it’s actually cheaper or the same price as the other brands. Our recommendation would be to watch carefully to find Honey Nut Cheerios on sale, but if you can’t wait for that, then get the Malt-O-Meal version. Posted Nov 01 2011, 05:05 PM by Spendwise Mom with 1 comment(s)