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

January 2012 - Posts

• How Much Food Do You Waste?

  I saw something recently that said that the average American family wastes 1200-1300 dollars in food each year.  This clip made me sick to see how much food this family wastes.  You wouldn't believe it.  Do you waste a lot of food in your home? Posted Jan 09 2012, 08:58 AM by Spendwise Mom with 2 comment(s)

• Name Brand vs. Store Brand: Cherry Pie Filling

  Price Analysis Kroger: $1.89 Great Value: $1.93 Comstock (Duncan Hines): $3.62 Texture and Appearance The Comstock looked the best in both texture and color. The Great Value filling looked good, but the texture was not quite as good as the Comstock. The Kroger brand looked the worst by far. Taste The Kroger was by far the worst of the three. This was somewhat surprising because most Kroger products we've tasted in the past have been relatively good. The Comstock tasted a little better than the Great Value, but the two were really quite comparable. If you weren't comparing them in a back-to-back taste test, I doubt you'd notice whether you were eating one or the other. Considering the price difference, in this case it is well worth it to buy the store brand. Just be certain to buy the Great Value filling. Posted Jan 09 2012, 08:52 AM by Spendwise Mom with no comments

• Name Brand vs. Store Brand: Cottage Cheese

  For this taste test, we compared a household favorite: cottage cheese. We chose two name brands and two store brands: Kraft and Horizon Organic, and Great Value and Kroger. Price Analysis Brand Price Size (oz) Cost/oz Great Value $2.68 24 $0.11 Kroger $1.99 24 $0.08 Kraft $1.88 16 $0.12 Horizon Organic $3.36 16 $0.21 In this taste test, the most striking result was how bad the Kraft cottage cheese tasted compared to the other three. The taste was sour, and it looked like it had been run through a food processor—not appetizing in the least. Of the other three, Horizon Organic tasted the best, but it was not much better than Great Value or Kroger cottage cheese; its taste certainly wasn't worth the price premium. Go with the store brand for cottage cheese; it's much less inexpensive and still tastes great.   Posted Jan 07 2012, 04:32 PM by Spendwise Mom with 1 comment(s)

• Name Brand vs. Store Brand: Hot Sauce

  For the Hot Sauce test, we compared the four following brands: Frank's, Kroger, Louisiana Hot Sauce, and Great Value. Here is the price breakdown: Frank's (Used some we already had, but usually about $1.75) Kroger $1.00 Louisiana Hot Sauce $1.00 Great Value $0.98 My husband is the only one that uses hot sauce in our house, and it always takes us a long time to go through even a small bottle! So, there is definitely going to be a larger weight on the hot sauce that tastes the best. I don't think the price difference is big enough for me: it might save me a dollar a year. The winner is: Franks Hot Sauce! It tasted the best. Great Value tasted like it was watered down, Louisiana Hot Sauce had a very distinct and different flavor, and Kroger had a pretty average taste. Posted Jan 03 2012, 09:56 PM by Spendwise Mom with no comments