Consumer Reports: Store Brand Standouts

Featured in the October 2009 issue of Consumer Reports

posted: 97 DAYS 12 HOURS AGO

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This article is the archived version of a report that appeared in October 2009 Consumer Reports magazine.

Scroll down for a list of store brand products judged at least "very good" by CR.

If concern about taste has kept you from trying store-brand foods, hesitate no more. In blind tests, our trained tasters compared a big national brand with a store brand in 29 food categories. Store and national brands tasted about equally good 19 times. Four times, the store brand won; six times, the national brand won.

What's more, the store-brand foods we tested cost an average of 27 percent less than big-name counterparts -- about what you'd find across all product categories, industry experts told us. The biggest difference: 35 cents per ounce for Costco's vanilla vs. $3.34 for McCormick's. (Prices are the averages we found across the country.) Price gaps have less to do with what goes into the package than with the research, development, and marketing costs that help build a household name.

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Store Brands Take Hold

During double-digit inflation in the late 1970s, cheap no-frills goods (aka generics) came in plain packaging that said little more than "applesauce" or "whole-kernel corn." They usually weren't very good, concedes Brian Sharoff, president of the Private Label Manufacturers Association, a trade group. Our tests and U.S. sales figures show that's no longer true.

Today's store brands enjoy more prominent placement on shelves, snazzier packaging, more promotion, and, in general, higher manufacturing standards than in years past. That's not surprising, since some companies make both national brands and store brands. Many big-name companies make their usual types of products for the stores; others make additional private-label items. Hormel Foods Corp. (cured meat, chili), for example, also makes bouillon, pudding, and salsa.

Despite the dismal economy, Sharoff doesn't expect a resurgence of no-frills products. Instead, he says, chains will offer more "second tier" store brands that stress savings, such as A&P Savings Plus and Smart Price, Safeway Basic Red, and Kroger Value. Second-tier products sell for about 35 percent less than big brands on average.

Whatever the stores are doing, it's working. In the most recent supermarket survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, 70 percent of respondents said they were highly satisfied with the quality of store brands they'd bought.

Bottom Line

Switching to store brands can be a painless way to cut your grocery bill.

Subscribe to Consumer Reports to find out how supermarket brands fared against big brands or scroll down to see store brands that fared well in past CR tests.

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Consumer Reports has tested countless store-brand products over the years -- cereal, detergent, popcorn, and toilet paper, for starters. The items below, from reports published since 2006, were all judged at least very good. Note that formulations might have changed since our tests and that some products might no longer be available.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
-- Trader Joe's Chunky
-- Whole Foods Chip

Fabric Softener
-- Great Value (Walmart) Everyday Elegance liquid
-- Kirkland Signature (Costco) sheets

Glass Cleaner
-- Streak Free with Ammonia spray (Walmart)

Granola
-- Trader Joe's Just The Clusters Maple Pecan
-- Stop & Shop 100% Natural Oats, Honey & Raisins
-- Market Pantry (Target) with Raisins low fat