Quite possibly the age-old question when going shopping for groceries revolves around the idea of generic versus name brand foods.  Which are better?  Which are better for you?  Are generic groceries as good as name brand groceries?  Are name brand groceries tastier?  Here are some shopping pros and cons of choosing generic over the name brand in the grocery store.

Pro:  Brand name groceries are usually more expensive because the manufacturers are spending huge amounts of money to convince you that their products are the best on the market.  This automatically adds a large advertising overhead to the product that is passed on to you, the consumer.  Did you know that in some cases the generic item and the brand name item are coming from the same factory?  Case in point are ovulation predictors – the little sticks that tell women when they are most likely to conceive – which are manufactured and packaged at one or two manufacturing plants, yet sold in a variety of packages and under a variety of names.  Some are markedly more expensive than others, even though they are exactly the same product.

Con:  If you have a coupon for a brand name item, and if your store doubles coupons, you will frequently come out ahead if you purchase the brand name item.  You will need to carefully compare prices.

Pro: Substitute brand name ingredients with like generic ingredients.  Take for example your bread machine recipe, which calls for bread flour.  This flour can be had as a brand name item and is somewhat expensive – as flour goes.  On the other hand, did you know that you can substitute it for a similar item, namely all purpose flour, which is available as a generic item and will thus save you lots money? Product substitutions with generic items are a great way to stretch your food dollar.

Con: Compare ingredients and read the food label. Of special importance is the sodium content – some generic foods have added salt to make them taste better rather than higher quality ingredients – and the fat content.  If the generic brand has a lot more sodium or fat than the brand name, you will need to decide how important this is to you.  In some cases, such as purchasing a can of beans, for example, it does not really matter since you will be able to rinse most of the salt off. 

Pro: Check the weight content of the generic and the brand name food.  This comes in especially handy when you are comparing cereals.  Did you know that even though some brand name cereals have bigger boxes, they actually contain less food by weight?  It is true! In addition to the foregoing, some brand name manufacturers have quietly begun to reduce the amount of their contents without reducing the size of their packaging.  As you can see, size does matter, and generic food manufacturers do usually not play this game.

Con: At times generic groceries come in bigger volume than their brand name counterpart.  While this is a great idea if you are going through the item quickly, if you are living alone or anticipate the need for smaller sizes, you may be throwing some of your money away by purchasing a generic food item that may later on go into the trash after going stale.

Generic food choices are a better investment for you in many cases; however, in some cases, you will actually save money if you chose a brand name item over a generic one.  These discounts depend on your personal shopping situation, your needs, and also outside factors, such as ongoing store sales and available coupons.

 

Trackback URI | Comments RSS