Do brand names really matter when buying at the grocery?

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Sweetkymom

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When shopping for groceries and ingredients, do you prefer name brand over store? Do either one make your pies, cakes and/or cookies taste better? What about fresh fruit? Is there a better tasting brand of fresh fruit and/or vegetables?
 
Organic produce is far better than anything that you can buy from the regular produce section. I buy only from the organic farms in the summer and I can really taste the difference when I have to start getting it from the grocery store.
 
Most ingredients do not need brand names. If you buy dried fruit, nuts, flour or baking powder I can see no benefit in buying more expensive ones just because they have brighter packaging.

Generally I think that processed and packaged food products under the store's own label are equal to big brand names. Often they are produced in the same factory as those branded goods. Some own label products can actually taste better than a brand, but of course that is down to personal taste.

Locally grown fruit and vegetables should always taste better than a brand name, which might have been transported thousands of miles and kept in storage for many months.
 
When I get the chance, especially if I'm making small portions and the items on sale can be quite small too, then I give any brand a try that I don't usually use. I just stick with whatever tasted or worked the best.

It's supposed to matter because the way it's produced should be standardized, so if you find a brand that's good then it's usually going to continue being good. But it doesn't matter in the sense that whatever is advertised the most is the one that I'll be brainwashed into buying all the time along with most of the population and then because it's popular we all think it's really the best brand so it feeds back on itself.

Maybe it still matters in that I can't help subconsciously judging the packaging or something, but the best way is to really just try different stuff and compare them.

Except with fresh fruits and vegetables. Agriculture has a turnover rate and a whole lot of conditions that influence the quality, so I don't look at the brand or whatever at all--only at the fruit itself, which should have enough of a clue if you know the tricks.
 
Brand names do not usually make much difference to me, except in a few cases. There are a couple of canned soups that I prefer the name brand over store brand. And there is one 'helper' product we used occasionally which I prefer the name brand. Otherwise, I buy whatever is on sale.
 
Well, due to budgeting reasons I prefer to go with the cheaper one. But seeing as there are differences I usually try a couple of the available brands and then decide on which has the best price/taste ratio. :)
 
I do care about the brand, but only for some choice ingredients. For some others that might not be that noticeable such as pasta or tomato sauce, I'm not too choosy. I especially am picky when it comes to meat products like sausages and bacon because the cheaper brands are very unsavory, in my opinion.
 
If the ingredients are equal then why spend the extra money? I don't eat or buy a lot of canned goods and when I do buy from the meat section I make sure that I can get the best cut possible. I often find that many of the generic brands taste better than the name products.
 
When I am doing the groceries I often look for the tested quality brand like in the case for canned goods, frozen foods and other ingredients for my recipes. For me it does not matter if it cost a little bit more expensive than the ordinary brand as long it will be of help to make my recipes good. But in the case of fruits, vegetables, chicken and meats the brand does not matter as long as it fresh and safe to eat.
 
I have my brands that I really enjoy and that I am loyal to. However, I have found that when it comes right down to it, brand names don't make much of a difference. For the most part, a brand name product just comes in a fancier, more colorful box. I do like to buy name brand chocolate chips and cocoa because I have found that I don't like the taste of the off-brands in that category.
 
I am only picky on a few things that I have to have name brand as far as groceries go. For example my mayo has to be Dukes brand. I do not care for Kraft, Hellmans or any of the other brands of mayo. Its Dukes or forget it. There are a few salad dressings that I buy that have to be Kraft such as Catalina or their Italian dressing. I am branching out and trying to make my own dressings more often these days though. Its a work in progress.

I use to be picky about my pickles as well. I would only buy Mt. Olive pickles until I found a generic brand that is produced by Mt. Olive. Now I buy the generic brand produced by Mt. Olive and save almost a buck for them. Hubby is particular concerning his coffee. He likes several different brands but they all have to be dark roast and pack a punch.

One generic brand that I do not care for is the Walmart Great Value generic brand in certain items. I don't care for their condiments or breakfast foods in the Great Value brand.
 
dustysmommy2013 said:
I have my brands that I really enjoy and that I am loyal to. However, I have found that when it comes right down to it, brand names don't make much of a difference. For the most part, a brand name product just comes in a fancier, more colorful box. I do like to buy name brand chocolate chips and cocoa because I have found that I don't like the taste of the off-brands in that category.
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I'm much like you Dustysmommy. There's a handful of brands which I am loyal to, for one reason or another, such as the chocolate chip cookies I buy from time to time, just because they're so much larger than every other brand out there, and chunkier too.

True, I probably end up getting less cookies, but I prefer having the big chunky ones over the smaller ones which net me more, you know? Other than a few specific brands which I'll never diverge from, it's very much a case of 'Which one is cheapest?' any time I go shopping.
 
Most things I do not care if it is name brand or off brand. I buy what is cheap. Plus I find many times there is no difference in taste. There are a few things I buy name brand. That is bread, macaroni, chips, and twinkies. Other than that I do not care.
 
Verity Darkwaters said:
Most things I do not care if it is name brand or off brand. I buy what is cheap. Plus I find many times there is no difference in taste. There are a few things I buy name brand. That is bread, macaroni, chips, and twinkies. Other than that I do not care.
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Weirdly, or maybe not weirdly I dunno, one of the things I've noticed is that there is such a difference between name brand bread and store brand bread. To the point that I only buy store brand bread when I'm really struggling for money, because it's barely even bread.
 
I am not too picky when it comes to store brand versus name brand. I have only really noticed a difference when it comes to canned vegetables, but I like to buy fresh and organic whenever possible so it isn't too big of an issue. If there is a large price difference I almost always buy the store brand, but when it comes to meat and produce fresh and organic is the only way for me.
 
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