Brand Duplicate Store for Famous Brand Products, Grocery Savings

Loyalty to well-known brand products can be deep. According to a nationwide representative survey of 2,519 US adults conducted in September 2022, 43% of Americans buy less expensive versions of famous brands in stores only occasionally or not at all. But our latest tests show that they are making a big mistake by leaving stores on the shelf.

A panel of expert tasters blind tested the leading brands of 10 staple food versions: ketchup, frozen organic mixed vegetables, ranch dressing, whole grain bread, peanut butter, plain fat-free Greek yogurt, nut mix, maple syrup, condensed chicken. noodle soup and honey flakes similar to Cheerios, along with store-bought counterparts. Products were from 10 retailers: Aldi, Amazon, BJ’s, Costco, Dollar General, Kroger, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Whole Foods. (Some stores didn’t have their own version of big-name products. Costco doesn’t have their own ketchup, for example.)

CR has found that many brands taste the same or even better than established brands.

“Of the 70 branded products in our testing, 76% tasted as good as the established brands,” says Amy Keating, MD, who led the testing. Just as importantly, good taste comes at a great price. We compared the average amount we paid for all products and found that store brands typically cost between 5% and 72% less per serving than established brands. For example, home-brand ketchup sold at Aldi, Target, and Walmart was deemed similar in taste to Heinz but cost about 70 percent less. In the salad dressing category, we found that Kroger Creamy Ranch dressing tasted better than Hidden Valley Ranch and was about half the price.

In terms of taste, some of the brands in the store didn’t live up to the brand name (although most of them were still cheaper). And in some cases, the store brand cost more. So read on for all the information about the brands you’ll love the most and pay a lot less for.

Ketchup

Iconic Heinz Ketchup – by far the best-selling ketchup brand in the US – is a unique blend of spicy, sweet, and salty tomato flavor flavored with onions and other spices. Aldi and Kroger ketchups were slightly less spicy and didn’t have as much seasoning. The Walmart version was lightly spiced, with a predominant tomato flavor. Our testers found these three, along with the versions from Dollar General and Target, to taste very good. And since they’ll save you 62 to 72 percent per serving, a Heinz fan might be just as happy with any of them. The ketchups from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods were also good, but they tasted noticeably different. Unlike Heinz, both had a strong aroma of brown spices (such as allspice and cloves) and tasted more like a cross between ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Most store brands contained 20-30 mg less sodium than 180 mg per tablespoon of Heinz, but the same amount of added sugar as brand-name ketchup.

Sauce Ranch

With tangy buttermilk and flavors of dill, onion, garlic and black pepper, Hidden Valley is a classic ranch dressing. The Kroger version was the same, but with a decidedly cheesy vibe that our tasters thought could spice up your half-price salad a bit. The taste and texture of most other brands were similar to Hidden Valley, although slightly less spicy and spiced. The Whole Foods dressing was thin and had a sour taste that overpowered the buttermilk and ranch spices. Trader Joe’s version didn’t look much like a ranch gas station; it had a slight taste of mustard and taste. Both Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s dressings were slightly less fat and calorie dense than other dressings. They all contained between 240 and 290 mg of sodium, which is a lot for 2 tablespoons, so be careful how much you add to your salad.

Organic frozen mixed vegetables

More than 8 out of 10 participants in our survey who buy frozen vegetables said they bought a store brand, more than any other product we asked about. And it looks like a good move. All of the organic frozen vegetables we tested were at least as good as the Cascadian Farms national brand vegetables. They all also offer more variety by adding green beans to the carrots, corn, and peas you get from a well-known brand, and most of them are significantly cheaper. The vegetables from Whole Foods tasted better than the established brands, with a slightly crunchy texture and a nice sweetness from corn and peas, but they cost more. Kroger vegetables were similar in quality to Whole Foods, but tasted fresher than regular frozen vegetables and cost 21 percent less than established brands.

Whole wheat bread

All of the breads we tried tasted just as good as the famous Nature’s Own brand, although they all had slightly different flavors and textures. Nature’s Own Bread is slightly chewy and moist. Aldi is slightly less dense. Kroger’s and Walmart bread is less moist than Nature’s Own; Whole wheat Kroger is also slightly sweeter. Target’s is a good choice for whole grain bread lovers who prefer the more airy texture of white bread. For a denser whole grain bread, choose Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods loaves. The nutritional value varies from product to product, but they all contain at least 2 grams of fiber per slice, and none contain more than 2 grams of added sugars. The Aldi, Target, and Walmart versions have the least amount of sodium (110 to 115 mg); Whole Foods has the most (170 mg per slice). It’s not much, but bread is the main source of sodium in the American diet because we eat so much of it.

Peanut butter

If you enjoy eating peanut butter with a spoon, you can feel the subtle difference between the classic Skippy brand and a number of brands. Aldi and Walmart were slightly thicker, and Kroger’s tasted slightly less sweet, but all had a similar roasted peanut taste and saltiness level. Trader Joe’s was thick and sticky, with a stronger peanut flavor. On PB&J, you probably won’t notice any of these variations. The BJ’s and Whole Foods brands are natural style so they are thinner, a bit runny and not as smooth. They also have no added sugar, so they are less sweet than established brands, and BJ has less flavorful roasted peanuts. BJ also costs 37 percent more than Skippy, probably because it’s organic. Two brands we tried didn’t qualify: Dollar General’s and Target’s, which had a less roasted peanut flavor; Dollar General’s also had a less fresh taste.

Greek yogurt

A CR survey found that about 4 in 10 yogurt shoppers skip past brands to look for names like Chobani instead. But they may want to reconsider this decision. Our testers have determined that most store-bought yogurts are just as good as Chobani, and you may not notice any difference, especially when you enjoy them with a filling or use them in a smoothie. The brand name was creamy and had a good balance of milky taste and natural sourness. Whole Foods yogurt came closest to this flavor. (Whole Foods yogurt does cost 6 percent more, but it’s organic.) Most of the other brands tended to be slightly more acidic than Chobani or Whole Foods yogurt, and a few—Costco and Amazon—were slightly thicker. Skip the Kroger version if you don’t like very sour yogurt. They were all close in nutritional value, with most containing about 100 calories, 17 grams of protein, and 15 percent of the Daily Value of calcium (1,300 mg) per 6-ounce serving.

Mix of nuts

All the nuts here, even the branded Planter, contained 70 percent or more of almonds and cashews, with other flavors thrown in. For Planter, it was hazelnuts, pecans and pistachios. The brand name was very good, but a few nuts were bitter and overcooked. You’ll get the tastiest selection and save a lot of money by choosing the Costco or Walmart brand. The Costco nuts had fewer broken pieces and a nice roasted flavor. The mixture contained large cashew nuts and macadamia halves, as well as almonds, pecans and brazil nuts. Walmart’s nuts, priced 21% less than Planter’s, were the same, but instead of macadamia nuts, they included hazelnuts. Trader Joe’s with Pecans, Hazelnuts, and Brazil Nuts offers the same savings and contains less sodium (20mg) but more broken pieces. Some nuts in Aldi packages were bitter, and BJs tasted less fresh.

Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup

This famous Campbell’s signature soup has good chicken broth and generous noodles. The same goes for the Aldi version, which our testers found better because the thinner noodles were firmer and cost 47 percent less than the Campbell. Walmart’s chicken noodle soup tasted close to Campbell’s, and at 22 cents a serving, it was the cheapest in our tests, but the noodles were slightly bland. As with many canned soups, sodium is the problem: Most of the brands we’ve tested hover around 900mg of sodium per 1-cup serving. Kroger’s has 650mg, but our testers found the broth to be “insipid” and some of the chicken pieces had a soft, spongy texture.

Maple syrup

Our tasters found that all the syrups they tested were delicious, but there were slight differences in taste and texture, and there were two that stood out. Butternut Mountain Farms brand name syrup was thick and buttery with a strong maple flavor. But according to our testers, BJ and Target syrups taste better. Butternut had a hint of molasses, while the other two had more complex flavors like caramel (with a bit of coconut in the BJ version). Target cost our customers 3% more, but BJ’s was 17% cheaper and organic. For those who like a thinner syrup with a more delicate flavor, Costco’s Organic, which is 25 percent cheaper than the established brand, was the best deal. Most other brands cost about the same as Butternut.

Honey oatmeal

Can you fill your morning bowl of oatmeal with fake Cheerios that tastes like the real thing but costs a lot less? The answer is qualified yes. Our trained tasters found a slightly less intense taste of toasted oats and honey at Trader Joe’s Honey O’s, but it was close enough—at 25 cents a serving versus 48 cents for Cheerios, though it has a bit more added sugar. Walmart was also close to it, while Amazon and Kroger were just as tasty but a little thicker and crunchier. The sweetness of Target was more fruity than honey. Skip Dollar General and Whole Foods cereal, which have a less pronounced oatmeal flavor than Cheerios. And Dollar General’s had a slightly soapy taste. Whole Foods cereal is organic and costs 14 percent less per serving, but our testers found their O to be slightly hard with a slight toasty flavor.

Based on prices paid, Consumer Reports expects you to save the most when shopping at brand stores at Costco, Aldi, Walmart and Target, and the least at Whole Foods.

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