Are discount brands "just as good" as regular/premium or is that just something the working class say to feel a little better?

[TheOtherSideofMakeBelieve]

The Sam's Choice frozen pizza were far and away my favorite frozen pizza. Honestly they were just the best pizza I could get where I live.

Malt O Meal S'mores is my favorite sugarbomb cereal

I forget what Kroger's store brand is called but their store brand cornflakes are my favorite bland cereal. They taste about the same as any other corn flake but they have really inconsistent thickness which leads to a texture I really appreciate, vs Kellogg's Corn Flakes are consistently super thin and boring

 

[sasazuka]

Loblaws "President's Choice" line of products are usually just as good if not better than the name brand stuff.

For a lot of products such as hamburger patties, President's Choice is the main brand I can think of to the point that I'm not even sure what the most popular non-store name brand for hamburger patties is.

 

[Brenda Holiday]

Wommart brand cereal, granola bars, and more that I can't recall used to be superior to brand name until covid and shrinkflation now they are borderline inedible. It was especially noticeable in the granola bars. Less junk to fill the pantry now, though.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

In my experience with Aldi and Kroger brands, yes. In some cases, the knock off is better. Wal-Mart knock offs are usually mediocre at best. Sam's Club's brands are generally on par with the name brands or better. Most stuff I get at Aldi is better than name brand.

 

[Ninon42]

Avoid their freezer section to the best degree you can. Ever since I got an air fryer, I periodically get food for it, but it really is just a nutritional dead end and makes you question your life choices.

Aldi's frozen cream cheese wontons are delicious in the air fryer, probably their best frozen item I have tried. The pierogis on the other hand were nasty, and the pretzels thoroughly mid (disappointing from a German company). Aldi is great for cookies, like their fake Nutter Butter's are as good or better than the name brand, and the chips and cereal are fine. Their cheese curds are not good and the produce always tastes a bit off, though the bagged salad mixes are alright. The only things that have to be name brand in my opinion are Philly cream cheese (nothing else taste quite right) and Hellman's mayo.

 

[Mordecai "3 Finger" Brown]

Loblaws "President's Choice" line of products are usually just as good if not better than the name brand stuff.

Loblaws' PC Brand is funny because it tries to market itself as somewhat of a "premium" generic brand that is barely cheaper than the name brand it's imitating.

Their actual discount brand is the No Name yellow packaging line that is much more basic bitch.

 

[3deadniggers]

Often the budget brands have less crap in them. You often see a store brand have just the essential ingredients while a brand will have another 5 preservatives and soy flour/lichen padding it out. I don't understand why they do that.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

The only things that have to be name brand in my opinion are Philly cream cheese (nothing else taste quite right) and Hellman's mayo.

Dukes > Hellman's. If you haven't tried it, you should.

But yes. Mayo and cream cheese, do NOT get store brands.

I made the mistake of thinking I could get by with store-brand cream cheese to save money when I was making a cheesecake one time. What a mistake. It wasn't... terrible? But it was also just not great, either, and I make a fucking excellent cheesecake normally. Never again.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

I remember when I was a kid and would go over my friend's house, sometimes I'd make fun of him for having the discount brands (he had a lot of siblings) because they were bad. Like he had to drink "Mountain Thunder" instead of Mountain Dew and eat this weird knockoff of Captain Crunch that came in giant bags. We also were always very worried what was in the generic 2 liters at Walmart that were just labeled "Cola."

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

This has been answered to death so I'll say try cheap store brands and find out. You'll find many things are identical if not better, but some specific products are duds.

This Aldi knockoff was better than any Oreo of any kind I remember, and it was discounted after the season ended.

 

[Colon capital V]

If you buy branded water like Dasani or some shit, you deserve to get overcharged on your grocery bill.

 

[Dawdler]

Discount brands used to be much worse than the regular brands.
Now regular brands fell in quality so much that they are evenly matched.

 

[JULAY]

If you buy branded water like Dasani or some shit, you deserve to get overcharged on your grocery bill.

Unless you live somewhere with an unsafe water supply, buying bottled tap water makes you a retard no matter what.

 

[Shroom King]

Discount brands used to be much worse than the regular brands.
Now regular brands fell in quality so much that they are evenly matched.

Can confirm when it comes to clothes. It seems like everything falls apart at around the same time whether or not it has a designer label on it.
All microchips are made from only 2 factories in the whole world, so consider that before min-maxing costs on any computer stuff.
When it comes to audio gear, a little goes a long way but diminishing returns will kick in faster than you realize.

 

[Mordecai "3 Finger" Brown]

If you buy branded water like Dasani or some shit, you deserve to get overcharged on your grocery bill.

I recall being at a convenience store once with a group of friends and their dog buying supplies for a summer hike.

I picked up a large bottle of Dasani from a back cooler and brought it to the cash because my friend wanted water for his dog. My pretentious acquaintance complained that he wouldn't drink it because of the taste and demanded another brand.

 

[The Snail]

My pick as a good example would be almost any off brand product by lidl. When matched with the name brands, the lidls ones tend to have better ingredients, since a lot are imports from other countries with seemingly better regulations. It'll usually be the removal of food dyes, bad oils, or simply lesser amounts of sodium.

 

[Mellisuga Helenae]

All I know for sure is that the generic wafers they sell at Family Dollar/Dollar Tree are too good for how cheap they are. Don't tell normies or they'll gobble 'em all up.

You don't know ecstasy until you've climaxed (entered a diabetic coma) from boofing cheap vanilla wafers.

 

[VargReallyDidNothingWrong]

I really like the local store brand salt and vinegar kettle chips. They are far better than more expensive branded ones I've tried.

In general most of the time store brand or generic stuff is fine. Compare the ingredients to see if it's mostly same stuff going in, and there's no obvious indicators of cheapness like non sugar sweeteners or hydrogenated oils or whatever.

 

[Colon capital V]

Unless you live somewhere with an unsafe water supply, buying bottled tap water makes you a retard no matter what.

I'm not gonna take my chances over drinking straight from the sink in case there is something in it, at least where I'm at.

I recall being at a convenience store once with a group of friends and their dog buying supplies for a summer hike.

I picked up a large bottle of Dasani from a back cooler and brought it to the cash because my friend wanted water for his dog. My pretentious acquaintance complained that he wouldn't drink it because of the taste and demanded another brand.

Can't blame him, somehow Dasani does taste like ass despite the few minerals they put in it for "taste".

 

[Hamstirer]

Most, if not all, store brands are made by name brand companies that just swap labels.
For instance, pretty well every homeowner grade lawn mowers is made by either MTD or Husqvarna.
At the end of the day there are only a few manufacturers for any product and they either repackage the same product with different labels, or make a run of their products to the stores spec. I remember reading something about a Kirkland branded product actually having higher base standards than the name brand. (I believe it was batteries, made by Duracell but don't quote me)