Slash Your Grocery Bill With Store-Brand Products
Published on - September 15th, 2009 (by J.D. Roth) 
The October 2009 issue of Consumer Reports contains an article extolling the virtues of generic store-brand products. While shoppers used to sacrifice quality when choosing generic, that’s no longer the case. From the article:
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.
In other words, store brands offer roughly the same quality as national brands, but at a much-reduced cost. How much reduced? Consumer Reports says that the store brands they tested cost an average of 27 percent less than the name brand equivalents.
How much can you save?
Sometimes theory is one thing and reality another. It’s nice that Consumer Reports can score great deals on store brands. But could I? Last week, I walked to two local grocery stores to do my own research. First I looked at Safeway, where Kris and I shop most often. Next, I walked across the street to Fred Meyer, a store we usually try to avoid. (The store is huge and its layout makes little sense to me.)
I spent an hour in each store, roaming the aisles, looking for representative prices on a variety of items. I tried to pick one item at random from every section of the store. When I’d finished, I had a list of 25 products for which each store carried the same name brand and their own store-brand equivalent.
The results actually surprised me. You can save a lot of money with store-brand products — far more than I suspected. Here’s the raw data from my research:
Click to open larger image in new window
The first column lists the name-brand item I used as a basis for comparison. I’ve given each store two columns, one for the price of the name-brand item, and one for the generic item. On each line, red text indicates the highest-priced option and green text indicates the least expensive option.
Here’s a closer look at some of these comparisons:
- I’m out of my Head and Shoulders shampoo. I just threw away the bottle this morning. Normally I buy actual Head and Shoulders at Safeway, which costs me $5.99 if it’s not on sale. If I were to instead buy the Fred Meyer store brand, I’d only pay $2.49 — a savings of nearly 60%!
- At Safeway, standard Charmin two-ply toilet paper costs $10.99 for 12 rolls. At $9.49, the store brand isn’t much cheaper. But if I were to go across the street to Fred Meyer, I’d pay just $4.89 for the store brand. (Actually, Kris and I get our toilet paper at Costco, and I have no idea what we pay.)
- Hungry? For $2.17, you could buy a can of generic chicken noodle soup, a box of generic saltine crackers, and a bottle of generic root beer at Fred Meyer. To buy name-brand equivalents at Safeway would cost you $6.18. (You could eat three of those meals using generic Fred Meyer food for the price of one meal from Safeway.)
You get the idea. Buying store brands at Safeway would save nearly 22% for the items on this list. At Fred Meyer, I could save over 36%. And Fred Meyer store brands cost 44% less than name brands at Safeway — without the need for a “loyalty card”.
Running the numbers
I learned a number of things from this project. First off, we’re shopping at the wrong grocery store. Buying name-brand products at Safeway is the most expensive way to go. Based on this list, shopping at Fred Meyer instead would save us nearly 12%, even without moving to generics.
Second, generics are not always a bargain. On 10 out of the 25 items, the Safeway generic cost as much (or more!) than the name-brand equivalent at Fred Meyer. On the other hand, Fred Meyer store-brand items offer fantastic savings, especially when compared to Safeway’s name-brand selections. (The items on this list were 44% less expensive!)
Another factor to consider is that some stores have a better selection of store brands than others. Subjectively speaking, Fred Meyer seemed to have about double the number of generic items that Safeway had — and often had multiple sizes or varieties. They carried several types of store brand salsa, for example, while Safeway’s selection was more limited. At both stores, the generics were generally staple items: rice, toilet paper, tomato sauce, etc.
Conclusions
“We should buy more generics,” I told Kris after collating my data.
“We do buy generics,” she said.
“We do? Like what?”
“…” she said (proving for once that Kris is not always right!).
Though Kris and I do a lot of things to save money, we don’t actually buy a lot of store brands. We’re not opposed to them — we just stick to brands we trust. This brand loyalty costs us money. Here’s how Consumer Reports put it in the article that inspired my research: “Switching to store brands can be a painless way to cut your grocery bill.” They’re right.
After conducting this experiment, I realize there are four key steps to saving big bucks on groceries. More than anything else, these actions can help struggling families cut costs:
- Grow whatever produce you are able. The more you grow, the more you save.
- Buy store brands whenever possible.
- For everything else, do your best to purchase items only when they’re on sale. (This may mean developing a grocery price book.)
- Learn to clip coupons, especially for processed foods.
This exercise was eye-opening in another way. I discovered that shopping at Safeway costs us money. If the data here is representative, then switching to Fred Meyer could save us over 10% on our grocery bill. That’s enough to let us dine out one extra time per month. Or it’s more money we can save for our trip to France next year.
Kris and I are both wary of switching from Safeway to Fred Meyer — as I mentioned, there’s more to this decision than price — but I suspect that if we give it a chance, we’ll find ways to deal with Fred Meyer’s annoyances and save money in the process.
GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.
This article is about Food, Frugality, Shopping
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Discover is a paid advertiser of this site. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.
SEARCH FOR RECENT ARTICLES
Store brands and generics are NOT the same thing.
It’s my understanding that a store brand is usually a name brand, just marketed under the store’s name for less. I see no difference at all in quality between store brand foods and name brands, although if the store brand is actually name brand X and you are used to name brand Y, the taste may be different.
Generics are not name brands. I find their quality often quite inferior.
I buy store brands all the time, and I’m sure I save a lot of money by doing so. Frankly, name brand loyalty makes no sense to me. I’m much more careful about buying generics. I think some generics are so much less tasty than store brand equivalents that buying them is not a bargain worth making.
There is one big store where I won’t buy the store brand. I don’t trust their quality control, and I’m not willing to risk that I’m getting contaminated food from China. So I rarely buy groceries there, and when I do, I buy name brands, so it winds up costing me more than the store brands at my local grocery.
Of course, the real way to save money is to cook from scratch, using as much unprocessed food as you can.
loading....
Try generic salt…NaCl is NaCl, no matter how you slice it. (My Mom had some trouble with the packaging,
the little spouts would sometimes break off, but I’ve never had that happen.) Also, I’d advise against
antibacterial soap. It’s FAR more expensive than just
plain, and ecologically questionable. We don’t need more super-bacteria…..
loading....
I second Andrea’s suggestion (#66) to check out the nutrition information and ingredient lists when comparing store brand versus name brand (and when comparing one store brand to another store brand). For example, our local grocery’s store brand tomato soup has more calories per serving than Campbell’s. Their store brand canned kidney beans contain high-fructose corn syrup, while organic name brands (like Eden) don’t. Several years ago, I bought canned tuna at Aldi and found it included texturized vegetable protein, rather than just tuna and water.
Re: urpwnd’s suggestion (#53) to shop the outside edge of the grocery store … it’s possible to do that and still come away with a pile of “crap food” (donuts, fried chicken, slice and bake cookie dough, cheesecake bars, french onion dip). I prefer to focus on foods with a short list of ingredients, which still snags me the fresh produce and unprocessed meats from the perimeter, but it also gets me the oatmeal, brown rice, raisins, dry beans, frozen vegetables, and unsweetened seltzer water from the center aisles.
loading....
You should recycle your shampoo bottle.
loading....
I can give up alot- but NOT my Charmin! After years of overseas toilet paper I will search high and low for the best deals of Charmin and buy it in bulk!
loading....
Even if you can’t switch over for everything (I’m loyal to a few brands, such as Mountain Dew and Cherry Coke and wouldn’t imagine drinking store-brand soda) try switching over for just ten items. Work your way up. The dollars you save you can invest and imagine the gains in 20 years!
Even small savings can turn into big investments.
loading....
@Jeff #19: “The biggest mistake I ever made with generics was when I decided to get the store brand equivalent of Cheerios, which were about half the price. They tasted fine to me, but my 18-month-old (by far the biggest consumer of Cheerios in our house) would spit them out whenever I tried to give them to him, even when I mixed them in with real Cheerios.”
Children are never happy about change. The trick is to buy the store-brand stuff from the day the stork drops the little buggers on your doorstep. If what they’re used to is the inexpensive store-brand, then they spit out the name-brand stuff because it ‘tastes funny’.
loading....
My ONLY issue/concern when we start to talk about things like this is, “What about those of us who are already doing this?” It’s the same thing with tips on cutting your cable, or downgrading your cell plan, &c. Some of us have been doing these things for YEARS, just to make ends meet, and there’s no more fat to be trimmed, at least from the low hanging fruit.
That being said, I must admit I’m surprised that your family isn’t already using Generics, JD! Think of all the extra comics you could buy with that money!
loading....
JD, I think you should give Fred Mayer a definite go, over a few weeks so you can get used to it. I’ve noticed a pattern in your dealings with money, where you’ll acknowledge that something makes a lot more sense than what you’re currently doing… but you don’t want to try changing, so you justify why you should stay the same and say “I’m okay with it costing me more”. From the order you paid off your credit cards to not doing research before buying your mini to many other little examples, sometimes you really don’t like to get out of your comfort zone.
loading....
Generics: sometimes the no-brand stuff is produced locally, tastes nice and is made with good ingredients. You just have to read the labels to spot the good generics.
loading....
this is all fine and dandy, but when you already are buying mostly generics it’s hard to save anything more. i have found that buy name brands has saved me more money more times than not. i watch when things go on sale and use coupons. i normally pay less for name brand item than the generic cost anyway. there are very few staples that i purchase as name brands when they are not on sale and/or i do not have a coupon. generics rarely have coupons and sales are not often that great in magnitude compared to name brands. so all that said, cutting your grocery bill in half is hard to do when you are already buying generics and name brands on sale/w coupons.
loading....
@Todd the Q&A Guy:
Do you have a citation for these claims about the quality control differences between generics and name brands? I’d like to see a reliable source before taking this at face value.
loading....
@Alice – Your comments don’t make any sense.
First you say,
“It’s my understanding that a store brand is usually a name brand, just marketed under the store’s name for less. I see no difference at all in quality between store brand foods and name brands”
And then you proceed to not trust a specific store brand.
“There is one big store where I won’t buy the store brand. I don’t trust their quality control, and I’m not willing to risk that I’m getting contaminated food from China.”
If the store brand is just a name brand in a different box, then how is the store brand riskier?
loading....
Really? It took you doing an in-depth study of the prices to figure out Safeway is overpriced and generics are a good deal? Have you heard of Wal-Mart? Glad you came to your senses though, good luck with the switch.
loading....
I wonder at all the comments stating that store brands taste so different that they just aren’t worth it. Frankly, I’m reminded of this Wired article that the placebo response has doubled in the last few decades: http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect
Are you absolutely sure that taste is significantly different? Placebo effect is very real. Some products are different, but we are also conditioned by advertising to perceive more difference than there is.
Even if prices are different, that doesn’t rule out a store brand of course. The question is not really about which product is better in an absolute sense. The question is, is the more expensive product enough better to garner my hard earned cash?
I can’t recommend too much keeping a shopping book. Our local choices are Walmart, Aldi, and Hy Vee. I know a lot of people who swear by all of them, but I shopped my shopping list at all of the stores and put them in a spreadsheet (making sure to compare sizes so the comparison was fair). Almost all of my items were equal or cheaper at Walmart, and I know what few select items to pick up at Hy Vee or Aldi. I also know what sale prices to wait for on frivolous purchases like soda.
So I do my day-to-day shopping at Walmart, but make quick runs to Hy Vee (which is closer) when in a hurry. I always grab those few items that are cheaper when I’m in, no matter what is on my list.
loading....
This is a response to Brenda. I agree with you completely. I have tried Harris Teeter oatmeal and I could tell the difference. The savings wasn’t worth it to me. I’d rather just save by buying my Quaker in bulk at Costco. But for the majority of things I find the generic or store brand to be on par with the name brands. Cereal is hit or miss. I can’t tell a difference between Harris Teeter frosted mini-wheats and Kellogg’s.
You just have to experiment with the generics. Try it once and if you aren’t satisfied you’ll know not to do that again.
I also use the plastic grocery bags for trash bags. Another thing I can add for those of you with small dogs, this is kind of gross so be warned, I store my used ziplock sandwich bags in a drawer and use them to pick up dog poop before I throw them away. I think that washing them out is a ridiculous way to reuse them. This allows me to use them twice before throwing them out without involving soap and drying time.
A few things I would add to the dollar store list would be hand sanitizers and hand and bath soaps.
loading....
Target has some very good products under their Archer Farms store brand. Their ingredient lists are short and pronouncable, their prices are better than comprable premium goods, and their bronze cut whole wheat pasta is the only whole wheat pasta I’ve had that I actually enjoyed eating. (though their potato crisps aren’y nearly as good as Baked Lays)
For Southeastern readers, a couple times a year, Publix runs promotions where if you buy the national brand of something, they’ll give you the same size of their house brand for free. Good way to test out the waters on their house brands, and we give high marks to their premium ice cream (still two quarts and a $1 less a carton price than Breyers’ 1.5 quart cartons) not from concentrate orange juice (still 100% from Florida and spouse swears it tastes better than Tropicana) goat cheese, Greenwise ketchup, raisins, and parchment paper, among other things.
loading....
This is the reason I created a PriceBook app for my iPhone
I know iPhones are not generally considered frugal, so I try hard to get as much savings out of mine as I can.
http://www.redbog.com/pricebook/
(shameless and hopefully useful plug)
loading....
for UK readers Lidles a discount store has the most fantastic bargains in fruit and veg as well as canned items. Bread flour is nearly half the price of other supermakets.
loading....
Jill (117)–We scoped out a new Super Target in our area over the weekend, and they are the best on some prices (eggs most notably). On some items they were out in orbit. We were very disappointed at the meat counter.
The problem is that each chain has the best prices on one thing or another, and it can get expensive just trying to get the best deals where they are (gasoline costs!). We try to keep it to 2-3 stores, Publix being one. They’re also very good on coupons.
loading....
I have also discovered that Safeway is the most expensive grocery store near my house. Unfortunately, it’s the only one that’s walkable for this one-car family.
loading....
You know, if you have frugal friends, you could put together a blind taste testing of some of these products for a party sometime. Maybe have each person shop for one category of product and bring in a national brand, a few store brands, and generic if available.
loading....
I have found that some store brands taste great and are less expensive. However, after being enlightened to the unhealthy effects of high fructose corn syrup, I have found that a lot of the store brands have HFCS. It is a lot cheaper to use HFCS than regular sugar. So, in some instances you are saving money, but in the long run is it really worth the price? I buy organic whenever possible and avoid HFCS. This causes my grocery bill to be considerably higher than I would like. However, I believe it’s worth it because it’s healthier for my family.
loading....
I find that with my couponing I can get name brand items for cheaper then the generic. I follow the cheapest route so what ever I need for the cheapest price I can get it works for me.
A little effort makes it all worth it. I went to Target last week and spent $1.40 for $65 worth of items. Couldn’t do that if I relied on using cheaper generics.
loading....
I guess coupons savemoeny if you use the products. I use almost nothing that I see coupons for
loading....
I shop store brands quite a bit, but I also have a very busy schedule and like to keep my list to a minium. I’ve found Alice.com, which is great especally for those who like brand name products. It won’t keep you out of the store, but it certainly cuts down your shopping list. Shipping is free and the prices are great. They also automaticly use any coupons that are available and remind you of when things are getting low.
loading....
I always considered Safeway a rich people’s grocery store (more accurately, expensive lifestyle grocery store). I don’t know if it still does, but their advertising used to reflect this. Their selling points were friendlier, more helpful staff and fresher, more uniform produce, not low prices. Frugal people aren’t their target audience.
Everyone should try the store brands of everything, since even if someone else notices a difference, you may not. Someone else had a problem with Wal-Mart soda and flavored instant oatmeal, but I think those are great. I was thrilled when I finally found a Sam’s Choice cherry cola.
The only name brand groceries I prefer are Taco Bell refried beans, Kraft cheese slices (very important!), Always maxis, any high-end toilet paper.
I think I need to do some more comparisons with plastic food storage bags. I think I’ve had more problems with Great Value’s than with Ziploc or Glad.
loading....
Had to throw in another endorsement for the Grocery Game. I use their stockpiling strategies, with a freezer and a shelf in my garage.
Since I started Grocery Game in February, I figure that I’ve saved more than 50 percent on groceries, cleaning products, and health and beauty (excluding prescription drugs).
At first, it was way too time-consuming. I clipped every coupon every weekend and filed them away. Now, I simply don’t have time for that. So I file the coupon inserts into a binder by date. On the Grocery Game lists each week, it tells you what date the coupon was in the paper, so I just pull out the one insert and clip the one coupon.
Instead of shopping for 1 hour each week, a trip takes about 1.5 hours (extra time for printing lists and clipping coupons). But the big benefits are:
- huge savings (50 percent or more)
- almost all high-quality and brand-name groceries
- incredible meat deals that I never paid attention to before (the web site tells you what % off and when something is actually a good deal – not just an advertising come-on)
- more variety in our diets, since I shop for sale prices
- we never run out of something to eat, since I stock up on staples and meats at low prices
Just my two cents …
loading....
I am open to buying store brands of many items, but I have found that it is often cheaper to buy name brands on sale and/or with coupons. The trade-off is that it takes more time and effort.
I used to live in an area that had Safeway stores, and I recall that Safeway had great sales (I’ve never shopped at Fred Meyer, so I don’t know about them). If you pay attention to the sales, you’ll learn what goes on sale and how often, so you can stock up enough that you rarely have to buy things at full price. In that case, it can actually be cheaper to shop at a store with higher everyday prices but better sales. And if you live near more than one store, you can hit the best sales at both but buy the non-sale items at the store with lower prices.
loading....
I think everyone has covered everything just about. I’m in Seattle and live 5 minutes walking distance to Fred Meyer. I usually shop Fred’s unless its my once a month Trader Joe trip. It’s just me and my husband and I think Wal-Mart is too far but Target is 10 minutes down the road. I’ve found Fred’s is pretty close in price to Target (on Tolietries) so most of the time I avoid Target as well. I shop the perimeter of the store being vegan but my husband still has his favourites in the dairy aisle as he dislikes soy milk still. I don’t use most disposable products like plastic bags, paper towels etc so I save money there and don’t use shampoo much as I wash my hair once every week and a half or so. If I have tried it and can live without it then I do. Certain hand soaps and body washes have the exact same ingredients as well so no need to duplicate there. I use Fred Meyer natural peanut butter and eat as little processed crap food as possible.
I find Fred’s cheaper than Safeway, Alberstsons, Whole Foods, PCC etc. I rarely use coupons since eating this way eliminates what coupons are available but my grocery bill is about $30-40 a week anyhow and sometimes less. When you eat well and exercise you don’t have cravings for junk since your blood sugar is fairly stable.
I think if one wants to reduce your grocery bill trying the store brand is good with non edibles and then comparing ingredients against name brands for foods and then trying those out by trial and error.
loading....
We live just outside Detroit, and have many stores to pick from, Meijer Thrifty Acres that I use the most. Also, just across the road a Costco. Their Kirkland Signature brand is very good for most things. They also have an excellent bakery, if you can use the large quantities. 2 miles down the road is Kroger’s. We both drink cola all day. Usually we find Pepsi 2-liters for $.99 or Kroger will have it every now and then for I forget the price structure it winds up $.74/2-liter. I always stock up when they do. I find Kroger bakery not very good, but dairy items, sour cream, dips ok. I use Hunt’s or Red Gold instead of Heinz ketchup (after I learned that John Kerry (who served in Viet-nam) makes money on every bottle.) Like many have said a small garden works wonders for flavor on tomatoes, peppers, zuccini, green beans during the summer and fall. I also make big pots of spaghetti sauce and chili while things are in season and freeze them for the rest of the year. Costco paper towels are a very good buy( bigger and more sheets per $.) but the T.P. is very flimsy. I bought it after reading Consumer Reports article saying that it disintegrates better in a septic system, much cheaper but very flimsy, you have to use more. I also used to always make my trips to a different store on my way home from work and just getting the things that each store had on sale each week then hitting a different store on a different day. Noe retired I can usually hit 2-3 store on one day and getting sale items in each one using coupons to double savings. And I hit a low cost fruit market , Randazzo’s.about every 10 days 2-weeks.
loading....
We have created a free grocery price book website that helps users track grocery unit prices paid by item and also shows which items have increased in unit price and units purchased. Among the features of the website are:
1). A grocery list that shows the lowest unit price paid to facilitate comparison between the current store unit price and previous unit prices paid. Very helpful at the store!
2). Analysis on spending trends to provide a list of grocery items where unit prices have increased and total units purchased have increased, among other areas. Helpful at home for figuring out where to cut costs and why the bill is increasing.
3). Item detail and trend analysis for additional detail.
The site is groceryhop.com
Please let us know what you think!
loading....
Safeway is horrible, I try to stay away from there as much as possible. I can’t believe how high their prices are, and if they do have a sale, the different restrictions (have the club card, a minimum amount spent or 3 of items purchased) are ridiculous.
However, I love Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand and Target’s store brand as well. Whole Foods 365 is great, too (esp. the peanut butter).
I def. concur about Trader Joe’s ketchup- that’s all I buy now and it tastes great! Anything Trader Joe’s is good; the Jo Joes (their Oreo’s)and their granolas are excellent!
loading....
i tri shop…yes TRI… I shop at 3 stores… each store has generics I value and brand name products I value that are cheaper vs the other 2 stores….i have my trusty little PDA and keep track of what i like to buy where (its mostly in my head after doing it so many times)…. so i get the best products at the best prices…generic or not… i mostly use generic though… and since many large cities have 2-3 types of stores all in similar areas (or one on the way to work…one on the way to your gym or whatever make it so you dont make single trips to each store unless they are on the way to something else)… use the weekly ads as well to see if anything is super cheap at one store (compare to your price notebook if you arent sure whats a good or great price)….
loading....
We definitely try store/generic brands. Although I find some things I just prefer to buy the name brand, most of the time you cant tell any difference.
loading....
Really interesting read! I also read about this process called “gleaning” http://blog.greensherpa.com/index.php/personal-finance/slashing-your-grocery-budget-using-ancient-methods/ Has anyone else tried this, and been successful at keeping grocery expenses at a minimum?
loading....