Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that having to wean your children off 'brands' is wierd?

85 replies

Umleila · 01/12/2015 17:31

My daughter heard one of her new university flatshare friends say that her parents had "started weaning me off 'brands' a few months ago" in preparation for university. My daughter thought this was hilarious as we do not give a monkeys which brand of baked beans we buy - it's all about cost for us. Then several of the other flat sharers said their parents had done the same! Turns out they thought we were positively common not to buy our child 'brands'. Are there really people out there who just buy branded food and sod the expense? The food industry must love them!

OP posts:
waitingforsomething · 01/12/2015 17:33

This is very odd. Where does your child go to uni?!

WorraLiberty · 01/12/2015 17:36

People tend to buy branded food because they prefer the taste ime.

I'm not big on brands at all but tea/coffee/ketchup/gravy are items I won't have substituted, due to the fact I much prefer the taste to cheaper brands.

ProjectPerfect · 01/12/2015 17:36

I think most people buy brands because they prefer the taste Confused

I love food and whilst I don't spend for sake of it the concept "it's all about the cost" is positively alien to me

steff13 · 01/12/2015 17:38

Are there really people out there who just buy branded food and sod the expense?

Of course. I usually buy whatever is on sale, but there are certain items that I only like certain brand. I think it's odd to wean a child off branded items, but I think it's also odd not to have any preferred brands at all.

SoWhite · 01/12/2015 17:40

Yeah, that is one of the most precious and ridiculous things I've ever heard.

Poor pfb will be fine on Tesco Everyday. If anything, they'll learn to cook tasty food!

DonkeyOaty · 01/12/2015 17:41

All about the taste here.

Never found a ketchup to match Heinz. Or baked beans for that matter.

I wouldn't think anyone common (whatever that might be) for not doing so.

GirlAtTheEndOfTheWorld · 01/12/2015 17:42

Weird? Maybe not......maybe it was more about educating them about affordable alternatives? There are some brands I'd not go without, so I choose to economise elsewhere.
Maybe their phrasing was clumsy or meant to be jokey.....tis a non- issue really

XiCi · 01/12/2015 17:42

Yes I would always buy brands because in the majority of cases they taste miles better. Even the difference in something as simple as plum tomatoes is huge

DonkeyOaty · 01/12/2015 17:43

Xi agree.

steff13 · 01/12/2015 17:44

Never found a ketchup to match Heinz.

Heinz ketchup is one of my preferred brands too.

WorraLiberty · 01/12/2015 17:45

I think the only weird thing about it is how the OP has phrased it.

I know tons of parents who've said, "Oooh you'll have to get used to the cheaper stuff when you start Uni", or "Oooh you might insist on Heinz now, but you won't when you have to pay for it".

That's all they're saying really.

AllMyBestFriendsAreMetalheads · 01/12/2015 17:46

I'm weird in that I prefer Sainsbobs basics baked beans to Heinz. The basics ones are far superior for beans on toast because they're more saucy than Heinz.

I might have beans on toast for tea.

Duckdeamon · 01/12/2015 17:47

Very pfb but Heinz beans are best.

We had kwik save crap at home: I upgraded to Heinz as a student. Not too expensive when the rest of the trolley is noodles and bargain booze.

VestalVirgin · 01/12/2015 17:48

I do have favourite brands, but they are not "brands", if you know what I mean.

The only product that really tastes better if you buy more expensive is chocolate.

I never noticed any taste difference in noodles, lentils and flour. Milk and butter taste better if the cows have been fed with grass, otherwise, no difference.

SmokeAlarmsSaveLives · 01/12/2015 17:48

There are very few brands I am loyal to, I'm not swayed by marketing and advertising I just buy what I want - it doesn't bother me if it's not the "right" label we judge on taste and value. I used to do some blind taste testing of some products when leading a CAP money course, most people couldn't tell the difference between brand leaders and budget / own brand ranges and were shocked at the the difference in price.
I think it is very sad that some people can't look beyond the label.

Original poster
Umleila · 01/12/2015 17:49

Waitingforsomething, my daughter is at a Russell Group uni but not Oxbridge, though she is in the reputedly 'posh' hall. We do buy some things that are branded (there is no own-brand Marmite as far as I can see) but why buy, for instance, branded Shredded Wheat? The only ingredient is wheat! Also as DD points out, these kids are 18, not 6 - do they really throw a tantrum if they do not get their usual brand of ketchup?

OP posts:
steff13 · 01/12/2015 17:49

I'm weird in that I prefer Sainsbobs basics baked beans to Heinz.

I don't think that's weird, either. I don't know if you have Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch cereal in the UK, but my local grocery store's version is far superior to the name brand.

hufflebottom · 01/12/2015 17:50

Gotta be Heinz ketchup. But anything else can be anything. Just depends on the price.

Senpai · 01/12/2015 17:50

Branded food isn't that much more expensive. If they can't afford a bottle of Heinz, there's bigger problems with their budgeting than a bottle of ketchup.

Uni is where is you learn which food you can live with and without.

I still got brands, I just went without certain foods. So I gave up cereal and got a few apples instead. I didn't get generic cereal.

DonkeyOaty · 01/12/2015 17:53

Whitworths cornflour is superior to any own brand. Bought first pack ever recently as we had a cauliflower cheese crisis (dont ask) and Omg at the silky smooth sauce, effortless!

HaydeeofMonteCristo · 01/12/2015 17:53

Well you can have a preferred brand of something and buy that if you can afford it. I don't think branded products are necessarily better.

We buy mainly supermarket "own brand" stuff, with the occasional branded product where we really prefer it. I like certain brands of Museli, for instance.

The idea of "weaning off" brands is silly, though. I can't believe this is "a thing".

WorraLiberty · 01/12/2015 17:57

do they really throw a tantrum if they do not get their usual brand of ketchup?

Probably not.

Have they said they do?

ottothedog · 01/12/2015 17:58

The great thing about unis is seeing how 'weird' people from different classes/areas are. We, of course, are the normal ones :)

SmokeAlarmsSaveLives · 01/12/2015 17:58

You went without cereal ??? Must be a pretty special cereal.
I watched a tv show recently where a family had all there food taken away and replaced with food in plain packaging, some was swooped and some wasn't. One family had eaten a very expensive cereal for years and were convinced that it had been changed to a cheap own brand one - it was the same as before but they had got so used to it they hadn't noticed what they were eating.

NeedsAMousekatool · 01/12/2015 17:58

My mum tried to give us non-heinz beans without telling us. Cue the whole family asking what the hell was wrong with the beans at meal time.

Are there really people out there who just buy branded food and sod the expense? Er, if nobody bought it they wouldn't sell it Hmm or is that a stealth boast about how frugal the OP is and all those dirty wasteful brand-lovers are so bad with money?

Also Weetabix has significantly less salt than non branded wheat biscuits.