Branded or Supermarket Own?

[Amiable]

Following some other recent threads I've been thinking there are some foods I buy that I will take whatever is on (special!) offer, but others where my family has specific preferences.
Branded - has to be Heinz baked beans, Kenco Rich Roast coffee and Aunt Bessie frozen roast potatoes.
But we actually prefer Tesco frozen mash, Tesco teabags, Aldi steak, and Stockwell (Tesco brand) pickles.

What about your household?

We don’t use condiments very much but it has to be Heinz ketchup when we do and Hellman’s Mayo.

I always used to say heinz beans but aldi’s are great too, other supermarket beans are rubbish.

I don’t eat frozen chips often but will only eat McCain or Aunt Bessies.

Always Hellman’s light mayo, Pepsi Max/decaf and old El Paso kits (the spice level is perfect!). And the cats have posh stuff because they’re getting old. Everything else is own brand. If it was just me (not DH and DCs) I was buying for it would all be cheap and would spend the saving in very posh tequila!

I generally only go for branded over own brand if there isn't really an own-brand equivalent, so things like imported foreign food, or Babybel cheese. Sometimes I prefer an own-brand version, eg Waitrose tonic water, ginger beer and lemonade which all use sugar rather than artificial sweeteners, or Aldi cheap milk chocolate which has cocoa butter where Cadbury's doesn't, or Aldi laundry detergent.

But I do use Method cleaning products because I like the smell, which takes the edge off how much I hate cleaning, and Rose's lime cordial because none of the alternatives I've tried taste the same.

Off the top of my head, there's only 2 things I deliberately buy branded.

Nescafe Cap Columbian coffee (for when I want a quick coffee. If I've got more time, I have ground coffee I use. Will always buy branded for that, but less fussy WHAT brand. Currently on a jar of Fortnum and Mason stuff, which is a proper treat!)

Toilet paper has to be Andrex Quilted. I've tried Cushelle and other equivalents, but always come back to Andrex Quilted. Live is too short for bad TP. I always look out for it on special offer, then stock up.

Everything else... I'm completely happy with supermarket own, and even the value ranges are fine!

mostly own brand from aldi/lidl but HP sauce, Branston beans and branston pickle

We buy Morrison’s own recycled toilet paper - it’s fine.

I've got more. I'm really enjoying this thread. Costco own brand loo and kitchen rolls, if a trip to costco is inconvenient, I buy Andrex loo roll or Regina kitchen roll.

I like Cathedral City Cheddar and it's usually on offer if not I buy Lidl cheddar. I bought Orkney cheddar from Lidl yesterday. Hope it's good.Sainsbury's own organic cheddar is really nice. At one point, a long time ago,it was always on offer but now rarely so it's a tad expensive. I buy own brand butter but buy branded on offer.

DS is still in nappies at night and refuses to wear a reusable so I buy Pampers Baby Dry if an excellent offer and I'm not near Aldi. I find Aldi's rip-off version of Pampers excellent and the price bloody amazing. Haven't tried Lidl nappies as I've heard mixed reviews. Does anyone use? Are they good?

Oral B toothpaste is the only thing as it makes my teeth feel extra clean, and the mouthwash because it taste like the dentists.

Everything else I don't care. I will buy if we like / if the quality is good.

Never ever had a problem with Aldi or Lidl veg not lasting, it all comes from the same place anyway. We used to use a local farm shop but their quality has dropped massively and I can't justify throwing out food so often anymore, especially when it is more expensive.

99% of our weekly shop is Aldi own brand stuff which we find is excellent. There are only a couple of exceptions-

Coffee. We’ve tried so many but the only one we truly like is Nescafé Azera. I wish we could find an own brand that we like as much but we just wait for it to come on offer then stock up.

Dp is obsessed with mayonnaise and only really likes Heinz. He’ll eat Hellmanns at a push.

We buy branded coke, ketchup and beans.

Own brand cheese/feta, mayo, marinades, fajita kits.

Lidl mustard is fantastic btw.

We use Lidl nappies and I prefer them to Aldi. I find the tabs on the Aldi ones aren't very stretchy and I'm forever accidently ripping them off.

Oh, I forgot primula! Even if own brand tubes existed I wouldn’t convert, Primula it the best!!!

OP I'm agog that you can buy frozen mashed potato and frozen roast potatoes!

I use frozen mash in the week when it's a mad rush to get the kids fed and in bed after work and nursery. It's really nice and takes a few minutes in a microwave. Slow cooker beef stew, mash and broccoli is a meal I can have on the table in under 10 minutes from walking in the door.

Boiling potatoes in a pressure cooker and mashing them takes minutes though

You have to peel the potatoes too. And if you have a slow cooker and a pressure cooker is a kitchen item a lot of people don't have. I certainly would not have room for one plus a slow cooker. And if you have RSI like dh does mashing potatoes is hard.

Microwave mash will be ready before I'd even peeled the potatoes if I was to cook them myself.

Slow cookers aren’t essential though. A pressure cooker is. And they don’t cost that much - got my Prestige one for £15. That’s probably cheaper than buying pre-made mash everyday

A pressure cooker is why South asian origin women can cook a three course meal in 30-45mins every single day.

A slow cooker is more essential for my family than a pressure cooker.

My mum has a pressure cooker. I hate iot, horrible hissy, steamy thing.

Soo many things but the main ones

Cola it’s got to be either coca cola or Pepsi. You absolutely can taste cheap own brand cola!

Fairy dish washer tablets, I have tried cheaper ones but they didn’t make my glasses shine like fairy

Mouthwash, has to be listerine. I like the way it makes my mouth feel so fresh, cheaper ones don’t do that for me

Crisps have to be kettle chips or walkers, own brand are never as good.

Beans, tomato sauce, Heinz always.

Tinned tomatoes, Napolina ones. I have tried to the cheap own brands and you can taste the difference, the cheaper ones are much sharper in taste

Meat, always from a butchers. Cook a chicken breast from a butcher and it doesn’t shrink half as much as a supermarket one

Heinz ketchup
Washing powder/fabric softener
Cat food

Toothpaste has to usually be Oral B or Colgate.
Any branded washing powder and fabric conditioner (DP call it's fabby c for short and it makes me fancy him less)

I can't say there is anything that I prefer branded if I'm honest. I get shops owned almost anything.