Will you/have you stopped buying “branded” food?

[BabyofMine]

I remember a few years back a nice thread about what branded foods were good and worth the cost. I remember a lot of people thinking Napolina tomatoes were really tasty compared to “own brand” tinned tomatoes.

With the price of food going up and up, I wonder whether the devotees of certain brands will be still getting them because they’re worth it, or making sacrifices to save some money?

So if you’ve been a devotee of a name brand food, are you giving it up?? What would you be really reluctant to ever compromise on? What’s a false economy? I’m not asking if you are going to be making savings/changes overall, but if you were really dedicated to one particular brand would you give it up??

My favourite “branded” thing is Hellman’s mayonnaise and I’m not planning on giving it up but I am using a lot less and being more careful to only put a little bit on my plate so I don’t waste it.

YABU= I will NOT be giving up my favourite branded foods.
YANBU= I will be giving up my favourite brands to save money.

I'm going to be dreadfully po faced and say that I've never gone in for branded goods (except for Heinz beans, tomato soup and ketchup - which I think is more being accustomed to a specific taste than quality) and Marmite.

So I wont be changing away from the brands I buy as there weren't very many of them in the first place.

The only branded stuff we have now is Pepsi max and vege stuff like quorn as there are no alternatives to that.

No chance. It’s motivated me to buy and eat less but better food. I would rather eat simply and have the very best bread and cheese money can buy than eat a cheap unhealthy processed dinner.

If I buy branded things, it's because they are on offer. Cereal is the main one has to be Kellogs rice krispies or cornflakes. Although my son wanted mini chocolate Weetabix and the price has shot up so I bought him Asdas own and he seems quite happy.

I will not compromise at all on Diet Coke but again it is bought when in offer. Recently I got 4 x 24 pack for £28 so happy to pay £7 per pack. Morrisons had it for £5.99 a pack earlier in the yer, that's the best price I've seen it.

I am using a lot less and being more careful to only put a little bit on my plate so I don’t waste it

That's how things should be all the time. Reducing consumption (in this case literally!) is good for the planet, and in reducing the obesogenicity of society (not saying you're fat, OP, just like I'm not saying you're single handedly responsible for environmental crisis, rather that individual choices help frame social norms)

I don't buy anything branded. You're only paying extra for the cost of their advertising anyway. I used to buy proper pespi/coke but the aldi version is so good, and less than 40p, so now I have absolutely nothing branded anymore.

I’ve swapped lots of branded stuff warburtons for Aldi toastie loaf and as the most recent. Not nice for sandwiches but fine for toast. My last two brands I can think of is Yorkshire teabags but only on special offer and hp sauce.

I always buy decent toothpaste though, oral b brush heads and those little plastic toothpicks for in between teeth. I had to have a root canal last year. Multiple appointments, 100 quid and that was NHS, time of work etc. I feel like decent dental hygiene is a long term cost prevention exercise.

I am prepared to try any substitutions but one thing that’s really bugging me is the quality of some own brand stuff. Example is tried Aldi biscuits and they were not pleasant at all, kind of chemical taste to them so this worries me about the ingredients used and whether they are more harmful for your health?

Ive never purchased branded goods, I just purchase the items needed and what looks best value. TBH if your the worried about taste of mayonnaise, make it from eggs and oil as its not difficult or make sauces to go with meals or bake beans in bulk and freeze

I use laundry powder for. lights and liquid for darks - any brand

Example is tried Aldi biscuits and they were not pleasant at all, kind of chemical taste to them so this worries me about the ingredients used and whether they are more harmful for your health?

you can make biscuits easy enough and freeze the dough in balls - just pop them in the oven when you want a biscuit - then you know exactly what has been put in the baking

I’ve swapped lots of branded stuff warburtons for Aldi toastie loaf and as the most recent. Not nice for sandwiches but fine for toast.

my neighbour used to work in Banbury for a bakers that supplied M&S, Aldi etc and the only thing that changed was the bags on the production line to denote the supermarket

I buy the products I think are the best not because they are a brand. For example
I will look at egg content in mayo, how many ingredients there are and how much added sugar there is.

There are some products where we prefer branded: Weetabix but otherwise I experiment to find preference. (I know btw that I am lucky I can afford to chuck crap stuff)

The good thing about products like Marmite and Heinz tomato ketchup is they aren't fast moving, unlike a tin of beans or chopped tomatoes - you can buy them once in 3-6 months at £3 a time, so to my mind, why compromise, just enjoy 👍

Tesco chopped tomatoes are staple foods in our house, once mixed with a squirt of concentrated tomato and fresh basil leaves (torn not cut, if you're a Jamie Oliver fan!), you can't tell the difference.

I won't compromise on Warburtons bread, it's delish!

The only branded thing we buy is Heinz beans my dh doesn’t like any others.

A lot of supermarket own brand weetabix is identical to the branded one, I’d swear they come off the same conveyor belt but go in different boxes.

Like many I only buy branded when it’s on offer and is cheaper or comparable to own brand.

putting the oven on for a couple of biscuits is the very definition of insanity. Given the costs you may as well nip along to M&S and buy fancy ones in a tin!

No id rather eat less nice food

YABU

But then again we are in a position where we don't need to.

I wouldn’t say I was too brand led but there are a few that I always come back to eg Heinz tomato soup & ketchup, Helmanns mayo, Mr Kipling cherry bakewells ( Asda & Tescos are just not the same). DD & DH prefer Heinz beans but I like Tescos. Cereal wise , cornflakes are always Kellogg’s but we get quite a few other cereals from Aldi. We use any old tinned tomatoes!

This! Also Philadelphia. I don't buy any other brands, just whatever is cheapest.

Marmite. I have tried own brand, and it is runny sludge and tastes wrong. And I can’t live without marmite - I don’t need a lot, but I have to have it a little bit for lunch at least once a week, it’s a food craving I have to satisfy.

Pepsi or Coke. You can’t get buy on a supermarket substitute.

Also i do insist on buying decent quality bread, oats and occasionally I will buy nice jam (we don’t eat a lot of shop-bought jam as it’s cheaper to make our own in the summer but if we run out, I won’t buy the sweet sticky cheap gloop that passes for jam).

I've never bought many brands. We normally do a blind taste test and very few taste any different. The only ones I've stuck with are Lea&Perrins, Tabasco and a specific brand of coffee.

Yesterday I bought a jar of supermarket coffee because Tesco had put the price of my normal jar up, in an attempt to get people to buy foil refill packs (that were overpriced to begin with). I guess they are over stocked.

So I'll try supermarket coffee this week and if it isn't as good, I'll just have to buy my coffee somewhere else.

We've never bought branded apart from mcvities digestive biscuits and whatever cat food the cat will tolerate. Everything else is just ingredients so interchangeable

I've always just bought whatever brand I like the most - it could be a premium one or it could be a cheap basic type, so I'll carry on doing that.
The best mayonnaise I've ever had is the Polish one called by Winiary. It's always on offer in Sainsbury at various times so I buy 4/5 jars then to keep me going till the next promotion! I try to do this with everything - if I have it regularly and it's on sale (like the Method products) I buy several. Saves so much money that way!