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.

No comprmise Branded stuff for me
Kellogg's crunchy nut Corn Flakes
Durres jam / Marmalade
Daz soap powder
Marmite
Blitz kitchen & loo roll

When it's on offer or I am feeling flush
Ancor butter and marg
Branston beans
Branston pickle
Radox bubble bath
Hp sauce
Pigrims choice or cathedral cheese

Most of the stuff and happy to have shops on brand or at least not there highest brand stuff, middle-range kind of level.
Tesco growers harvest tinned tomatoes, beans cold and some of the soup and all the frozen veg is definitely much better value and in my opinion as good quality as branded name ones

Things I won’t compromise on:
heinz ketchup
heinz mayo
yorkshire tea
pepsi max

Other than that, I am trying lots of swaps. Fit most products, the brand doesn’t sway me; it’s the salt and sugar content I look at. If they are very similar then happy to try a different one.

I've always just bought whatever was on offer - I couldn't care less about the brand 🤷‍♀️

I would compromise on anything. DH won't! But only really Heinz ketchup & salad cream, tea bags and loo roll so I'll let him off. Weirdly own brand beans he's fine about, reckons asdas are closest to Heinz. Oh and frosties!

I am not fussy at all, I'll give it all a try. Some own brand things are better than others but most stuff is absolutely fine.

Has anyone tried Sainsbury's mayonnaise? One of the few things I've found so inedible, I had to chuck it out.

Oh I forgot , my lord and master will only eat sheba pouches in jelly and either go-cat or royal cain dry food.
However fortunately he will tolerate pretty much any cat litter

Arla lactofree butter is non-negotiable in this house & is a staple bulk buy as it flies off the shelves in the local Sainsbo. Made a huge difference to the lacto-free coeliacs at home as homemade GF cakes are now full-fat in the mouth & the texture is just right for sandwiches.

Quite taken with Mutti quality along side Cirio & Neapolitana (!) tomato larder stuffs. Just become more sparing with how much goes in the pan so a ‘brick’ or tin produces tomatoey meals two days in a row. Likewise quality GF jarred sauces are spread over a couple of days. Usually make everything from scratch but these days a jar to hand is well worth the cost as it’s less domestic grind.

I check out the coffee aisles to pick up offers on ground coffee & stock up, preferably Lavazza but generally I am agnostic. Only once have I tipped a whole bag in the bin after the first taste.

After years of routine buying premium tea bags etc, I’ve broken that to subscribe to Brew Tea Co. loose leaf tea. Yes more expensive but the quality is streets ahead & a great brew at breakfast is something I look forward to rather than put up with. I only use the leaves I want, so minimal waste.

Burts lightly salted crisps - absolute treat, all other brands

As we are so tight on GF due to Coeliacs in the family, over the years what can be bought or had in the house (cross-contamination) has reduced the weekly shop to core essentials so every item has to hit the sweet spot of GF, tasty & value for money which allows for some small eye-popping spends to liven up a limited choice of foods.

Muller yoghurts and pot noodles I’ve tried Aldi and Lidl but they just don’t match up everything else I buy own brand

@UniversalAunt butter only has trace amounts of lactose so is generally suitable for lactose- intolerant individuals. I'm lactose intolerant & Gf free ( fodmap diet) & I'm fine with butter.
Though everything else I buy is lactose free.

Heinz ketchup, hellmans mayonnaise. Also I only buy Domestos bleach. Everything else we buy own brands.

Fairy liquid, bit everything else I'll get what's on offer or the non branded version.

Swapped to own brands years back. I usually make my own soup but occasionally for a lunch, I'd have a tin in cupboard. Tried Aldis Bramwell soup instead of the Heinz that DH insisted on and fed him it, and he liked it better. Didn't tell him till he'd ate it..🤣🤣

The only things I haven't swapped are teabags, cereal and coffee, but I check the Trolley.co.uk app and see when there is an offer on.

No. A friend stayed with her family of five for a week once snd did a big shop. And if the own brand things she bought were awful (Tesco value crisps being one item particularly poor). I'd rather not buy some items at all if I can't get my preferred brand. But agree with you about mayo - Hellmans every time!

Fairy liquid. I’ve tried so many other supermarket own brands and they are no where near as good.

We buy own brand washing pods, comfort, dishwasher tabs, coke and dog food but everything else we just buy store brand. Often can’t tell the difference anyway between things like aldi butter / ketchup etc

oh Trolley.co.uk
is that the supermarket comparison site now?

This made me smile.

"Get the fancy tomatoes out, Derek!"

I pretty much don't care whether something is branded or not, I just look at the price per unit and get one of the cheapest. However, I refuse to compromise on coffee which I get from an independent place in Bristol, even their instant is good. Also I find it's worth spending a bit more on pasta (I think I got that from someone on here once) I bought good quality genuine Italian pasta and you really can taste the difference. I would quite happily eat it plain. Actually that's probably a bad thing as it's more tempting to eat than the value stuff and I need to lose weight 🙂

Oh and rum. I won't drink cheap shit rum, but I know some of the supermarket brand alcohol is made by branded places, it's just a case of reading the labels carefully. With rum the extra good Sainsbury's stuff is made by Appleton/Wray & Nephew but sold at a slightly lower price.

I'm going to start trying out more own brands rather than shopping on autopilot.

It may just be me but has the sauce in Heinz spaghetti hoops got more and more watery? It near fully separates from the hoops and pools around everything else. Almost need a spoon.

I have quite a few cans of it so experimented with adding some slaked cornflour. That diluted the colour so I added in some tomato paste to bring it back. Then heated them up, stirring often, and adjusted the seasoning. I'll admit I don't have a sophisticated palate but they were miles better, actually tasted of tomato and my fries didn't go soggy.

@crazy4cats a undefined number which shall never be revealed. They taste like McDonald's ones

I'm not a tea drinker but DH is and will only drink Yorkshire Gold. I think we'd have to be very hard up before he compromised on that

thanks to this thread i have discovered trolley website and realised that sainsburys is qutie competitive

I thought you were talking about your DH until I read till "go-cat or royal canine dry food" 😂

If you shop in store make sure you have the nectar and smart shop apps. They give additional points for using the app and also offer money off items that you have bought historically. It's really easy to bump up your points. I am usually offered an extra 60 points for 4 pints of milk and rice krispies 700g for £2.75 rather than £3.50 (although I wouldn't buy them at £3.50! I currently have 20 points offers and 10 nectar price.

Nescafe Gold Blend - I buy a few when it's on special offer so I don;t go below the 1 jar/bag level
Heinz ketchup for DS , either Costco if they have it or the best 100g/£ deal
Method Tropical Coconut Fabric conditioner -again buy 2-3 on offer
Hovis yeast for breadmaker
Whiskas and Crave for the cats
Yorkshire Tea bags
Pepsi (original) for DS but only on offer
Ribena (original) though Sainsbury or Waitrose own brand ( fullsugar) orange squash as its tangier

Costco brands are pretty good , loo roll , binbags , bakery , cheddar ,
I buy Sainsbury own brand washing powder by choice
Waitrose own brand washing up liquid (again 2-3 at a time , don't go there often)