Supermarket economy brands

[Me2Me2]

Which do you buy?

And is it just a matter of them being less tasty or are they less healthy too? Obviously economy bread is way less healthy than bakery granary, but what about economy frozen veg?

I'd like to buy more economy branded items ('Basics' etc) as my budget is getting tighter and tighter but I have a fear of them being full of crap or devoid of nutrition.
What do you happily buy economy and what, supposing you have the luxury of choice, would you prefer to spend a bit more on?

I was astonished to find that Tesco basics or economy (or whatever word they use) breakfast cereal with pecan nuts was nicer than there ordinary(not luxury) one. More pecans.
I did get the arse aches with DH for buying it. I had to eat my words.

As a vegan I'm used to opting for a lot of the basics as they usually don't contain milk. Supermarkets add milk to every sodding product, the higher the price the more likely there will be milk!

I buy a lot of Sainsburys Basics range.

In fact, I have made 3 Christmas cakes this year- and most of the ingredients are Basics - flour, margarine(?), raisins, mixed fruit, eggs (sorry, not free range for this).

I buy Basics baked beans, multipack crisps (packs are smaller and contain a lot less salt, so win on the healthy aspect), veggies - such as courgettes, runner beans.

We rarely use things like ketchup and sauce - but if having a bbq party I buy the basics of those.

ooh and often keep a carton of Basics UHT milk in for emergencies.

We buy lots of basics and some we truly prefer to the branded equivalents.
DH only drink Tesco everday value apple & blackcurrant, I find the Tesco everyday value coleslaw to be the nicest around.
In Asda the smartprice cornflakes are good but not like Kellogs, nicer IMO. I buy smartprice sauces (ketchup etc) and flour. I also buy there kitchen foil and cling wrap (cheaper than Aldi). DS loves smartprice custard. The peanut butter is good too as is the porridge oats.
The moneysaving expert site has a long thread that has recommendations on basics range products.

I think all shop bought bread is pretty awful....best to make your own. I spend money on high welfare meat, good butter and cheese. I tend to assess each product on it's purity of ingredients rather than it's brand.

Nutritionally economy and own brands often have less salt, sugar etc. However they can have less healthy fats and more preservatives flavourings and other additives
It's s bit of a balancing act

All fruit and veg (fresh or frozen) is about the same nutritiously for normal range or basics. But the basics trend to be at least one of Class 2 (so slightly misshapen) or a less tasty variety (fruit less sweet etc). I generally buy the fresh unless its only to use as an ingredient.

There are some value products that are great, and others that are terrible. I'm compiling a mental list of ones to avoid at the moment, e.g. tesco value Cheerios, fine, but avoid the value rice crispies as they are dreadful and even cereal monster DS won't touch them. Sainsbury's basics salami! great: tesco stuff not as nice.

I think I feel a spreadsheet coming on...

fruit and veg-wise, if it's shape and taste I'm not bothered. My fear has always been that the economy stuff is full of crap or barely food (like the old rumour that there's more potato in a McDonalds milkshake than McDonalds chips). I'm so suspicious of the food industry. But at the same time I would like to buy the economy stuff as I feel we spend too much on food without being that into food, so to speak.
I'm reassured that some posters even prefer the economy option and will try some of the items listed above as particularly tasty!

My darling puppy adores morrisons peanut butter in his kong .. 62p a jar !!!

That is so bloody cheap , I have always brought myself whole earth organic peanut butter at least 4 times the price . Pup is obviously better on a budget than me .

I regularly buy things in the Basics range, such as flour, fresh garlic baguettes, chocolate digestives, unsalted butter (for baking), red kidney beans (sometimes these contain quite a bit of skins rather than actual beans though so I've gone up a notch and started buying Sainsbury's own), things like single cream taste fine. We have a weekly shopping budget which we're pretty strict with, so I've gone Basics where possible and made a mental note of what was good and what wasn't, so I know now when to choose the Basics version and when to go with Sainsbury's own (I rarely buy anything branded unless it's on offer and works out cheaper than own-brand).

I buy lots of foods from the sainsburys basic range. Some things, we think are more or less the same and some we actually like better than the expensive range and I read somewhere that some things in this range are actually better for you as they have less additives. I also go to Aldi. For example they do frozen tuna steaks for half the price of other supermarkets and for luxuries their crisps, biscuits and chocolates are great tasting and great value.