Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Cleaning products are hit and miss. Some of them are fine -- window cleaners seem to all do the job, store brand paper towels seem fine, but store brand dishwashing soap is watery, and store brand plastic wrap is fairly useless. Store brand canned veggies are fine, and store brand yogurt is usually pretty good (Safeway's is the best) but I won't even try store brand mayo, has to be Best Foods.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck Ugh! I HATE store brand plastic wrap - oh and garbage bags!!! Good call!
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I shop at Trader Joes fairly often; most of their stuff is pretty good.
Originally Posted By chickapin I think Kirkland does count as a "store brand" but I find Costco products are generally very good. I watch the sales and stock up so seldom pay full price for anything. The product I am most picky about--shortening! In college I tried to be economical and bought a can of shortening that was called (I think) Fluffo or something like that. Oh boy--let's just say I am a Crisco snob.
Originally Posted By JazzCat ^^^Me too Chickapin! Some of the generic brands of shortening make things taste wierd. I guess it just depends on what the product is. We have to use Tide or Cheer because C.J.'s allergic to anything else and I don't want to make him play guinea pig by trying store brands. I use some Kirkland brand stuff (t.p. and paper towels) and I really like the Safeway brand of pop. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for though so the name brands are worth the extra $$.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice We're a Best Foods Mayonnaise ONLY family, too. Kraft won't do and no store brands, either. (I remember the potato salad a coworker brought to a potluck years ago... it LOOKED like my mom's - the best ever - but turned out this person made it with... ACCCKKKK!!!! Miracle Whip! BLURP! *LOL*) I'll buy Smith/Kroger's or Albertson's cheese, salsa and frozen veggies, but that's about it (except for bread/bakery items, which are always better than something manufactured and packaged at a factory then trucked in.) The worst store brand item I ever bought was Kroger fabric softener. Nasty stuff... lumpy of all things - even after shaking the bottle vigorously.
Originally Posted By JazzCat ^^^Put it in a blender or use a hand mixer. They can always be washed plus your food will have a nice smell to it...
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Oh... And what will be of no surprise to those here who know me and my big hair... Salon products only - Redken shampoo and conditioner, Abba and Paul Mitchell goodies for styling. That's pretty much the only part of me that I consider truly "high maintenance." ;-)
Originally Posted By wonderingalice *LMAO* JazzCat! Thanks for that lovely suggestion... I think I'll pass, though. ;-)
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin The one store brand I like is Fresh and Easy's organic crunchy peanut butter...I try to buy organic whenever it's available. It often costs more but the lack of pesticides makes me feel better about the price. And since the grandmonkeys are over pretty often I feel better about what I feed them.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck My mom buys organic food everything for my kids - it's hilarious because I always tease her that she never had a problem giving ME a cheese sandwich made with Wonder bread & Kraft cheese slices or Kool-Aid!!
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin Yeah, while I'm passing out dollar bills to the grandmonkeys my daughters joke that I'm not the same person that raised them...of course I'm the same person...if they had been as sweet and loving to me as their kids are...
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF I judge them on a case-by-case basis. I've yet to come across a generic or store brand that is uniformly equal to or superior than some name brands. I think Target's Archer Farms has some of the best stuff, particulaly with their organic milk and bread.
Originally Posted By SleepingBeauty82 Here's a little secret from someone who worked in the food industry: Although some store brands are completely different from name brands, there are things called Private Label Depts lots of food companies have and what they do is sell their product to supermarket chains but the chains pay to put their names on them. Trader Joes does this a lot. So does Jenny Craig (they don't make their own meals, they buy them from other companies). For instance, the Eating Right meals that Safeway does? My old company would make those for them. The frozen pineapple at Trader Joes comes from my old company...who buys it direct from Dole. It's so funny.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF ^^^ Yep. Trader Joe's used to say as much in their radio advertising.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes Market Pantry fudge sandwich cookies from Target are terrific, better than any other since Mother's stopped making them YOMMV. Many of Targets own brabds are pretty good. There is no other catsup besides Heinz 57. The other brands just aren't catsup, just some kind of tomatoey goo. I'm pretty much hit or miss. I used to know who made which store brands or generics for a lot of products, and it's time to find out again.
Originally Posted By SleepingBeauty82 <<Yep. Trader Joe's used to say as much in their radio advertising.>> Did they really? I always change the station unless it's one of the Bud Light "Real men of genius" commercials. LOL. I do agree that a lot of the Target Market Pantry stuff is pretty good. Especially some of the chips and crackers.
Originally Posted By hopemax You know TJ's Orange Chicken? Love that stuff, but the liquor laws here in CO, mean TJ's will not be opening anytime soon...So for several months were were orange chicken deprived. But I was in Sprouts and noticed they had an Orange Chicken made by Lings. Packaging is very similar, and inside the chicken looks the same, the sauce packets look the same. The only difference is that TJ's sold it for $3.49 and it's $7.99 at Sprouts. I'll buy it when they have it on special for $5.99.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Hey SVG... All of the great Mother's Cookies are back in the stores now... Kellogg's "rescued" them and they're back in business... Yay!
Originally Posted By SleepingBeauty82 hopemax...I know TJs has a couple varieties of Orange Chicken. If you're talking about the Mandarin Chicken, I'm not sure who makes it but it IS good! The Citrus Glazed Chicken is one my old company makes for them and it's pretty good too.
