My Favorite Generic Products

Store brand and generic products generate strong feelings of poor quality. As I put away my groceries over the weekend I couldn’t help but feel this perspective is many times unwarranted. I was surprised just how many of the products I had purchased were store brand or generic products. I’ve compiled a list of my favorite store brand products:

Soda

I’d be lying if I said store brand soda tastes exactly like the high profile brand names. However, for some flavors such as orange and root beer, I like the store brands just as much, and they cost significantly less.

Over The Counter Medication

Ibuprofen is the same drug regardless of what label is on the bottle. For things such as cold medicine, I compare the active ingredients from well known brand names to store brands. If the active ingredients match, I buy the much less expensive store brand.

Spices

There are some spices I would select a brand name product, however store brand salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc work just fine for me.

Soup

Common soups used in other recipes such as tomato and cream of mushroom are readily available in less expensive store brand varieties.

Milk

I’ve purchased both store brand and popular name brand milk. The only difference is the label and the price.

Cheese

Many stores offer their own block, shredded and sliced cheese product. There can be taste and consistency difference in cheese products. I find store brand to usually be in the middle. I’ve tasted popular name brand products that are both less and more desirable than store brand.

Orange Juice

I drink orange juice a couple of times a week, and it’s exclusively store brand. There are difference in taste between every brand of orange juice. The less expensive store brand tastes just fine.

People tend to have a negative view of generic and store brand products. They are generally thought of as less expensive, but also inferior in taste and quality. While they may commonly be less expensive, they aren’t necessarily lacking in taste and quality. Taste is subjective. A better perspective is that generic and store brand products are simply an additional choice. If you happen to like how it tastes, or you think it’s the best value for the price, you should choose it without hesitation even if it happens to be a store brand.

How about you, EOD Nation, what’s your favorite generic or store brand product?