What supermarket items do you go cheap with?

[jhlurie]

The psychological and behavioral aspects of American consumers always fascinates me, and one thing in particular which has sparked my curiosity lately are the very divergent behaviors of people in Supermarkets.

Now I'm not talking about behaviors driven by economics. If I were I probably would have used the phrase "economize" instead of "go cheap". We all make choices and for many of us, dollars and cents have to drive a decision.

I'm more interested in priorities, and the relative importance we put on some items over others. Part of this, no doubt, will come down to individual taste. If you genuinely can't taste the difference between the cheapest, most generic cheese and expensive cheese, then you probably have a reason even beyond economics to buy the cheap stuff.

We all have quirks and I think it might be fun to explore them. I for example, refuse to buy cheap peanut butter. I'll buy the generic store brand, sure, but because I hate the over-sugared reduced fat chemical enhanced versions, I'll always splurge on the "natural" peanut butter. Every time.

On the other side of the equation, at least 3/4 of the time when I eat rice I honestly don't care if it's an expensive grain or the cheapest the store has. I'm almost as bad with basic pasta (spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, etc.) although I always have at least one box/bag of the more expensive stuff hidden away for variety.

Lately I've begun to buy better bread. I realized that the cheap stuff just doesn't get finished before it goes stale. So one of my "cheap" quirks has been turned around by experience. It happens.

So what are your shopping quirks? What items will you always go for the best with, and when do you totally not care?

For reference, you might also want to see The store brand / generic label appreciation topic, although in this current discussion I'm not really limiting things to a discussion of generics, but instead to the larger issue of why we prioritize the things that we do.

[prasantrin]

I'll go cheap on flour, pasta, canned beans (and sometimes on other canned goods like tomatoes, corn, pineapple), certain types of alcohol (rum--I only use it for rum raisins and strawberry daiquiris). Most of these things get used in/with other things so I don't really taste them.

But I'll buy more expensive rice (I think most people who grow up eating rice every day can tell the difference between the cheap stuff and the expensive stuff), cheeses, fish...Anything that I eat in a simpler fashion, where I can actually taste it.

[SuzySushi]

Cheap:

Milk (always!), apple juice, oatmeal, canned tomatoes, canned beans, hamburger buns (on the few occasions I buy them), frozen vegetables, frozen fruits.

Store Brands when store brand is often better than name brands:

Safeway Select ice cream, pasta sauce, pasta (when I'm not buyin DeCecco or Barilla), olive oil, chocolate chips (when I'm not getting Ghirardelli); Costco's Kirkland coffee and smoked salmon; Japanese store brand soba.

Expensive brands:

Rice, butter, artisan cheese, artisan breads.

[jhlurie]

But I'll buy more expensive rice (I think most people who grow up eating rice every day can tell the difference between the cheap stuff and the expensive stuff), cheeses, fish...Anything that I eat in a simpler fashion, where I can actually taste it.

←

It's not so much that I can't tell the difference as much as that I don't often use rice as a stand-alone item. If I am using it, it's more often as part of a casserole-style dish or for fried rice or something like that where, at least to my palette, I'm not really tasting the rice itself.

I've got some expensive Jasmine Rice in my cupboard, and I do use that when I'm actually in a mood to taste rice.

Again, it's a matter of diet, taste and priorities. If I did eat rice daily I'd probably think pretty differently. But I wasn't raised with it as a staple of my diet.

Suzy mentions "frozen vegetables" as a cheap item. At one point I wouldn't have agreed with that but as time goes on I've realized that flash freezing is indeed a pretty reliable process. It actually evens the playing field, I think, because that little flavor penalty I think you pay hits every specimen pretty much equally--be it Bird's Eye or SuperDuper Generic Brand. The only thing is that the expensive brands tend to have better assortments/medleys. Frankly, frozen veg selection is one where I'm driven mostly by store sales.

[coquus]

I don't have the hard and fast rules others have, except when it comes to eggs. I almost always buy organic eggs at the co-op (no, no the coop, as in chicken coop). As for the rest I like to think I'm very economical, but sometimes splurge on organic dairy/beef, chicken/eggs, veggies, and more recently pork. Often the clerk rings the veggies up as the normal brand anyway, and I pretend I don't see. I always splurge on ice cream when I buy it, but rarely an all out Ben&Jerry's splurge. Where I fall off the wagon is at the asian supermarket, where there are like ten cheaper mirins I will notoriously buy the kikoman. I buy the most expensive oyster sauce, biggest shrimp, and most expensive coconut milk I can find. It's almost knee jerk. I have found some cheaper fish sauce and chili sauces to my liking, but I still wouldn't use them for salads.

[Carlovski]

Here is a controversial one - I quite often buy economy streaky bacon - why? Because the 'better' stuff is often too lean. I do also buy good quality dry cured stuff too though - I'm a sucker for buying interesting sounding bacon.

Pasta I usually buy good stuff, but it depends on the type and what I am using it for. Farfalle and conchigle I quite often buy supermarket brand. Orrichiette I get expensive stuff and the same for long pastas, penne I usually get a mid priced one like Barilla or De Cecco.

For long grained rice I always buy basmati, but usually a fairly cheap brand (Although I did buy a good quality huge 10kg plastic jar a while back!)

Some things I like to buy expensive varieties, just to try - I'm always trying different butters, but often can't tell much difference.

Eggs I'm very picky about - won't buy cheap eggs.

Cheese - some cheeses I'm happy with supermarket versions, Lancashire (Although I do buy Kirkhams Lancashire when I find it), Cheshire and Wensleydale are fine as they are light fresh tasting cheeses - supermarket budget cheddar is pretty rank though. Soft and blue cheeses I rarely buy from a supermarket unless for cooking with they are never ripe.

The best Parmesan and Pecorino I've found without having to go to an italian deli or specialist cheesemonger is actually in the cheapest budget supermarket, so I buy that.

In the UK supermarket own label sherry is actually pretty decent so I buy that for drinking and cooking. Vermouth for cooking too (Although I probably wouldn't drink it)

[coquus]

The only thing I'd dispute you on there is the Romano, Parm, here in the states the supermarket versions are insipid.

[jglazer75]

Not Cheap: Mustard (down with crappy yellow mustard), Parmesan and other cheeses, Bread

Cheap: dried pasta, chicken and pork (I can't really tell the difference between 'low quality' and 'high quality' and for the most part these aren't eaten by themselves - I don't like plain chicken and my s.o. doesn't like plain pork - hmmm, maybe because we don't eat the 'high quality' versions - ah, oh, well that's a debate for another day).

[Sencha]

Well, I don't like to say that I only go for expensive goods, but I am careful with some of the less expensive foods. Sometimes they are hit or miss.

Things like AP flour, vegetable oil, granulated white sugar, and panko are a few things I can think of off the top of my head that I buy cheap. I've yet to see a cheap brand that manages to mess them up.

[Laksa]

I'm going to work a pet peeve into my reply. Great topic, btw.

I have gone cheap on baked goods at the supermarket and I have regretted it every single time.

Supermarket cakes, muffins, pastries and breads are a trap for fools. How can something that looks so good taste so bad? I could start by looking at their ingredients labels... sodium aluminum sulfate, calcium phosphate, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, sulfur dioxide, sodium propionate... the list is longer than the supermarket checkout lines before a snowstorm.

I begin to wonder... how did mother ever manage to bake a cake without xanthan gum or carageenan? Why does the muffin taste like I'm biting into wax? The marble cakes at Wal*mart are imported from Canada!

For a few dollars more, the cakes from my local bakery taste a thousand times better. But why do I fall for the supermarket stuff time and again?

In a word, convenience. And the fact that I'm clinging on to a futile and misguided hope that maybe this time, they've figured a way to bake a cake that doesn't taste like congealed talcum powder.

Also, I can't buy a plain old pound cake at the local bakery. Or any cake that doesn't come with two inches of frosting. The rich and heavily frosted cakes at the bakery taste great, but should anyone really eat that stuff more than twice a year?

[jo-mel]

I'm usually guided by the ingredients -- salt content, fat, hydrog stuff, fiber etc ----not the brand as such. But the fact really is that I tend to read the labels of the better brands rather than the store brand.

But when DH wants his favorite dinner in the world --- hamburgers, mashed potatoes and canned peas (honest!) I usually get La Soeurr (sp) canned peas. I someday should try out the store brand and examine the two and give a taste test.

Is it true that some store brands have their name on items also made or canned by the better known brands?

[Laksa]

Haagen-Dazs ice cream has no equal in the supermarket freezer. That's just my opinion.

For me, it all comes down to density. Haagen-Dazs has the least air of any ice cream available at the supermarket. Take a tub of H-D and a tub of I-don't-care-what-supermarket-brand-premium-range-or-not from a cold freezer, and dig in with a spoon. If you apply enough force digging into the H-D, there's a good chance your spoon will bend, but you should have no trouble at all with the other tub.

And H-D don't use anything artificial either. None of that *&%# (cellulose/guar/xanthan) gums and no frickin' c*rr*g**n*n.

There are some Breyers that are all natural, but they fail to match H-D in density.

[Genny]

Great topic!

I'll admit we usually go for the brands we know and buy them. Pasta is one I'll buy the "cheaper" but it is usually comparing Barilla on sale versus another brand name. I tend to shy away from the 'generic' simply because I've had such bad experiences with it.

Orange juice fits into this category also: I only buy "Not From Concentrate" OJ but really don't care which one I get. If it's on sale and the expiration date is reasonable (not 2 days out!!!) I'll buy it. The same is true of pre-shredded cheeses (yup, I go for the convenience!).

Can't skimp on milk, bread, coffee, eggs, nibbling cheese, deli meats.

My real 'savings' is Trader Joes. I'll buy there brand any day of the week, it is always reliable and at such a good price.

[*Deborah*]

I have a grocery bill here...I am very brand-driven when I notice a difference: I get Quaker oats for oatmeal (the big ones) versus the destroyed supermarket ones; I buy Catelli pasta over the supermarket ones because I do notice a difference in taste, but I usually won't spend double the money for the fancy stuff; I usually buy the Bick's pickles versus no-name; and nothing but Heinz will ever be my ketchup.

I prefer to buy Green Giant frozen veg, but will cave and buy Safeway if they're on sale. I usually buy decent jasmine or basmati rice.

I buy Hob-Nobs (excellent oatmeal cookies) exclusively, but will get budget fig bars, ginger snaps or sandwich cookies from time to time. On the other hand, I buy more Peek Freans than any other cookie.

I suppose if my budget constraints were greater, or I were feeding kids, I would buy more generic/store brand items.

[reverendtmac]

Brand-name: has to be Tropicana Pure Premium no-pulp orange juice. It's probably my only consistent brand-name splurge (considering I knock down one of those $8.50 3.8L 'family size' jugs every single week).

Whatever's cheapest/store brand: canned beans, the bread at our grocery store (it's actually really, really good), tortillas, rice, tortilla chips. I don't count the Our Compliments Roadhouse salsa 'cause it's really quite good...

[NulloModo]

Things I buy cheapest possible -

Canned vegetables (there seems to be no difference in black olives, canned mushrooms, sauerkraut, canned collards, etc).

Canned chicken and beef broth (especially since the stores are starting to have their own low-sodium versions for sale).

Cheese, when I want something simple. (Hey, sometimes you just want some insipid melting cheddar for, well, melting loads of the stuff on something). I also like the parmesan in the can for certain applications.

General condiments, mustard (French's tends to be the cheapest and it is hard to beat it as yellow mustard, I do go with pricier stuff for grainey mustard), fish sauce, hot sauce (I mean, I love my gourmet hot sauces too, but why spend $3 for a little bottle of Frank's when you can get a huge ass bottle of Texas Pete for the same price, which tastes better anyway), vinegar (the more refined ones really seem to lose a lot of kick), etc. The one exception here is mayo, it has to be Hellman's or else it tastes funny to me.

Eggs, sour cream, and cream in general seem to be identical across the price range.

Also, I always buy the cheapest, most marked down meats I can find. Not that I don't appreciate really good beef, but the supermarket is not the place to find that, ever. For simple stuff like ground beef, chicken breasts, and cube/chuck steak I just wait till the grocery store marks it way down (best to go shopping at 2am or so for this) and buy a bunch up at a buck or two a pound.

[ronnie_suburban]

. . . Is it true that some store brands have their name on items also made or canned by the better known brands?

←

Yes, this is essentially true in some categories, with qualifications.

It's unlikely that a major brand which produces and packages its own products will also co-pack for another brand. But, there are many brands (even many high-end ones) which farm out all their manufacturing.

The companies which handle the manufacturing (private label co-packers) most likely package similar or identical products for all sorts of brands. But, ultimately, the brand whose label appears on the packaging (the marketer) controls the formulation and soucring of ingredients. It is up to them to direct the co-packer as to how the final product is manufactured. Even in cases where the manufacturer devises the formulation, the marketing company will almost always have approval over which proposed formula is chosen and used.

I once walked through a manufacturer's plant and saw literally hundreds of different brands in their warehouse. I think there were at least 30 brands of mayonnaise alone. Each formulation could have been slightly different but there is nothing preventing 7 different marketing companies from choosing the same formulation for their own brand.

=R=

[Basilgirl]

Store brand Triscuits = ugh.

Store brand Italian Dressing Mix = Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix, exactly the same ingredients at a much lower price. I go through a lot of that stuff making "Italian Beef" in the Crockpot.

Things not to buy at a dollar store: lighters and batteries.

Safeway Select is a reliable store brand (olive oil, pasta sauces) and their Primo Taglio line of deli meats & cheeses really rocks. Their Lucerne dairy products are good, too.

[rajsuman]

Go cheap with: tinned tomatoes, flour, pasta, cooking onions, milk, white sugar

Splurge on: chicken, lamb, fish, eggs, rice, butter, chocolate, sugars other than white, nuts, vegetables, fruits

[Jujubee]

Things not to buy at a dollar store: ... batteries.

←

Ooh, I second that. We bought a 12-pack of cheapo batteries for a buck (Dynacell, or something cheesy like that) figuring, hey, it's only a buck, who cares if they run out faster? Problem was, they also leaked everywhere. Ick.

I will pretty much try out all the generics at least once and I find most of it is fine if I'm going to use it as an ingredient in something else. So I'll buy generic canned and frozen vegetables, milk, unsalted butter for baking, etc. But if I'm going to use something as a highlighted ingredient, I'll buy the better stuff. So I'll splurge on specialty butter for spreading on bread, interesting cheeses, and the like.

And for some things I always buy the brand name. I guess they've got me suckered in: Coke, Hellman's, Jif, Ocean Spray Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice... mostly these are things where I've tried the generics and, while the quality is fine, something about the taste is just slightly different.

As for major brands packaging private label products, the answer is that many of the companies that package name brands also package private labels. Sometimes it is the exact same product with a different label slapped on, sometimes it's the same packing plant but a slightly different formulation. Some companies allow their "recipes" to be sold through private labels, some don't. Generally though, because grocery stores always make more money on the private labels than on the brand names, they take care to make them of comparable quality. A lot of grocery stores also have several different "levels" of private label quality. You just have to try them and see for yourself. I'd say the "purer" the product, the more likely the private label will be just as good because the buyer only has to match quality and not a specific taste.

[nckd]

Cheap: canned beans, frozen vegetables, milk, sour cream (maybe, usually the cheapest brand that doesn't contain gelatin), chips, butter, cheese for melting, onions

Mid-range: canned tomatoes, eggs, pasta, rice, meat, frozen fish, buns or sliced bread

Expensive: bread, cheese for eating out of hand, fresh fish (which I usually go to a specialty store for)

[SushiCat]

Great topic!

The issue is the more you know, the more you will spend. I recently was discussing chicken processing with a butcher I know, and now will always buy air chilled chicken, which usually means specialty chicken. The difference in taste may be subtle, but there is much less 'shrinkage' and chances for falling ill are radically reduced.

I tend to be this way with all things, if they are produced well, they may cost more, and I and those I feed, are worth it!

Anytime you can taste the difference, or when the key components are much better for you, it is worth it. Examples:

Pasta

Chocolate

Olive oil

Vinegars

Fruit

etc.

[Rebecca263]

OK!

CHEAP: the list is LONG!

MEATS, I only buy what's on sale cheap! And, I only buy kosher, although we don't keep 100% kosher, truth be told.

TOMATOES, canned. I really love the imported ones with basil, and they're CHEAP!

BEANS, canned or dried.

MILK, sometimes. I go on binges where I only buy the organic, but other times I only buy the cheapest quart that I can find in cardboard. I don't like plastic milk jugs!

EGGS, I dream of having truly fresh ones someday, but I've taste tested a number of brands and found it's all hooey, so far.

OATMEAL, for cookies and baking, I get the cheap stuff, but my daughter and I really eat it every day, and we appreciate the steel cut organic for a meal.

BOTTLED LEMON JUICE, WHITE VINEGAR, HEARTS OF PALM, CANNED ARTICHOKES, EVOO, ONIONS, POTATOES, FROZEN VEGETABLES, FROZEN FRUIT, COOKING SPRAY, BAKING SODA, CONSTANT COMMENT TEA(it reminds me of MY Mommy),RAISINS, POPPING CORN, RAISIN BRAN and BROWN RICE, our favorite brand is the cheapest, go figure!

EXPENSIVE: Well, there are some things I can't do cheap, SALMON, I only buy wild because we eat it often, and I'm concerned about the lead content. BALSAMIC VINEGAR, my kiddle loves this stuff, and will only eat certain brands, Kosher Balsamic that is decent is PRICEY!, MUSTARD, I only buy Kosciusko, and there is no room for argument, SWEET RELISH- no corn syrup in my house!, SODA, again, no corn syrup!, SUGAR I only buy Florida's Natural, I like the taste, FLOUR-hey, it's self explanatory, my pizza dough is the best, KOSHER SALT I like Diamond and that's that, SPICES AND HERBS you can't skimp on cinnamon and cumin, or paprika, etc.etc., CANNED TUNAS look, kiddle won't eat solid white, I won't eat her mushy chunk light, we just get what we like, FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, I'm on a tight budget, so we only buy what's in season, COFFEE, I'm a retired barista, don't get me started! TEA, have you ever had cheap green tea? fishy, feh!, FROZEN CONFECTIONS- OK, repeat after me, Mommy doesn't like the taste of corn syrup, CHOCOLATE, CANDIES AND GUM, FRUIT PRESERVES, BREAD, KETCHUP, kiddle prefers Gefen to ANY other brand, Heinz is second, MAPLE SYRUP AND DRIED FRUIT.

So, did I miss something, and, am I typical?

On a side note, I buy Arm & Hammer Dye Free laundry detergent and it happens to be cheap; I only buy Palmolive Dishwasher detergent, and it's cheap, too. But I'm driven by phosphate content, not price.

We buy paper towels once or twice a year, and we go cheap on that too. The one item I can not under circumstances skimp on is TOILET PAPER! Go figure, I like the good stuff. No matter how tight our budget is, we don't skimp on Balsamic vinegar, shower products, lipsticks or toilet paper, LOL. SOCKS is another story entirely.

[jgarner53]

What a great topic! As I started reading, I started thinking about my own response to this. Honestly, in the last few years, my shopping habits have changed radically. Where once (and I mean back when my husband and I would go to the market with less than $20 to make it through the week) I'd buy generic with no qualms for just about anything, I quickly found that for many products, the difference in quality made the money saved not worth it. Now, I'm also considering how the animals I'm eating have been treated.

I rarely shop in a supermarket anymore; most of my groceries come from Trader Joe's, where just about everything is store brand. I buy their toilet paper, paper towels, milk, juice, yogurt (though my husband would eat store brand cheap yogurt from the supermarket - ick), cheese, lunch meat, bread, butter, pasta (if they have the shape I want), canned tomatoes, canned beans, peanut butter, canned chicken broth, asceptic-packaged soups (mmm, tomato! ) They carry Niman Ranch meats and good-quality eggs, chicken, and turkey parts.

Now, for things I can't get at TJ's, I almost always go for the brand name with the following exceptions: frozen vegetables, pasta (my produce market carries good Italian pasta), canned beans or tomatoes, ordinary vinegar, dried beans, popcorn. I buy steel cut oats, pastry flour, and cracked wheat in bulk. I do also buy the house brand of advil, allergy medicine, and eye drops.

I'd put Double Rainbow (though not available nationally, I don't think) against your Haagen-Dazs any day. It's just as dense, and no extra junk in it either.

Edited July 6, 2005 by jgarner53 (log)

[chappie]

Our Acme sells a marinara sauce that has four or five ingredients, all quality (extra-virgin instead of soybean oil, no sugar or corn syrup) for far cheaper than even the Ragu shit. I'll have to look up the name at home.