What cheaper version private label product beats the performance or taste of a big brand??
If you agree with someone's suggestion please like.
Also if you can Make the product name in bold that would be great. :)
Private labels Vs Big Brands
TRENT86 on 03/02/2014 - 02:07
Last edited 07/02/2014 - 00:45
Last edited 07/02/2014 - 00:45
Comments
Virgin beats Qantas, but to be fair Qantas set a very low bar.
Wow, not sure about that. At times I have done the FIFO thing with both, flying a couple of times a week and my experience with Virgin is that 80%+ of their flights are late/delayed. If I have the choice I always fly Qantas. Lounge better, flights leave on time mostly and generally better IMO.
You might be correct on timeliness, but almost every time I've had to talk to Qantas staff they have either been wrong or directly lied to me. This is mostly international, perhaps domestic is better.
What kind of things were they wrong or lie about? I am flying Qantas International soon, first time with my 10 month old. I am trying to be well prepared.
The worst one was when I had three flights on the same ticket but the last was a domestic leg (in Brazil). When I checked in I was told my bags were checked all the way. The lady was very insistent despite me asking how they go through customs without me picking them up.
I've also had them stuff up my ticket and was told 'don't worry, we'll send a corrected ticket to the gate'. Get to the gate and they had no idea what I was talking about and the person I had talked to was gone. They had to hold the plane.
In my experience - at least as relates Woolworths, Coles and Aldi own-labels, 'better' tasting doesn't happen too often, but close or 'equally nice but a bit different' happens occasionally.
One that springs to mind - recently tried Woolworths homebrand Cheezels rip-off. VERY pleasantly surprised.
Worst thing about supermarket labels is when they actually supplant name brand products on the shelf. Supermarkets do it at their peril in my opinion. Happened to a couple of key products we used to buy. Pretty much our entire weekly shop switched from one supermarket chain to the other when a couple of name-brand products disappeared and were replaced by non-descript impostors.
They do monitor that sort of thing.
Could also be that the Manufacturer signed an exclusivity deal with the opposition.
Or were being royally screwed by the first supermarket chain.
Or refused to manufacture the Generic brand product.
Aldi Colway mayonnaise is comparable to Thomy or other Euro mayo, infinitely better than Praise or other local filth.
Generic milk, butter, cream is all as good as the brands. Ice cream cones, cream wafer biscuits are fine in the generic. Coles select nespresso capsules are a steal @ 40c ea.True about a number of staple ingredients as many come from the same sources and are often identical.
Haven't bought icecream cones for ages, but it is hard to imagine how such a simple product could be much different.
The mention of mayo (don't eat the stuff myself), reminds that someone once recommended vehemently that if you make your own that you don't use generic vinegar. Is there any real difference? I'd actually be interested to know.
Wouldn't be surprised if generic vinegar was just diluted Acetic Acid.
Not sure if serious or trolling… haha
Cause that's what vinegar is.. acetic acidThat would be shocking!
@cwongtech
Do you think that Vodka, Whiskey or Gin are just diluted Ethanol?Similarly Vinegar is far more than just dilute Acetic Acid, or at least, should be.
Do you think that Vodka, Whiskey or Gin are just diluted Ethanol?
Chemically the ethanol is the same. However the manufacturing process is different and hence you have other things which are carried to the consumer as flavours. If you were to extract the alcohol content by distillation, it would be exactly the same.
The stuff you find in methylated spirits, is very pure ethanol, but they "poison" it with other additives so it can never be used for drinking purposes (unless you want to die), and hence it also evades alcohol duty & tax. Also called denaturing from memory.Similarly Vinegar is far more than just dilute Acetic Acid, or at least, should be.
Not really. What else is supposed to be in there? Unless you're talking about different types of vinegar (red, balsamic, etc.)
Preservatives aren't needed, thanks to it being fairly acidic.I'm all too well aware of the Chemistry, likely more so than you are.
I have a Degree in Organic Chemistry and 15 years experience in the Food Industry as a Food Technologist…And yes, I'm talking about the different types.
Vinegar should be manufactured from oxidised wine or cider (The ethanol is oxidised to Acetic Acid), the other components in the feedstock (the wine or cider) add flavour and soften the harshness of the acidity.
It's cheaper and probably still legal to buy a bulk container of Food Grade Acetic Acid conc, and then water it down to 5% solution, but it'll be a poor substitute for real vinegar.I have a Degree in Organic Chemistry and 15 years experience in the Food Industry as a Food Technologist…
Maybe we will meet in life one day :)
I'm studying Chemical Engineering, so we had to touch lightly on Organic Chemistry.
P.s. I hate Organic Chem, I liked inorganic better.And yes, I'm talking about the different types.
Vinegar should be manufactured from oxidised wine or cider (The ethanol is oxidised to Acetic Acid), the other components in the feedstock (the wine or cider) add flavour and soften the harshness of the acidity.For white vinegar.. what flavours should there be? Also to soften the harshness of the acidity, wouldn't a suitable buffer suffice? A bit of the conjugate base?
Organic Sh!ts all over Inorganic, at least there's some vague "rules" to follow.. Inorganic is like the Wild West! The rules change daily depending on how lucky you are!
White Vinegar should be fermented from some sort of Sugar solution and the only dilution should be to bring it to a standard concentration.. That means a whole lot of fermentation products along with the Acetic Acid.
Cwongtech and scubacoles catch up in a restaurant. One says to the waiter, "I'll have H2O." The other adds, "I'll have H2O too.". He died.
:)
Surprisingly, I haven't heard that one before…Ha!
Unlucky, the LD50 for 30% peroxide is 2g/kg so if he finished a small glass it would be a coin toss.
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924298
Sometimes the conversations on OzB go to strange places.
Just follow it with a chaser of manganese dioxide. That'll sort him out.
Fairly sure methylated spirits contains methanol, whereas alcohol for drinking contains ethanol. Slightly different chemical structure.
The methanol is added, it's mostly ethanol (exactly as described).
I remember reading about this years ago, and unless things have changed, methylated spirits sold for decades now has been all ethanol+denaturing agent. Above trace, any methanol present would be as a result of a poor distillation process.
Before the change, hopeless alcoholics were going blind in such numbers from the methanol that something had to be done.
I believe that despite the denaturing agent used, some (presumably with completely destroyed taste buds), do still drink it. Poor buggers.Tas is correct.. No Methanol in Metho anymore.
As per this MSDS.. (randomly selected) which would show Methanol if it were deliberately added.
http://www.msdsonline.com.au/msds/msdsview.asp?Std=1&ID=fde9…
Aldi branded Apple juice. $2 for 2L
Berri juice and Just Juice are both by Berri, but both of them taste very… concentrated, like they put too much powder into their reconstituted apple juice.They put in Flavour
In many cases the cheaper in-house brands contain more salt, saturated and trans fats and more calories than branded products, the study found.
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1066106
Of course, you have to compare the labelsJust saying, it's not always about taste
The Heart Foundation makes a lot of money selling its 'tick' to brand names. They are hardly a disinterested observer.
Cannel 7 in Perth has a go:
http://7perth.springcms.com.au/view/today-tonight-articles-a…
That said, buying highly processed food is a recipe for poorer nutrition.
Love Aldi stuff. Their quality might be similar to branded products, but when you know that they leave more coins in your pocket they actually taste nicer.
The Enterprise must look impressive in the Aldi carpark.
No. I usually just beam down the red shirts to fetch the ice cream for me.
Forget the serious 'no-alien-civilization-tampering business', delegating to underlings for the purpose of Earthly icecream retrieval is actually my idea of a proper Prime Directive…
Don't forget to at least share some with neil, scotty.
I wonder why I'm suddenly hungry for dessert..?
I couldn't agree more. I think their products are also fresh and cheaper than duopoly.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/aldi-removes-artificial-…Yup. Love Aldi. Used to get most of it from wollies earlier.
After trying their Milk, eggs , bread, biscuits, wheat bisk or other cereals, bananas, diaper (best quality and value), wipes, …..
We realised it was either same quality compared to branded ones or better. So most of the stuff is coming from Aldi now.For Electronics/Electrical items, I don't trust Aldi too much for that unless it looks great.
Still use Coles or Woolies for Coke/Pepsi cans, Tooth Paste, Toilet papers, cookies and cream icecream, specials on fruits, etc.
Try the toilet paper at Aldi.
They don't have toilets ;)
Doesn't stop the bravehearts from trying the toilet paper.
NAPPIES. Diapers is the American term.
We've had a good run with electrical items out of Aldi (few small appliances and a dryer - all have worked great so far).
Most of aldi confectionery tastes better than the name brand. Moser roth wins expert test beating most other chocolate except valrhorna and one other brand
Cheese and other dairy product at aldi taste great. You will need to buy at boutique shops to get similar taste definitely better than kraft/nestle brand
The ice cream also taste good better than sara lee but not better than connoisseur. Yoghurt also really good
The dish washing liquid which is 2x concentrate is much much better than morning fresh or whatever it called. And the big trash plastic bag is the strongest we have tried
Aldi australian organic olive oil makes most italian olive oil taste like piss.
All in all aldi is the best thing happens to australia since medicare
Aldi australian organic olive oil makes most italian olive oil taste like piss.
Maybe they are. Well not exactly, but adulteration is rife in Italy, see this slide show:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/01/24/opinion/food-c…
So buying Australian EVOO is probably a good idea.
Agreed. Australian Olive Oil is more expensive because it is much higher quality. Far superior, like most of our food products.
Imports can be cheaper when farming practices that are illegal here are used.
Sure, import your cars and your TVs, but for god sake buy Australian made food!! This is what our country is famous for globally.
Same applies to buying Private Label (Generic Brand) food.. Even when it is made in Australia, the big supermarkets drive down the price so hard, the only way to make money is to use the cheapest, nastiest ingredients possible.. that generally means predominantly imported ingredients.
I've found some good indie-brand cheddar cheese in the Woolies deli fridge for the same price or cheaper than the big name brands.
- 1 for the olive oil. We use it. It costs Australian olive oil 3 L = imported ones or Morro 4 L.
+1 on Moser Roth
Coles choc whips taste a lot like milkyways.
We buy coles cheese which is made by bega and half the price of the big brand cheese we used to buy. Also coles laundry concentrate is a great product that works really well.I liked the Smart Buy laundry concentrate from Coles and was disappointed when they took it off the market. I don't want to pay twice the price for the Coles brand. I've gone back to Aldi for my laundry liquid
We found the Woolworths select brand thickened cream is much better than the Coles brand one.
Kewpie Mayonnaise! OMG THIS STUFF IS AMAZING!!!
http://media.mightyape.net.nz/images/products/21956754/Kewpi…
Yes Kewpie IS amazing. A long & renowned brand you can find everywhere in Japan.
Yes, Kewpie!
Ever since traveling to Japan, and experiencing it, I never knew about it (or how amazing it is).
Awesome!
Where can you get it here?
Chinese Grocery Stores (New Yen Yen, Ton Yon, Miracle supermarket are just a few), most japanese specialty supermarkets will have them as well (the one in Northbridge)
Most Woolworths and Coles stores sell it in the Asian section.
I once boarded at UNI and met this guy (non-jap) and he loved the stuff, he brought it down from his room every meal and had it with cereal, toast, spaghetti, literally everything.
That sounds a little gross.
I love Kewpie. I always have an ample supply of Kewpie Mayonaise and Kewpie Roasted Sesame Dressing.
If you haven't tried Kewpie Roasted Sesame Dressing I highly recommend :)
Why compromise on food? Its the one thing that probably brings joy to people on a daily basis.
Exactly, which is why this thread is about opportunities to get better products than the name brands.
Buying name brands because of this attitude is just ignorance.9/10 times the coles/woolies brands are crap, imagine the time wasted trying to find that 1 which is better. There is so much other things people can compromise on.
I think whirlpool has a thread like this, so people should check it out.
What are you talking about? Read the thread, it is a list of generic brands that are superior to brand names.
Thanks for the tip on Whirlpool, though.Is this Whirlpool thread about milk and other products the one you meant?
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1283766
I buy generic staples and a lot of them are no different to big name brands… Milk, Sugar, etc..
Have tried coles chocolate and that is not nice…
If you're a body builder or just into good nutrition…
Coles Low Fat Cottage Cheese is a steal at $3.19 for 500gms. Tastes better than the branded $5+ ones, silver medal at the Sydney Dairy show.
Aldi tuna (Ocean Rise?) seems to be re-branded Sierna Tuna
Coles Low Fat Hummus dip is also yummy and super cheap.
What kind of meals do you have with those ingredients? I'm trying to get some different and healthy protein inside of me lately too.
Scoobysworkshop is the healthy OzBer's best resource!
L.A. Ice Cola beats Coke and Pepsi. Last week on sale at Woolworths at $1.00 for 2.25L. I bought a few bottles ^^
Really? I will have to give it a go cause I love cola :)
Our family always buys coles milk which in WA tastes the same as branded milk and is made by Harvey fresh which is WA based so win win. Also we buy Coles frozen vegetables because now all coles frozen vegetables is Aussie made and taste just as good if not better than big brands. Coles handwash is a winner too! Much better than the others.
Australian Made will always have my preference, contrary to what everybody seems to think it's rarely more expensive (using unit pricing).
Agreed. Another top notch Aussie owned and made product is The Pancake Parlours pancake mix. Seems expensive but cheaper per unit because you get a heap of mixture.
The pancakes are SERIOUSLY awesome!!
I like the Aldi spreadable butter. I find it's spreads easily when I take it out of the fridge and tastes nicer to me than the Western Star spreadable or the Devondale Extra Soft. I've found sometimes that the Western Star spreadable just isn't spreadable.
+1
Plus it's a mix of butter and cream, so a little more fat but healthier than the trans-fats in normal margarine.
Agreed, and you can really taste the difference. The other spreadables are like margarine. But it is costly, at least double the price of real butter.
Get a butter dish and stick the real butter in the microwave for 6 seconds makes it plenty spreadable.
Has anyone tried the coles butter blocks? Are they just as good as others for cooking?
I've no complaint with Aldi's unsalted butter
They are great. Much better flavour than "spreadable" butters.
And fine for cooking.
Generic brand (aldi/coles/safeway) nachos taste better and cheaper than Doritos for sure.
I enjoy Aldi's chocolate blocks very much.
Try their Choceur Hazelnut Dark Chocolate blocks (green package).
Moser Roth 70% Dark is also great.
choice scored coles (and woolworths, iga) above most olive oil brands
http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/food-and-health/f…their nappies are good as well
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/74277#comment-938101besides buying these when the brands aren't reduced, private label milk, eggs, sugar are fine for me :)
coles have also won dairy awards iirc
I always wonder who buys non-generic sugar! I mean, how could it be any different?
I'm a sucker who buys "low gi sugar" for myself. Pretty sure it's a scam, but hey, I'll take it - I only go through about $2 worth in a year, so I'm not scammed out of much!
For the "guests", though , I still use generic sugar;)
me - it's hard to find generic demerara and muscovado :(
choice scored coles (and woolworths, iga) above most olive oil brands
the pattern there is the those at the top of the table are australian and probably fresher. coles also sells cheaper spanish oil
Little bit off topic, but does anyone know what happened to the quality of Cadbury Roses? I had some this week and they were absolutely terrible, nothing like what I remember them to be. The chocolate quality also falls short of Cadbury Favourites.
Did they start importing them or did I just get a bad batch?
Yes they are god-awful third rate confectionary. And people give them as gifts still too.
i bought aldi minced garlic. looked at the nutritional info. 19.5g/100g (19%) sugar! i thought i was buying garlic, not sugar.
woolworths was not any better, also at 19%.
coles was a bit better at 6%.
raw garlic has 1% sugar
why do they need to add so much sugar??
It's a preservative but that amount of sugar is pretty crap. :(
Why not just mince it yourself?
I either buy some garlic cloves andpeel them all and put them in a jar with olive oil and refrigerate makes it easier when I'm in a rush. Or buy them in a bundle peeled at an asian/korean grocer and store.
Or buy cloves and stick them in the cupboard/dark area and use when needed.
Or buy cloves and stick them in the cupboard/dark area and use when needed.
Serious Question: Why not just.. put them in the fridge until needed?
In the fridge it gathers moisture so it will get soft faster and sometimes grow mold. Also in my experience it sprouts much faster either a combination of moisture and source of light from the fridge opening.
And I just want to scratch my garlic in olive oil it worked fine for me since I rarely keep garlic for long periods in oil but I read that it can be unsafe to do so. Source
Coles ice-cream cones (not the frozen ones) are the bomb and great for the kids bought with the $2 2lt coles ice cream tub.
And I found out today the coles brand ice-cream is made by Norco, the NSW north coast dairy co-op that made the butter we bought when I was growing up.
I take generic medications as it is just as good as any others. It's also cheap and many of them are made by the same company as the original.
http://www.tga.gov.au/pdf/information-generic-prescription-m…
Lets talk about Tissues and toilet paper. Is there a cheaper version of aloe vera tissues that are just as good? Are there a cheap version of toilet paper that wipes a bum just as good? lol
Woolworths Select sugar-free soft drinks test better than any other brand IMO. Including Sprite Zero, Sunkist sugar-free, Diet Rite, Kirks, etc.