There are Coles / Woolies own generic products and other premium brand products in the super markets, such as sugar, salt, milk, flour, etc. I simply cannot tell the difference. Why are people buying the more expensive ones?
What's The Difference between Brand and Generic Everyday Products?
tooblue on 07/08/2016 - 21:33
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I don't believe there's a difference in basics but my grandmother, who was a fantastic baker, always said don't buy cheap flour.
I think Aldiss basics are great value.I agree with your grandmother, stick to the best Flours only. I now refuse to have any cheap flours in my pantry. The best is …..
Lucky I don't bake.
It really depends on the product.
Sugar, salt, milk… absolutely no difference in my opinion.
Flour… questionable. (I think PVA's nan buys premium grade double zero flour, which is better quality than regular flour. However, you should note that homebrand flours do not claim to be "double zero", they are just 'regular' flour.)
Jams, cereal… definitely a difference. (Homebrand jams usually contain less fruit and more sugar, based on what is says on the label).HOWEVER… it is not true that the "Premium" (more expensive) product has better value.
A good example would be, comparing INGHAM's chicken schnitzels and ALDI's tempura chicken nuggets.
INGHAM is way more expensive, but their product contains only "31% chicken" while ALDI's product contains "66% chicken breast".
Go figure.
A lot of stuff came out of the same factory as the brand name products. It just has different packaging or they may have used cheaper ingredients like powdered milk instead of whole milk.
A branded and generic product might come from the same manufacturer. Sometimes they can produce consistent quality and both the branded and generic are of same quality.
Sometimes, the tolerances are looser for the cheaper product so there is a higher chance of getting a lower-quality product, but can still match the higher-priced one most of the time. Of course, some brands are just higher priced because they want more profit and isn't better than the generic equivalent.Just test both and buy the highest quality that you are willing to pay.
Unfortunately, Woolworths and Coles have a monopoly (or a duopoly) over Australia's retail markets.
In fact, over all of Australia's economy, if they go bust, we go bust… just some insider info.What this means is that those 2 companies have a BIG leverage against "higher-grade" product sellers.
They can demand a higher stock from the companies. Or demand a lower bulk pricing.
And the companies would have to yield.
If they do not, Woolies just puts their competitor's on their shelves instead.So where am I going with this?
It's that some/most of the "high-grade" and "low-grade" products are actually the same price for Woollies/Coles.
So the higher price for the "high-grade" product translates into nothing but more profit FOR Woollies/Coles instead.We have watch dogs to try to prevent such practices, but its happening nonetheless.
I suspect those watch dogs might have some "donations" made by Woollies/Coles.Why the down votes? I don't understand, this gentleman is merely sharing his opinion, if you don't agree with it, please at least respond to this comment with your opinion so we can see it as well, down voting without saying a word is like cursing him rather than discussing with him.
Conspiracy theorists vibes.
Maybe because the duopoly is being shaken up by the likes of Aldi and Costco. Lidl is also planning an entrance into the Australian market.
Mate, this is Australia, not some third world shit hole. Coles bribing the ACCC? Are you insane?
I don't think the $2.5 million fine Coles paid was a "donation".
https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/coles-to-pay-25m-for-m…
Why are people buying the more expensive ones?
Marketing - which consists of a multi-pronged attack on the consumer using packaging and moving imagery causing emotions rather than rational assessment.
It also tastes better to many people even if it is exactly the same product in a different package.
My father visited a factory in Tasmania once, where they made 'brand' and 'home brand' frozen oven-bake chips. It was entirely the same process, but at the very end the chips were sorted by size and the big ones went in the 'brand' bags.
That doesn't mean every product that seems "the same" to you is the same for someone else. I only have one type of flour (white, aldi) and one type of sugar (brown, aldi) in my pantry, and I bake bread and cakes and make pasta with that. Would some things work better if I bought 00 flour and finer-ground sugar? Sure, but I don't care enough to bother. On the other hand cage, barn and free range eggs taste the same to me, but I always buy free range. Brand name lemonade does taste better, but I still like the aldi one so I just buy that.
I only ever buy cage eggs. I think it's cruel to turn those poor chickens out into the cold and rain everyday. Also look at the regulations defining free range - 20 chooks per sq. metre. Not too free range!
I suggest a few more downvotes. God forbid that a non politically correct point of view be seen! It can only lead to other unhealthy things, like free speech and independent thought. Much better if we all graze along like politically correct mindless sheep. Of course, that would be free range, organic , fair trade, green sheep whose farts are collected and run through the magic Unicorn power generator to give us all free energy.
The outdoor stocking density is actually set to be capped at 10,000 birds per hectare, the equivalent to 1 bird per square metre.
http://www.frepa.com.au/standards/meat-standards/
Free range egg and poultry Australia begs to differ. 30 Kgs of live birds per sq metre. If that's one bird it's a whopper! If it's an average bird of 1.5 kgs, then its 20 birds. I accept your apology.
http://www.frepa.com.au/standards/egg-standards/
Up to 10 birds per square metre for eggs, same source.
This article suggests a new standard of 10,000 per hectare, which is a danintas says 1 per square metre
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-31/free-range-egg-defi…No need for anyone to apologise except to the chooks.
If you look carefully at the comparative packaging, and the nutrition label of the home brand and some name brand products, sometimes you can actually identify what it is. A few years ago, I found a 1Kg block of cheese, in smart buy, Coles, and a name brand, after checking carefully, were all identical. Difference in price, from cheapest to dearest was around $5. Coles UHT milk is also fairly east to pick. Its often worth checking this stuff out.
Certainly from my experience in the food manufacturing industry, for manufactured goods, even though it comes out of the same factory as the branded product, the quality of ingredients is lower.
This includes items that run to the same recipe. The generic item would have all the bulk ingredients from a different supplier (usually Chinese).Partner bought home brand Coles flour and it is absolutely TERRIBLE. The wholemeal has all these grassy bits in it… never buy it. I try to avoid home brand myself because I can tell the difference in texture and quality in everything.
Weet Bix and Woolworths Wheat Biscuits are the same product.
Woolies' taste burnt and feel like glue on the teeth. Different there.
I trust the ingredients and the nutrition panels. And then do a rough cost/benefit analysis.
Sometimes the brand product is Australian produce eg I was at ĉoles yesterday and the Coles brand canned corn was from overseas but brand corn was from Australia
Because it was half price, therefore cheaper and better quality.