Supermarket Own Brands

Cork

There seems to be very little differance between own brands and private brands.

I like to buy branded milk but for a lot of other food items supermarket brands seem to be doing the job.

Blue Duck

You do know that milk is one thing that will be the exact same no matter what brand it is??
Well now you do

Blisterman

This thread reminds me of two and a half men, when charlie buys the own brand vodka. So funny.

It's one of those have to see it things.

beer enigma

Cork wrote:

I like to buy branded milk but for a lot of other food items supermarket brands seem to be doing the job.

In Cork, all SuperValu milk is produced by Clona in Clonakilty & its way cheaper - about €1.19 for 2 litres. The Dunnes stuff nearly all comes from North of the border.

_blank_

Blue Duck wrote:

You do know that milk is one thing that will be the exact same no matter what brand it is??
Well now you do

I have to disagree here.

I cannot stomach Avonmore milk. It has some weird taste going on, while Premier Dairies is much nicer.

I drink black tea, and Avonmore is the culprit.I worked in an office years ago, where they only bought Avonmore milk, and I had to drink my tea black due to the fact that the milk rendered it undrinkable.

And back on topic, tea is another thing that "Own Brand" is an inferior product. You just cannot beat Lyons tea.

PowerPuffGirl

Is it just me, or does milk taste funny out of plastic thingies as opposed to proper paper cartons...

Rredwell

Well here in Galway the general consensus is that Oranmore milk's far nicer than dawn Dairies.

oneweb

Blue Duck wrote:

You do know that milk is one thing that will be the exact same no matter what brand it is??
Well now you do

Absolutely, positively not true!! Perhaps if you use a drop for your cup of tea/coffee it makes no difference, but for a full glass, Premier Dairies is pretty much the only milk I enjoy drinking. Avonmore (although both are from Glanbia), is a bit too creamy or something.

Anyway, for the most part I prefer Brand name stuff but own-brands are constantly improving in taste and quality.

Fish Man

At least when you buy a brand you can choose to "Buy Irish".
Supermarkets use thrir own brand bully suppliers.
If the supplier does'nt play ball, they give the business to someone else, and the customer does'nt know.

dudara

You just cannot beat Lyons tea.

Not true, Barry's is your only boy!

In general, most shop brands are just as good. You often wouldn't notice the difference. However, through trial and error I've learned to avoid the Tesco Value potato salad!!

Blisterman

So if a few different brands of milk were offered to you, you could tell the difference?

The Real B-man

PowerPuffGirl wrote:

Is it just me, or does milk taste funny out of plastic thingies as opposed to proper paper cartons...

yeah it does for a while but you get used to it tesco milk tastes the same as premier etc

Sleepy

Have to say I reckon Tesco Value is my discovery of the year. Quality is fine and the low prices are saving me a few quid on every shopping trip. Brilliant

climaxer

I used to be a brand snob but have tried a lot of own brand products recently and A LOT of them are just as good as the branded products. Tesco Value (these products are in white wrappers/boxes/cartons and have blue and red stripes) are quite good - their cheese & onion crisps are lovely and only €1.03 for ten packs - also my daughter loves their large bars of plain chocolate for only 49cent and my Grandad loves their mini raspberry tarts - 6 for around 99cent. They are so cheap its worth trying the products once anyway. Cleaning products like toilet duck and bleach are good too. Some products though I have to stick to the brands like nappies - you can't beat pampers or fairy washing up liquid.

Lex Luthor

climaxer wrote:

Some products though I have to stick to the brands like nappies - you can't beat pampers or fairy washing up liquid.

Pampers are good but not worth the money especially when you go through nappies with a new born every couple of hours.
On both our kids, we used Tesco white wrapper nappies during the day and one pamper for the night. What is the point in putting a pamper on a baby when it was designed to take a lot more crap than you allow it to stay on them for?
We also ditched the old housewife favourites of sudocrem and opted for Boots zinc cream which is half the price.
I draw the line at toilet paper......

Dr. Loon

Blisterman wrote:

So if a few different brands of milk were offered to you, you could tell the difference?

I could yeah. Some milk is more creamy, which isn't necessarily nice. While some is more watery, and there's one out there (can't remember which) taht just doesn't taste right at all.

simu

PowerPuffGirl wrote:

Is it just me, or does milk taste funny out of plastic thingies as opposed to proper paper cartons...

The milk you get in those tiny plastic yokes is UHT, treated to last for ages and it does taste quite different.

leeroybrown

I generally buy branded milk. I always buy the same brand as they'll always have a consistent taste. If I were to buy own brand milk, I'd only buy it if it came from the republic. No one should buy any foriegn milk as we have more than enough production capacity nationally and unprocessed milk is disposed of daily because there isn't enough quota to absorb it.

I buy lots of own brand products, especially things like pasta and breakfast cereal (Wheat Biscuits and Museli are just as good (if not better) as own brands). Own brand goods like sauces and frozen foods are things that need to be tried once. If I find a good one I'll but it. Tesco have an execllent range of own brand products.

leeroybrown

simu wrote:

The milk you get in those tiny plastic yokes is UHT, treated to last for ages and it does taste quite different.

I'm fairly sure that PowerPuffGirl was referring to the two litre plastic milk containers.

I always buy cartons and dispose of them (rinsed out) in my recycle bin. Theres no point in putting milk in what is essentially an oil by-product when theres an renewable source that does the job just as well. I find it irritating that manufacturers are providing one litre versions of the plastic containers too.

Saruman

plastic milk cartons leave a bad taste... oh eh how did this get turned into the milk thread anyway? Oh PD and avonmore are the same company as far as i know. all the one group

I like spervalu brands, in fact all shop brands are almost as good as the brand names and so i get them in a lot of cases.

simu

Cartons are better for preserving the nutrients in milk as well afaik. I haven't noticed any taste difference, though. Maybe I'm losing my edge!

Cabaal

seansouth wrote:

I cannot stomach Avonmore milk. It has some weird taste going on, while Premier Dairies is much nicer.

The funny thing is Premier Dairies is part of Avonmore
They merged a few years back,

voxpop

Premier Dairies is always a few cent cheaper - does it for me , plus those 2 litre plastic milk containers do make the milk taste funny.

On own brands - the Tesco's Orange juice is lovely (the 100% squeezed stuff) and way cheaper than that Tropicana rip off stuff.
Own brand cheeses tend to be very bland though and own brand pizza is not even close to goodfellas

woosaysdan

also the chocolate in the likes of aldi and lidl is really nice as well!!! superquinn have some great own brand products, their bread is lovely