Which own brand/budget products are good?

Freiheit wrote: »

Today bought Tesco tomato sauce for 80 cent,yesterday supervalu own brand flower for about e1.50 (odlums nearly twice this) ,I don't know if the flower will make nice pastry or not,nor the sauce nice sandwiches. Is it just a different packaging?.

I'd like to others experiences and recommendations as to what is good and what is bad in this 'range'.

I'll set the ball rolling, there's a pasta sauce in Tesco for about 82 cent,full jar which I think is good,own brand milks I think are fine,as are nice price tesco tea bags.

So who's next?

I wouldnt be one for making pastry with a flower.....id prefer to use flour...

Anyhoo -M&S cookies...by far the best cookies money can buy and relatively cheap also.

podge018 wrote: »

ALDI corn flakes are spot on.

So are Lidl ones,they changed their recipe recently.Wouldn't eat them before but the new recipe ones are grand (and cheap)

Here's the list: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70930797&postcount=1

I work in Superquinn and they have 3 ranges of own brand stuff. Essentials is basically the budget stuff although there are a few gems in there such as the very nice strawberry jam for 79c. A lot of the old euroshopper items have moved over to this and the cookies and the milk are pretty good too for a fair whack less than the brands. Then there are just "Superquinn" branded and these would be close to the brands in terms of quality with a bit knocked off the price, the pasta I get good mileage out of, bigger bag than the "Roma" ones and very good quality, even though there is an essentials variant I choose it over. The ready meals for the most part are good too. So ultimately if you are on a budget the essentials are grand and you get plenty of bang for your buck in terms of quality for the price, the Superquinn branded things are as close as you are going to come to branded without being branded and generally are more generous with the portions than the brands.

They brought in an "SQ" range a while ago which was to take on the brands and are quite expensive but the very highest quality, not sure if there's many still knocking about as I don't think they were that much of a success.

Aldi rock shandy in 2l is excellent too, made by Gleesons in Tipp

Aldi Onion Rings made by Tayto people, very good 99c for 6 pack

Aldi have german ham in a yellow and clear packet - 100g for €1.29 always very lean and really tasty

Aldi Summer Fruits and Autumn Fruits jam is gorgeous

Aldi beef burgers are great. Find them much tastier than Big Al's/Birdseye.

vicwatson wrote: »

Which ones - Moorehead or something like that?

Oakhurst I think but not 100% on that.

Lidl marmalade. Wouldn't use any other

Tesco brand Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes are just as moreish as Kelloggs, imo.

Lidl's Ardsallagh Sausages are great. They're made by Olhausen.
Also their Balti Curry sauce is one of the nicest I've tasted in any brand.

Aldi's 'weetabix' are as good as the branded one. I have 2 most mornings. I didn't like the lidl ones when I tried them.

Supervalu's 'cornflakes' are excellent too. Got a good review here http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0410/1224314565135.html

I also have a soft spot for supervalu's breaded fish. Very nice and a fraction of the price of donegal catch.

bennyob wrote: »

I also have a soft spot for supervalu's breaded fish. Very nice and a fraction of the price of donegal catch.

I actually think it is made by Donegal catch for Supervalu
As far as I can remember the EU plant codes are the same on the packaging for both products. (I was looking at breaded whiting recently)

Here's link to the food safety authority website where all the plants are listed
http://www.fsai.ie/food_businesses/approved_food_establishments.html

For example: Tesco own brand milk and fresh cream have a plant code of 1403 on the lid. Tesco try to hide the info by not having a distinct plant code label on the product. They have a note "see lid"

1403 from "Milk and Dairy establishments..." spreadsheet is Glanbia so the milk and cream is (imho) the same as Avonmore

CH3OH wrote: »

For example: Tesco own brand milk and fresh cream have a plant code of 1403 on the lid. Tesco try to hide the info by not having a distinct plant code label on the product. They have a note "see lid"

1403 from "Milk and Dairy establishments..." spreadsheet is Glanbia so the milk and cream is (imho) the same as Avonmore

It is defintely from Avonmore as i had a complaint before and had to complain to Avonmore

CH3OH wrote: »

I actually think it is made by Donegal catch for Supervalu
As far as I can remember the EU plant codes are the same on the packaging for both products. (I was looking at breaded whiting recently)

Here's link to the food safety authority website where all the plants are listed
http://www.fsai.ie/food_businesses/approved_food_establishments.html

For example: Tesco own brand milk and fresh cream have a plant code of 1403 on the lid. Tesco try to hide the info by not having a distinct plant code label on the product. They have a note "see lid"

1403 from "Milk and Dairy establishments..." spreadsheet is Glanbia so the milk and cream is (imho) the same as Avonmore

Just because things are made in the same plant doesn't mean there the same. Receipes and quality change. I make dinner in the same kitchen with the same ingredients as my misses and the result is totally different.

seanmacc wrote: »

Tesco Roasted Salted Penuts. Half the price of the main brands and superior in my opinion.

Disagree completely.

You really notice the difference with KP. Given the narrow difference its worth the premium in this case.

Lidl Granarom Columbian Coffee is lovely at 1.99 for 100g. Tried the Aldi one and it was undrinkable, but I see they have improved taste on the label or the sign now!

Aldi's relish is excellent - €1.79 - 3 types

Jalepeno Pepper relish

Sweet Tomato relish

Can't remember the other one as I never bought it

Very excellent on burgers, chicken etc

Lemmy Scott wrote: »

These are brutal they taste like an old sock

Lidl's beefburgers (Mooredale?) are imo the best bought burgers - actually, they're my favourite burgers full stop.

Aldi stackers are a better Pringles substitute - 99c instead of whatever price pringles happen to be today (another poster recommends Tesco own brand here too, but I've never come across them).

Aldi tea (McGraths), I second someone who mentioned the Aldi marmalade. Aldi salad packages are excellent.

Aldi fillet and rib eye steaks - afaik they're identical to the SQ black label steaks, but at a substantial discount (2 fillets in Aldi are 12.99 or 13.99 as opposed to 19.99 in SQ).

Re the relishes, the Jalapeno one is excellent, but I much prefer Ballymaloe's tomato relish.

Lidl nappies - toujours - wipe the floor with everything else, they're a consistent price and the quality is on a par with the best and beats most types in terms of comfort (I can't speak from experience, but, they don't leave any marks) and durability (I've never seen one leak yet, unlike certain brands - Huggies if you must know).

Aldi orange juice (NFC) - €1.45 per litre - indistinguishable from the competition.

Kids smoothies 4 pack Aldi - €2.29 as opposed to €4, may not have totally organic fruits etc, but, lets face it, it's all mashed into a mush with lots of other fruits, who could really tell!!


To be honest, there's very little in Aldi that is of inferior quality (taste wise anyway) to that available in other supermarkets, imo it's the cheap superquinn!!

arch20000 wrote: »

The LIDL Arabica Espresso coffee in the medal tin in the dogs!!

The Bellarom fresh ground coffee in the black tin? Yeah, that's decent stuff for the price.