Brand Name vs. Generic – Can You Tell the Difference?

On a recent rainy Sunday afternoon, my husband and I wanted to get out of the house.  I had writer’s block trying to think of a fun topic for this blog and our daughter needed some entertainment beyond Mom and Dad.  After tossing around several ideas, we came up with the brilliant idea of going to our local supercenter store that has covered parking and buying the brand name and generic versions of various food products.  (You think I’m kidding – I’m not.)  We then came home and taste tested them to see if we could tell the difference.  We had a blast!  Here are our results.

We bought the brand name and generic versions of woven wheat crackers, saltines, potato chips, pasta sauce, raisin bran, flavored instant oatmeal, and toaster waffles.  We presented each other dishes labeled “A” and “B” with a small amount of each food product so we didn’t know which was the brand name.  I told my husband he didn’t have to close his eyes but he warned me that, “I eat raisin bran all the time, so I’ll know which is the brand name.  Same with the saltines and potato chips, I’ll know which is which.”  I smiled as I thought to myself, “Sure you will.”

We first tried the woven wheat crackers.  They looked and tasted nearly identical.  The brand name crackers were a bit squarer in shape and tasted a bit saltier to me although the packages listed the same amount of sodium.  If I hadn’t been eating them side-by-side, they’d taste exactly the same.  For a savings of $1.20, the generic wins hands down.

Which is the brand name?  Answer: B

For the saltines, my husband confessed they tasted exactly the same.  But he swore that he’d had generic saltines that tasted worse…”Or that could all be in my head.”    For me, I had to have my husband bring three rounds of saltines before I decided I did like one of them better which turned out to be the brand name.  But how often do I concentrate that hard on figuring out which saltine I like better?  Never.  So again, the generic wins at a savings of $1.27.

For the potato chips, my husband confidently said he liked “B”, the brand name chips, better.  I told him those were the generic chips.  He was shocked…and then laughed.  We’ll be saving 51 cents a bag now.

Which chips are brand name? Answer: B	Can you guess the brand name cereal? Answer: A

For the raisin bran, my husband noted a difference in texture but not taste.  He liked both of them.  I agreed, the flavor was the same but I really liked the thicker, crunchier flakes which turned out to be the generic brand.

The pasta sauce comparison was interesting.  My husband liked the generic sauce better.  I liked the thickness of the generic, but thought it was way too sweet.  I liked the flavor of the brand name better.  I checked the nutrition labels and the generic had 3 grams more of sugar than the brand name.  At a price difference of 35 cents, I think we need to shop around a bit more until we find a sauce we both like.

The two different bananas & cream oatmeal were both good.  Turns out I prefer the flavor of the generic and the thicker texture of the name brand.  Since I always mix flavored oatmeal with an equal amount of regular oats, the generic wins at a savings of $1.27.

And finally, the toaster waffles.  Both of us liked the brand name waffles slightly more.  The quality seemed better.  I thought liking the generic for six out of the seven products was pretty good.  We could splurge on brand name toaster waffles.  I checked my receipt and saw that the brand name waffles were actually on sale and 17 cents cheaper than the generic.  Good lesson learned: although generic versions are typically cheaper, sometimes sales on brand name products can be a real deal.

Overall, my husband was “O” for four on guessing the brand name product before finally giving up.  If your family resists generic products, have your own taste testing party and see if you can change their minds.