Sometimes the supermarket-brand groceries are cheap because of their low quality, but sometimes it is because they spend less in marketing and logistic. We can't possibly try every supermarket-brand items ourselves, so let's crowdsource this info! Which item have you bought that is actually quite good compared to branded ones?
This is mainly for Coles & Woolworths.
Coles chocolate chip cookies taste better than the Arnotts in my opinion.
Does anyone know what the hell happened to Chunky Chips Ahoy?!
They were the bomb! And once you go chunky, there's no going back…
Beat me to it! haha
They are soooooo good!
yes yes YES! easily the best!
Woolies homebrand vanilla ice cream is better than some premium brands to us.
Coles Blackcurrant jam, the other brands are too sweet. The coles one has chunky bits of blackcurrant and a bit of sourness to it.
Aldi Butterfully. Soft butter. Half the price of other butter blends and tastes great.
Plus butter being better for you. Maybe not calories wise, but health wise.
Def not the caned tuna or salmon. Nor the nuts and smoked salmon.
Chocolate perhaps. Drinks no.
Bread. Depends on what store and if it's baked fresh. Ice cream on par for vanilla. Cheese similar. Ham no. Chips. No.
Hahaha I actually complained about black and gold australian salmon once. They sent me a letter saying that i was stupid and it was a different colour because australian salmon wasnt really salmon … meanwhile I was actually complaining because it was a tin full of fish scales not the colour!
Also, generic asparagus is so chewy its not funny!
Anything aldi is mostly good. Some way better than any branded one. Mostly is direct substitute.
Aldi olive oil australian is very good.
I just give up on colesworth thesedays. Only some spevific items such as gippsland yoghurt or connoisseur ice cream are still better then aldi equivalent
Coles toasted muesli.
Haven't found better. Would love to know who makes it for them.
Woolworths select woodfired frozen pizza. It doesn't taste like frozen cardboard unlike some branded frozen pizza.
How much are they normally and do they go on special ever? Might be worth my giving it a try
I'm starting to get a bit sick of Dr Oetker on account of having stocked up when they are $4 and overindulging.
Some Coles specialty stores make pizza instore and if you buy 2 it works out $6 each small size or $7.50 for large. Tastes quite nice.
The woolies near me does fresh pizzas (uncooked) too. Often marked down toward the end of the day. If I am grocery shopping late I'll get a couple and cook them before bed to give everyone left over pizza for lunch.
The local place is pretty generous with the toppings too, compared to frozen and the cheap menu at Dominos.
@mskeggs: Yeah I know at least 3 Woolies stores that do this - they'll also "custom" make a pizza for you in Rundle Mall if they like you (I'm in there enough to be familiar to the staff there ;). Might be store policy to do this for everyone.
However … I think I actually prefer the Woolies Select frozen pizzas oddly enough.
Agreed.
Sure if you don't mind running local businesses into the ground.
You really ain't gonna find much in the way of "local produce" in most supermarkets as far as I'm aware. And most of it will be fresh produce in any case.
it hasn't always been like that. Only over the past 10 years has it significantly changed. Frozen vegetables from China? Boxes of cereal from Europe. Nowadays you have to read the fine print (if you care). What is disappointing is when consumers assume a product is sourced somewhere or produced by a certain company based on its history. For a new unknown foreign brand to make an appearance wih "Made in USA" or "imported from Belgium" proudly stamped I've no problem with. It's when you go in to buy an established brand that has been bought out by a foreign multinational, they've moved manufacturing and hidden "Made in China" in the fine print of your Calippo ice block.
Are Calippos made in China now?
(just googled.. holy cow, you're totally right. And Paddle Pops. Whoa!)
I've recently found that wow unscented baby wipes ($3 for 80) are much the same as curash fragrance free ($5 for 80). They were half price last week so now my cupboard is full of boxes of wipes.
In saying that (and I'm sure I'll be called out for being a hypocrite) I really don't like the idea of buying a lot of supermarket branded products. I think Coles and wow have a lot of power in this country (with Aldi's success growing by the day) and I would hate to see other businesses forced out. I much prefer to buy a product from a company that specialises in making only that product rather than from the supermarket who wants their piece of every pie.
My answer to your legitimate points is to urge manufacturers to be more competitive.
The Victorian company, Natures Organics, makes branded cleaning and soap products of quite a high standard that sell for rock bottom prices.
I have been buying their shampoos, wool wash etc. for years, and they have good quality at a good price. They don't run expensive branding campaigns, but they do package their products reasonably attractively.
I would like to see other manufacturers take a similar approach. The only reason generics have any appeal is they are so much cheaper than branded.
I will always choose a branded product if it is of good quality and competitive price because the supermarkets change generic suppliers regularly, and products that were good last month change. The reason brands exist at all is to offer that continuity and assurance of quality.
The reality, however, is that the leading brands are routinely double of more than the generics.
A bottle of lemon squash for 90c generic or $2.50 for Lift is laughable, when the contents are virtually identical.
Home brand bread is disgusting! Woolies bakery bread is amazing!
I will eat home brand bread, but it is not great.
The bakery bread is amazing I agree, and at $2 makes it an awesome alternative.
But don't eat it after about 3 days, even toasted, it has an odd taste to it, despite not being mouldy yet.
Our dog prefers ALDI premium dog food to her usual Optimum. She refuses to eat My Dog or Pal dog food. Now we have to slowly get through our stock of Optimum, mixed with the cheaper Aldi food.
Good dog!!
Dog food is one of those products where very low quality ingredients are combined for massive added value (in terms of the entity selling it).
The owners are sold a narrative of vague health benefits health and doggie happiness which the product "causes".
So that's not real surprising to me. :)
Plain/salted corn chips.
CC's and Doritos just can't compete with what Coles brand has on offer.
+1 for the corn chips. Unless I see any $1 doritos sales that coles has once in a blue moon
In my experience, pretty much all the store-brand products are as good as their branded counterparts. I struggle to justify paying more these days!
Aldi 'Samson' paper towels.
You could almost dry yourself after a shower using a few.
On the other hand, Aldi's 'Up and Go' liquid cereal is atrocious. realised later it's from Vietnam, so probably explains a lot.
All liquid cereals are atrocious from my admittedly limited experience.
Aldi sports water and sports drink, half the price and just as good.
Aldi GI and apple raspberry cordial are great. No artifical/colours. It has less sugar and more fruit (50%) than any juice drink poppers so I use it for school now.
Aldi berroca alternative This product actually got my husband into the store as at $4.99 and something he uses daily he saves minimum $92 a year on this product alone.
Batteries
Headache tablets/gel caps/caplets
Sometimes brand name products ARE better but the cost associated with them is not worth the slight improvement. I only buy brand names if they are reasonably priced AND much better than any generic. Probably Biozet is a good example. I try to buy it on special though.
Another good thing about Aldi is they dont have any products with artifical colour/flavours. They use vegetable oil not palm oil in their noodles and no msg. A lot of their products have less carbs than the brand names. So Aldi brands are very good from a health perspective too.
I dunno … I switched to Coles branded liquid laundry detergent and noticed no difference other than a different small after the clothes were dry. The "clean" smell odor (which has nothing to do with cleanliness other than in our brains BTW) is neither more or less pleasant to me.
But there's something to be said for how brands cause us to feel - so it's not a complete waste of money or anything like this I think.
I, uh, actually do.
They may be 3-ply thick but they don't have the 'toughness' of Viva (ie. no holes/tears).
Disclaimer: Not homeless, just weird/borderline Asperger.
Coles Brand Low Fat Cottage Cheese. Tastes better than the 2x price branded ones.
Woolies home brand one is also just as good. Very similar (though can be a bit drier in texture sometimes, which I don't mind at all personally). The tub doesn't say Low Fat in bold writing anywhere from memory but it is low fat.. similar nutritional content to the Coles brand anyway!
I live off the stuff. I prefer both the Coles and Woolies ones. Aldi is also okay but I find it too lumpy/chunky and watery - larger curds sitting in liquid. Quite flavourless compared to the Woolies one too! (and it's not like the Woolies one has higher calorie/fat content which is making it taste better either). It's okay depending on what you're using it for, I suppose. I'm a weirdo that likes to eat that stuff right out of the tub though, or mix it with salad/veggies. So more consistent creamy texture like the Woolies/Coles one is ideal. mmm low fat protein.
Aussie Tofu ;-)
Eating some right now! And I was wrong earlier - the Woolworths Homebrand 500g tub does say '97% Fat Free' and 'Low Fat' but they're not in huge letters. They're in red text too while the Creamed Cottage Cheese writing is in larger black text which is more obvious to the eye.
Took me a while to realise it was low fat. Always thought Homebrand didn't offer a low fat version which was a nuisance, but it turns out I was just blind :)
@duchy: I know ;) I've lost count of how many avocados and handfuls of almonds I've eaten this week. But I have a weird history of anorexia so there are still remnants of irrational fears in my mind that occasionally creep up and sway my decisions. I guess I never question fats if it's from a whole food… something processed in any tiny way, for some reason, I think the fat is unnecessary… and I can and probably should avoid it. Makes no sense of course. But that's eating disorders for you.
Coles/Woolworths sunscreen! Is much thinner and nice to apply. Way way cheaper for a product that still works!
I can't stand the feeling of sunscreen on my skin. The Coles brand feels the nicest.
Used Ww Select 30+ (orange bottle iirc) sunscreen at the coast on the weekend. Combination of that with the salt water was an absolute disaster. Face and eyes stung so badly I had to get out of the surf after half an hour. Next day used a different sunscreen - no problems at all. Never had a problem with ANY brand of sunscreen before. Wouldn't touch this particular one with a bargepole. Found it: http://www2.woolworthsonline.com.au/shop/ProductDetails?Stoc…
I do remember not liking that particular one!
'Premium' Caramel & Macadamia nut ice cream, Coles vs Connoisseur. I prefer the Coles branded one, because of the large macadamia chunks compared to the small 'once in a while' bits in the Connoisseur tub.
Home brand small (500g?) frozen lasagne for $2.79. Far superior taste wise to the Sara Lee $7 one.
My biggest one is coffee mate whitener compared to Coles brand.
It's around double the price and I don't notice any difference.
I hate the Coles jatz (crackers). They are just horrible.
They're like eating sawdust.
Aldi wheat bix are smoother and taste better than vitabrix which both taste better than original wheatbix.
Woolies brand refried beans are much tastier than Old El Paso refried beans. I wouldn't have a clue about which one has the better nutritional content.
anyone know how (ie factually) 98 oct petrol & diesel from indie petrol stations compare with say shell 98 or caltex diesel?
indie petrol stations are usually sourced from mobil… so should be ok?
I would hazard a guess at "identical" since petrol is so highly regulated but I do not know for sure.
Yes they are all required to meet a range of standards (although how often they're tested by authorities I don't know) but all the majors have their own additives. In theory this should make no difference to performance although some motorists swear that for higher RON fuels particularly one brand is better for their vehicles than another.
Aldi's 2.3kg lasagne. I used to buy Woolie's 2.1kg lasagne back in 1998-2003, but then somewhere along the line, they made the bechamel sauce taste bland so I stopped buying from them. Then I tried Aldi's and while it doesn't taste the same as woolies lasagne circa 2003, it's cheaper and tastes pretty good, imo.
The bechamel sauce in the You'll Love Coles lasagne is mouth-watering. Best ever. I prefer the meat in Aldi's and the pasta in Woolies', though.
Woolworths Select Traditional Mayonnaise. We used to buy Tomy until we discovered this.
In the same vein, the Aldi whole egg mayo is equally good, and similarly cheap.
Coles Olive Oil
Coles Vegetable Oil
Coles Crushed Garlic
Coles Ginger Paste
Coles Foil Wrap
Coles Shrink Wrap
Coles Juice (no added sugar!)
All these are solid deals as they're cheap and yet decent quality
The cling wrap was a surprise. I remember 20 years ago the generic cling wrap was super thin and ripped way to easily. I spent the next two decades buying massive catering rolls of Glad and Multix to get it for a reasonable price. Then I used some Woolies home brand at somebody else's place last year and it is just as good, and a little cheaper.
Thanks for the great suggestions, just watch out when switching to generic brands that they use nastier ingredients to make the food. Compate the Saturated Fat percentages. Aldi/Woolies branded chips are notorious for this
But many of the brand ones are also very high in saturated fat. It varies heaps. (And current science would indicate that saturated fats aren't bad, in fact. Trans fats are more worrisome.)
Other than your normal staples like sugar/milk/etc here are some of my preferred supermarket options:
Coles:
-> Pane Di Casa bread
-> Frozen veggies
-> Quick oats
-> Sugar donuts
-> Croissants
-> Tissue boxes (LOL)
-> Tinned tomatoes
Aldi:
-> Green tea (so cheap! I get the green tea with lemon flavour)
-> Mozarella cheese
-> Evaporated milk
-> Garlic bread
-> Chocolate mousse
-> Those 'Knoppers' chocolate bars and the wafer chocolate bars (similar to Kinder Bueno)
-> Pasta (the coles one sticks together too much so brand-wise, I usually get Barilla on sale or aldi-brand on normal price).
Woolworths (or should I say Safeway…):
-> Tinned Mackerel for making fish cakes
-> Single packaged banana bread (from the bakery cabinet)
There's probably more but I can't remember them right now :P
The $1 Aldi chocolate blocks are phenomenal. Way better than Cadbury or Nestle stuff.
I loves Coles' $1 tissues! I have a very sensitive nose that's irritated by tissues that are too thick or have aloe vera or any scent to them or anything like that. Coles' tissues are like heaven!
Aldi's toilet paper is amazing, too. It's about a third of the price of the big brands, but much softer and more absorbent. I have Quilton at the moment as I was too lazy to go to Aldi, and I feel like I'm wiping my butt with sandpaper by comparison.
Coles box of chocolate chip cookies. They are amazing.
The K-Mart brand (I can't remember the name, but the logo is an 'A', and the specific cookies name begins with a 'D') is beyond amazing. It's as though every one was handcrafted by God.
The Coles ones are very similar, but not quite there. They'd definitely be my second pick, though!
in my opinion most homebrands are only slightly worse or equivalent, and are usually better value
home brand tomato sauce is terrible though
I never have a problem with tomato sauce at restaurants, kiosks, cafes, etc., but I find every one available in the supermarket disgusting except for Rosella.
Agreed. I am fine with either Coles or Woolies BBQ sauces, but the watery flavourless generic tomato is always disappointing. We get the 2Lt Fountain when on special.
Coles oats
I find a lot of Aldi's products to be far superior to branded products. Portview Polecaught Tuna in Brine especially. Yum as all heck!
I love Woolworths Select fruity oats. They don't have as much fruit as many of the brands (or even Aldi's) but they taste much better than any other brand I've tried and are really creamy with only boiling water and no milk. I also love Woolworths Homebrand party mix, although the quality has gone downhill in the past eighteen months or so.
You'll Love Coles sweet and sour chicken boxed meal ($3.70) is the best sweet and sour chicken I've ever had (not just as a ready meal - even from a restaurant) and the You'll Love Coles 2pk chicken kievs ($5.50) are beyond delicious; I had Steggles the other day and they tasted like fetid poo by comparison!
Coles' Pro-B probiotic drink worked much better for me than Yakult. In order of taste and efficacy, it's Coles' Pro-B, Aldi's Bio Cult, Woolworths' Probiotic Drink, then Yakult. The only problem is that Coles doesn't know what bacteria is in it - I asked, and they contacted the manufacturer, but could only get "live cultures" out of them.
(I thought probiotic drinks were absolute nonsense until I had a recurring severe stomach disorder that cleared up after two days of Pro-B. I missed it for 2 days and it came back; went away again 2 days after I resumed drinking the stuff.)
Here's my pick..
Other than these products, I'm pretty much a brand snob. Most items like tomato sauce, soya sauce, canned tuna, canned soup, biscuits, it's best to get the well known brands.
Coles Brand Peanut Butter ice cream…and the "Coles Finest" Vanilla ice cream, both are really nice. The Vanilla I find quite competitive with Connoisseur, although Connoisseur on special is sometimes better value.
I also get Coles brand tinned tomatoes, pasta (spaghetti, fettucine, spirals). However, I still prefer San Remo or Barilla when it comes to egg pasta.
I don't like generic soft drinks though (I usually get 24-packs of Pepsi Max when they go on special). I have tried generic teabags as well, but Lipton intense is my pick.
Coles chocolate used to be really nice when it was Belgian chocolate in Coles' wrapping. It's still decent now, but I prefer Lindt from discount confectionery stores such as Sweet As.
I also buy Coles brand Tuna sometimes…the Thai red curry, and mild indian curry (a.k.a. tomato and onion) are both quite competitive with the same flavours from John West.
Coles Toilet rolls I find quite OK as well (Although Kleenex seem less prone to tearing when unravelling the roll)
As far as milk goes, I always buy Coles brand UHT milk…it's cheaper than Devondale in 1L packs which I find more convenient, and tastes the same as what I remember Pura's UHT milk to taste like (I havent seen that on shelves for a few years now though). Chilled fresh milk, again I buy Coles or Woolies, unless I find Pauls or Pura on markdown.
And of course, mayo. I find Coles/Woolies mayo (esp whole egg) really nice and much better value than heinz/Hellmans. I wonder why good mayo has to be so expensive here…
Not sure if it's technically a supermarket brand but the Table Lands cholesterol spread seems exactly the same as Pro Activ but at half the price. The Coles Scotch Finger biscuits are the same as the branded version too, except they are only 90c.
Anyone compared butters?
I was told that devondale makes nearly all its dairy goods for the private homebrand lables for coles and aldi and is essentially the same product, materials and factory it comes from.
Great post!
I've just started baking and heard that Woolworths Home brand cocoa powder is one of the best! I also bought nestle plaistowe to compare (at least double the price…) Haven't baked with plaistowe yet but Homebrand cocoa powder was very tasty in a chocolate cake!!
check out Nature's Way Super Cacao
Woolworth's Homebrand cocoa is absolutely excellent. Rare to get cheap alkalised cocoa powder in Australia and this stuff is excellent for the price. In comparison, Coles cocoa powder when I tried it last was awful poor quality stuff with weak flavour, and non-alkalised (not a bad thing, just paler, like Cadbury cocoa).
Yep, made in Germany too!
Coles Banana Pops (ice-cream) - I rarely buy no-name brands, but these are the best! Way better than Paddle Pop Banana Flavour IMO.
For me, ALDI:
WOOLIES:
Now if only there were a good replacement for Rice Bubbles!! Coles had good ones in the early 2000s, then replaced them with a foul-tasting lookalike.
thats what I think also about cheese. it usually isnt much cheaper at all.