"Follow Me Monday" on a Taste Testing Adventure
Do you buy name brand products because you believe that they do indeed taste better than generic (i.e. are you a brand snob 🙂 )? Or do you sometimes buy generic products because you believe that that they taste the same as their name brand counterparts? Well, as most of you know, lots of name brand products are actually cheaper than store brand items when you wait for a sale and use a manufacturer’s coupon. However, sometimes buying the store brand is less expensive… it just depends. So that brings me to the point of this video… I’ve created my own Taste Testing experiment.
Watch my the video below to see what I’ve discovered. Is buying name brand always better?! You may be surprised by my results! Also, consider creating your own taste testing experiment and include your kiddos in the process. It is a great family activity that may change the way you look at grocery shopping!
Please keep in mind that this video was actually filmed while visiting my mom in July. 🙂
**If you can’t see the video, go here to watch it.
Stay tuned for details tomorrow on a very exciting Hip2Save Taste Testing Contest/Giveaway….
I SOOO love your videos. AND don’t know what I would have ever done had I not found you.
I’ve been following you now for almost 2 years… and now we’re expecting our first. I am so looking forward to all the money we will save! 😉 The money isn’t even scaring me as much!
Thanks for all you do!!!!
Oh Collin, this reminds me of that Meijer commercial, where they have the kid set up in front of two (i think it was brussel sprouts) and the kid tastes one and kind of shudders and gags, and you see the words ‘national brand’ under it, and then the kid tastes the other brussel sprout and shudders and kind of gags and then you see the Meijer brand name flash under it. LOL. It always cracked me up! Maybe it was spinach, at any rate, it made its point. 😉
Oh my gosh LOL, I want to see that commercial. I’m gonna have to search for it on youtube! I live in meijer area and haven’t seen it, but about wet myself when you described that!
I love that commercial! I think they had a series of name brand v. meijer brand commercials. One was ripping off bandaids.
I also love the one were the man tries to open the pickle jar- unsuccessfully and then tries the meijer brand jar- unsuccessfully. They are hilarious!!
Here is a link to the Meijer Spinach commercial on youtube. Hilarious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpLShM1lrFU
From all of these comments about these commercials I am laughing hysterically. I think it’s genius!
Love the fast-forward chewing bits, had me cracking up!
You need to try graham crackers, and cheese, and microwave popcorn. 🙂
Wow, it’s pretty interesteing, especially the cheerios one!! Love the ideas!! I’m very flexible for the brand names, so sometimes I buy store brands, other time I buy name brands with coupon, either cheapest ones. I enjoy this alot and love to try my own taste testing by myself with kiddos. 🙂 Thank you!
Hey Collin,
I thought you might want to add to these that usually big name brand companies make the store brand products. I bought the Market Pantry bread at Target with their coupon and the cashier who worked for Wonder Bread previously stated that they were the ones that made Target’s bread! 🙂 It’s so much cheaper too! No wonder it’s really good! That goes for a lot of the “off-brand” products –
You are absolutely right! We had a Costco representative come and speak at our work last year, and he explained that most of their store brand toiletry and cleaning products are actually one of the name brands that they sell! I couldn’t believe it!
Target bread falls apart. Not worth $.45 🙁
The super cheap walmart bread is like that. Which is why I go to the Wonder bread thrift stores since we freeze them anyway.
i was wondering if there was another store selling hy-top, but nope, you were in the northwest! winco rocks for some cheap prices on things!
hahaha. your face while you ate those marsh mellows was too funny!
love the video, i do agree about the poptarts have bought store brands to me not as good the crusts seem to be thicker. Okay you have got me wanting some pop tarts, and marshmellows for supper.
I really liked this video and the whole concept! I only wish you’d done more “reviews” 🙂
More reviews to come in episode 2… next Monday! 🙂
I have also found over the years that there isn’t much of a differance between store brand and name brand on a lot of things but 2 items I will never again by store brand over name brand are Oreo’s and Sliced cheese. If you are a true Oreo lover the store brand one’s just don’t cut it I don’t know what it is they just taste gross to me. And the Kroger processed cheese slices are litterally like plastic. Now I know these are not great cheese to begin with and we only use them for the kid’s grilled cheese and occasionally on hamburgers, but the Kraft ones are so much better tasting and melt better too.
I totally agree..store brand oreo and chips ahoys are not good..i have tried these at many different stores too lol.
I 100% agree-walmart brand Oreo’s are just yucky! (although crushed in a pieshell are ok) Two other things I don’t buy generic are sour cream and cream cheese. Texture just is so not right!! Oh-and Sam’s brand chocolate chips (sold at Walmart, but NOT the great value) are exactly the same as Nestle choc chips-texture sight and taste-and they even copied the Tollhouse cookie recipe on the back of their wrapper!
Great video Collin, the fast forward chewing was hilarious!
There is a brand of Oreo ( type cookie) that shoprite sells, that I think are actually better then Oreo and way cheaper! Im so sorry I cant remember the name off the top of my head.
There are a lot of companies like that, for example Mt Olive Pickles makes Food Lion’s, Great Value and Dollar General’s. Peter Pan makes Great Value peanut butter, and I can’t think of anymore right now.
I did read an yahoo article that one should never buy name brand sugar, flour etc as the FDA has the same regulations and it’s all proccesed the same way.
I agree totally on the sour cream, but cream cheese I notice I like store brand more, philly has a funny aftertaste in my opinion.
I am pregnant, craving oreos and chips ahoy. i bought the market pantry brand a few days ago to save money. really bummed! only the actual oreos and chips ahoys will do!
loved the video ….it was so cute……
Great idea for a video! Loved it 🙂
I love a lot of Publix Generic..Publix american cheese taste WAAY better than Kraft, Publix Mac N Cheese..WAAY cheesier than Kraft too..yum
Stay away from Publix blue cheese dressing…YUCK!
A little bit more boring than the other videos..but hey I appreciate all your effort!
I actually thought that it was VERY entertaining, I cracked up. Collin you are so dang cute!
When are you coming to Portland?
Yeah, when are you coming to Portland? Great video too!!
I LOVE winco’s hytop brand cheerios haha. So funny! Although our winco had normal cheerios on sale for $1.88 and the Winco brand was $1.78, and I had a .50 coupon off one box of cheerios so we got the name brand! My 18 month old goes through a box of cheerios every two weeks!
Hi Collin–Love your take on the taste test. Next time, you might want to try a “Triangle Test.” This test involves tasting three samples (2 the same, 1 different), and then the taster must determine which of the three samples is different. You’ll get better results–trust me, I’m a food scientist! I worked for Albertson’s in their product development department, and this was a staple test for us there.
I also think the Archer Farms brands at Target are great as well. They have some good combinations and are very cheap!
You are a posting queen today! love it, thanks so much for all your hard work!!! Always love your videos 🙂
I once tried store-branded canned mandarin oranges – GINORMOUS mistake! They had tons of pith attached to them, all kinds of little hard parts here and there and WAY more seeds than name-brand canned mandarin oranges. I will NEVER forget how gross they were, how disappointed I was and I’ll never make that mistake again (with mandarins)! LOL We try to buy as much organic as we can these days, and a lot of what we save money on turns out to be store branded (Kroger, Whole Foods, etc) and we haven’t had many complaints, except with certain crackers – just aren’t the same as name branders.
I too love Target’s store brand Archer Farms, however look carefully – sometimes prices are more expensive and name brands can be bought much cheaper with a coupon!
Thanks for the video!! You are always a delight to watch. It pays to try generic brands to see which ones your family like. Some times the only difference between the generic and the brand name is the money you save.
I love your videos! I wish you and your family the best! You have helped me with my family and I am so proud to help you with yours if I can! Plus you are so funny!!!! 🙂
Great post, I dont mind generic names on most items. Just an FYI – Malto meal cereals are very good, alot of them better then the brand, especially the frosted miniwheats!!
I so agree! I try to tell EVERYONE that the MOM Frosted Mini Wheats are 10x better then the name brand. I actually wont even buy the Kelloggs anymore because they disappoint me compared to the generic (though, I will buy the strawberry ones if theyre cheap)
Haha I am a brand snob when it comes to certain things. Some stores do have much better store brands than others. For example Target’s market pantry and archer farms products are great. So I think for me it depends on the product and what store I’m shopping at. I bought Kroger brand green beans once and they were gross, which is weird cause beans are beans right?? 🙂 And when it comes to pop tarts I bought the store brand once and my kids wouldn’t eat them, but I prefer real Pop Tarts anyway…. because of the crust. 😉 Can’t wait to see part 2!!
I loved the fast forward chewing! and the chipmunk fast voice! SO funny! Lovvvvvvvvvvvve your videos so much- I must say- Ive lived in CT and now i live in FL. For some reason I dont get a break in prices- both prices you quoted on the cherios and the poptarts here and CT are higher (w/o coupon) weird- Keep your videos coming!!!!! 🙂
i’m a brand snob on many things, frozen/canned veggies, mayo, mac n cheese, are my 3 main really picky ones….but like you i have often said you can get name brand cheaper with sales/coupons so why not
Super Cute video!!!
I actually LOVE using coupons because I NEVER bought Name Brands before.
My mom used to and I thought she was crazy for spending so much money. So if I can get the name brand cheaper or close to the store brand with a Q I’m all for it.
Sure wish the video would be captioned or there’s script for the video so I can enjoy the video like many others have!
hahahahahahahaha Collin! I LOVE the look on your face when you realized that the Cheerios you liked better were store brand! Priceless! LOL
Taste testing is certainly worth a shot. I fooled my “I only eat Heinz and I eat it on everything” ketchup loving husband by putting Hunts in his bottle. He never knew the difference! When I told him about the switch, he was so disappointed in his tasting ability! Lol!
There is 1 big thing that IMO is never as good as the name brands, Chicken noodle soup!!
I CAN tell the difference between hunts AND heinz…. I bought hunts before and had to throw it away… YUCK!
I also can tell the difference between Hunts and Heinzs. I will only buy Heinz ketchup.
i once tried the aldis brand ketchup (shudders from memory) ugh… i’ll never try that again. heinz all the way for me!
I only buy Heinz for myself and husband. I have been getting the Hunt’s No High Fructose ketchup for my son, though. It is always on sale.
Thank you for posting this. I sometimes tend to overlook the store brands because I have a coupon for the name brand- however, I will now keep my eyes peeled for more deals on the store brands. Also- I do like the store brand honey nut cheerios better! 🙂
two more that are better as store brands. Great value ravioli doesn’t seem quite as salty, and nothing beats Food Lion cheddar cheese!
LOL! Love this video! You are sooo funny eating that cereal! Love the fast forward on the video and the squeeky little voice! Too cute! Looking forward to next Monday! Thanks!
I love your video! In fact, I did blind taste testing with my daughter several times previously. It’s really fun to do with her who is pretty picky eater. 😉
Did you compare nutritional values? I wondered if the Hy-Top Honey Nut Toasted Oats had more sugar and therefore were crunchier and tastier than the Honey Nut Cheerios. This could be a deciding factor for me versus price when comparing brand name to store brand.
I was wondering the same thing. 😉 If it has more sugar, HFCS or Trans-fats, of course it will be better!
I will often times choose to buy a store brand when I need something and can’t find a sale/coupon matchup for a name brand. And I have discovered that I like a lot of store brands! Store brand (Giant PA) Italian bread loaves always go on sale for either $1 or less and we really like this especially since it comes in wheat too. Also, Riteaid brand trash bags are great with the drawstring, same as glad to me! I got free q-tips at Kmart though and they are horrific! My husband begs me to buy regular q-tip brand, but we have so many boxes of the kmart left, it grieves me to do so. Guess it’s time to get donating.
this video was so cute. my husband did a red licorice taste test this summer. my sister and brother in law participated and they thought it was so fun.
there are so many red licorices out there, you wouldnt believe it. but the bad thing is….my favorite turned out to be an expensive import.
I love your videos– especially the fast forwarding parts in this one– very funny!
I only buy true Cheerios now, because when I got the knock off brand for my toddler, they made him choke up. Just a little too grainy. But, I can always score great deals on Cheerios and then I stock up. There are other things I will not skimp on, like toilet paper and cheese. But, I am so not opposed to buying generic brands. I love shopping at Aldi too.
i work for edy’s/dreyer’s & we also make the archer farms/market pantry ice cream. also, the great value milk at wal-mart is from mayfield. i also used to work for homax (the makers of goo-gone & many other construction/diy things) & we made the target generic magic eraser that’s just like the mr.clean one.
Loved the comparisons – thanks for all you do!
I have a friend whose husband who is a brand snob. For example, she said he insists that she gets Hershey syrup–no generic chocolate syrup. But she’s a bit of a rebel, I guess, ’cause once the Hershey bottle is empty, she refills it with generic and he never knows the difference! My husband and I got good laughs over that.
Just wanted to comment that you can freeze marshmellows. I buy a few of the jetpuffed when they are $1 and freeze them until I need them. They taste just the same and I don’t have to worry about paying full price when I need them. In a pinch the store brand will do.
I buy lots of store brands, and there are only a handful of products on which I am a brand snob. Marshmallows has become one of them, so I must defend my beloved Jet-Puffs! If you are actually going to be melting them for a recipe, there really is a difference. I make marshmallow fondant for cake decorating (google it, it’s cheap and easy to make and tastes much better than regular fondant) and I’ve learned to stick to name brand to achieve the best product and to be significantly easier to handle. I’ve tried many times to go with the “cheap” ones, but it comes out poorly. Jet-Puff actually tends to stay more fluffy when melted and they really hold up better when mixing them with other ingredients and in the final product. Even Rice Krispie Treats come out better, and the Jet-Puff stays fresher in the pantry longer. To me, it is one product worth paying for (I’ve also found them for as low as $1 per bag).
Loved your video….I think the ideas you come up with is cool ….and doing different things is awesome…who knows you may have your own talk show one day….wouldn’t that be totally awesome….I would deffinately watch it!!!!!!!!!! we love you Colin…and thank you for all you do for us.
Love you videos! I live in Florida so we don’t have all the same stores as you but your videos are informative and fun. Thanks for doing them! Keep up the great work!
My husband LOVES the generic store brand “honey nut cherios”. I once brought home the GM brand and he asked me not to buy them any more.