Should You Buy Store Brands?

Last week, I took my intrepid producer and comrade in arms, Nick Palladino, to a Shop Rite supermarket in Lincoln Park, New Jersey to see how store brands would compare to national brands. We set up a table, some samples, and the shoppers flocked to offer their opinions.

There is no question: to save money, buy the store's own brand.

According to the Private Label Manufacturers Association, one in five products purchased in grocery outlets is a "store brand" product. Store brand sales now exceed $40 billion each year. Why do store brands cost less? Supermarkets offer a similar product with less money spent on advertising and packaging, which is then passed on to the shopper, and in some cases the savings are almost 50%.

There are two things to remember about store brands.

First, be sure to check out the ingredient listing carefully: if it (and the nutritional information) is identical there is a good chance the store has copied the same formula, and the product will be identical.

Second is that every store brand these days has a 100% satisfaction guarantee – if you don't like the product, bring it back for a refund.