Supermarkets: New lines of generics at Shoppers & Giant

[wayne keyser]

Anyone have an opinion about the new lines of house-label offerings at Giant and Shoppers? Giant has these "please don't buy me" yellow/orange labels, and Shoppers has "Essential Everyday" generic products.

I am pleased with most stores' house label vegetables and detergents and the like, but from my memory (for instance) Giant's pasta sauce was, IMO, awful. But it's a new day and my weekly bill is going up, and I said "Oh, it's just $1.25" and tried Shoppers' new "Essential Everyday" pasta sauce, and I love it! Of course it's not a "gourmet" item, it's a perfect Prego clone, but for everyday, I love Prego and this is about 1/3 the price.

Any rerports on other house-label items? Both stores seem to be rolling out these new items both at the same time.

[drewpbalzac]

I am generally leery of house brands - particularly the non-food items. However, I make an exception for the Wegmans store brand foodstuffs. I have friends that have accused Wegmans obsessed people like myself as bordering on cultists . . . I dont think of myself as in a cult . . . But I will spread the "word" . . . I think most of their house brand foodstuffs rival or surpass the name brand items of similar scope. I wouldn't put their jarred pasta sauces up against a Rao's jarred sauce for instance - but against any of the other "name brand" sauces I'll take Wegmans. For things like prepared chicke stock Wegmans crushes the name brands in my opinion. Store branded olive oils and viinagers - unreal selections and prices.

[chowser]

I'm not sure if it's a generic but Shoppers carries Culinary Circle pasta--it's a bronze cut pasta that I really like. It's a great price for bronze cut, plus they have fun cuts (nonbronze cut) like bucatini that you normally have to search for.

[VaPaula]

I'm typically not brand-loyal EXCEPT when it comes to things like paper towels, aluminum foil, and Ziploc (see what I mean?) bags. The quality just doesn't seem to be the same.

Not a food item, but a "staple" in my kitchen, I recently purchased Giant's disinfectant wipes. Who knows if they, or any of the others, work, but I did notice the packaging was a PITA. Once I got the first few out, it was fine, but they do seem a little flimsier than Lysol.

[Jason1]

I haven't tried any of the new Giant products, but as a Giant shopper who hasn't been happy about a lot lately, I found the return to "generic" generics overwhelmingly depressing. Most offensive...the Guaranteed Value Imitation Processed Cheese. Not even real processed cheese!

[MikeR]

I clip coupons (that's what retired people do) for brands that I've found that I prefer, but I often buy house brands for things like canned sauces and frozen vegetables. And with very few exceptions like Perdue chicken or Smithfield pig parts, when you buy meat, you're always buying a house brand.

We might be chowhounds, but we can't be food snobs all the time.

[agarnett100]

I buy the house brand for many of my goods except for Mayo which has to be Hellman's. As for pasta sacues I use the house brand as a base and add other herbs and spices for flavor.

Costco has a house brand called Kirkland I buy most of their products all the time.