Consumer Reports: Store vs name brands

Buying store brands instead of name brands can lead to big savings, an average of 25 percent off your grocery bill.

To see how store brands stack up against name brands, our partners at Consumer Reports Magazine did blind tests of 19 pairs of products.

And the winners are....

Target’s Market Pantry Ranch salad dressing tied Hidden Valley’s. Quality-wise they’re right about the same, but they had different flavors.

Walmart’s Great Value granola bar tied Nature Valley’s. Both were chewy and they were pretty much the same quality.

And when Clover Valley’s crackers from Dollar General went up against Sunshine’s Cheez-Its, it was a tie again!

But in some cases big-name brands did beat store brands. For example, Tropicana orange juice defeated Nice!, sold at Walgreens. It had a fuller orange flavor.

However, in most cases store brands did as well as or better than name brands! The bottom line: Store brands are worth a try, and they usually cost a lot less.

And Consumer Reports says that the savings and quality aren’t limited to store-brand foods. For example, both Target’s Up & Up paper towels and Walmart’s White Cloud toilet paper have rated excellent in Consumer Reports' tests.

As always, don't waste your money.

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