Kraft, the hits just keep on coming... Kodak here we come

I never buy name brand medicines, either. It's either CVS, Walgreens, or Walmart brand.

 

I remember walking in a local grocery store a few years ago with Girl Scouts selling from a table just outside the front door. Just inside, the first display table featured every Keebler-version of the Girl Scout cookies, i.e. Grasshoppers, etc.

 

I gave store-brand Cinnamon Toast Crunch a good, long try. It's not the same.

I definitely believe the store brand is usually exactly the same, same factory, same formula. A big one for me is contact solution. The nurse or whatever at my eye doctor once almost fainted when I told her I didn't believe the ~$10 bottle was any better than the ~$1.50 bottle.

That said, there are some products that don't measure up.

 

Aldi junk food is worth the drive, especially their Chex Mix and rippled potato chips.

 

I don't know why, but the BBQ potato chips under the Jimmy John's label are way better than any others I've had.

 

I’ve stopped in just for a bag of Jimmy Chips.

 

Branded foods have gone through a cycle. Starting in the 80's it was determined that products with strong brand identities could charge more. House brands of stores have never been as strong in the United States as in other countries. So if a company like Heinz raised prices of ketchup 10% sales would not decline by 10%. So profits soared. Many companies took on lots of debt and tried to pay off the debt with higher prices as a result.

It worked really well for a long time. And now it does not. I wonder if their are any other industries that have similar histories?

 

Anyone else remember the white label with black lettering generic foods in stores back in the 80s?

 

I'll admit, I'm sucker for packaging and marketing. Everything about me says that won't taste good.