Generic dupes of big brand-name products are always tempting, but sometimes the price difference doesn’t make up for an enormous lack of quality. Is it always worth it to save money and go generic? Not by our count. Check out these 10 generic groceries that we’d never, ever buy.
Ketchup
Like the geniuses who dress hot dogs in Chicago, ketchup is a no-fly zone with me. Ketchup is disgusting. I’ve got no clue why you people like it so much.
But the other thing about ketchup? I’ve never met a person in my life who doesn’t share the same opinion: Heinz or nothing (which proved true in our ketchup taste test).
Coffee
There was a long period when I used my grocery store’s brand of K-Cups. These things are dirt cheap, and when I was buying them in a 100-pack, they came out to about 25 cents a cup. Hard to beat in the K-Cup world.
Unfortunately, they taste like dirty water. Now I’m paying 50 cents a cup for some compostable, better-tasting pods, and I’m living in a world of difference. Catch me in a few years when I’m paying $1.
Cream Cheese
Whipped Philadelphia cream cheese is the top of the food chain, my friends. The processed aftertaste of generic cream cheese is a hard one to shake. Avoid it, and go with Philly.
Juice
Even good juice is loaded with sugar, but at least when you’re drinking it, you get to shrug it off and remind yourself that it’s made out of actual fruit. The cheaper and more generic the juice, however, the less actual fruit you may find in there. At a certain point, this is just flat soda.
Chocolate Chips
If you bake, or even if you’re fond of the person you’re baking for, use name-brand chocolate chips. Without them, you’re losing the signature flavor and creaminess that you get with Nestlé or Ghirardelli, or a brand like that.
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Salad Dressing
The quality gap between generics and big brands is especially noticeable in the salad dressing aisle. Lower-quality oils, vinegars, and seasonings will have been used in generic dressings. And, at least in the ranch dressing department, some major brands have no equal.
Cereal
I am a person of simple standards and principles, but I’ll tell you this: I will skip Cinnamon Toast Crunch and choose the generic “Cinnamon Squares” or “Crunchy Cinnamon Toast” or whatever title it’s trying out when, and only when, H-E-double-hockey-sticks freezes over. And probably not even then, frankly.
Canned Veggies
Canned veggies are not nearly expensive enough to low-ball yourself. Most generic canned veggies are designed to last until after the apocalypse and have enough preservatives to do so. Spend the extra 12 cents and get something a little nicer.
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Cheese
Have you ever tried to melt some store-brand melted cheese? Have you ever tasted it? The texture, the consistency, the flavor… everything is wrong. All wrong.
Olive Oil
The “talking about olive oil” scale is tough. If you fall too far on one end —the side that says all olive oil is the same and there’s no reason to pay more than generic —you’ll find yourself extremely wrong. But if you fall too far on the other end, suggesting that the only olive oil one should ever consume must be the most expensive, imported stuff on the planet, you’ll find yourself being extremely annoying.
The solution? Grab a mid-level olive oil. Extra virgin, if possible; just make sure it’s the real stuff.
More Grocery Tips From Cheapism
- 5 Name-Brand Items That Are Always Superior — Here are some tried-and-true, name-brand products that shoppers say they always opt for, even if they cost more.
- 35 Tricks That’ll Save You Serious Cash at the Grocery Store — From rewards apps to where to look in the aisles, these hacks can save money (and time) on your next grocery run.
- The Cheapest Grocery Stores in America — We could all use a break these days, so why not make your next grocery outing to one of these places where you’re bound to find deals?
