Delicious Generic Brands

For the October issue of Consumer Reports, the magazine conducted a blind taste test, comparing 19 generic and name-brand products. They found store brands more often than not tasted as good as the name brand, and in one case (Giant Eagle chicken broth vs. Swanson’s) better.

Here are a few as-good store-brand items…

• Wegmans peanut butter (tied Skippy)
• Meijer cranberry juice (tied Ocean Spray)
• Winn-Dixie Greek yogurt (tied Chobani)
• Market Pantry (Target) classic ranch dressing (tied Hidden Valley)

And some of the unbeatable name brands…

• Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream (beat Kroger)
• Stouffer’s lasagna (beat Safeway’s Eating Right)
• Quaker oats (beat Publix)

The magazine has more, with price differences – but generics are on average 25 percent cheaper, they say.