Brand it bandit?
by Joshua Neil
No other products taste like Kellogg’s? Beans means Heinz? Everybody knows these slogans, as well as hundreds more for other items in their daily shop, and everybody assumes that the bigger the brand, or the more expensive it is, the better it has to be, right?
Well, you could be wrong- while big-name brands can sometimes mean better quality or greater taste, it’s often just the product of millions spent on advertising and branding that make you think so. So what about value products?
Studies have shown that with many types of product, like cheddar cheese, oven chips and apple juice- the staple diet of everybody broke in London, obviously- are actually identical in quality and taste to the bigger supermarket-brand value products, and in addition are a lot cheaper. According to MoneySavingExpert.com, buying select value products over their rivals for a year could save hundreds of pounds annually- and you won’t even notice the difference.
Value products – are they really worse?
As well as the fact that many value products did far better in blind taste tests, Time magazine ran an article to show that over the last few years, more and more consumers have been buying value products over their more famous counterparts, with around 64% of consumers interviewed stating that ‘Brand names are not better quality’. The Guardian also suggested this, stating that 22% of British shoppers are planning to buy more own-brand food and drink in the following years. With dozens of studies showing similar results, it is clear that ideas of what indicate good or bad products when shopping are slowly changing.
Studies can only persuade so much, however. Try it for yourself- go out and give value brands a go. You might be surprised. While it may be hard to let go of Heinz or McVities- brands that have persuaded us to buy products just by getting the most air time on the TV- buying value brands may turn out to be just as tasty, and a whole lot easier on your bank account.
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