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When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

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Re: When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

#141

Post by lotsofpulp »

melomal wrote: post #139
lotsofpulp wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some brands do offer a better product than generics. Just like there’s different quality of silicon chips that result in different quality electronics, I can imagine the same exists for food. Whether or not the price different is worth it is obviously up to the buyer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_binning

I'm desperately trying to find the source but discounters like Lidl/Aldi just use well known brands, signed with NDAs on both sides. Imagine knowing that a discount chain is about to make a regular purchase of 300,000 tins of beans. You will happily rebrand, keep it hushed up and take the repeat large orders. It makes me wonder what the margins are on a single tin of Heinz beans.

Using the same manufacturers as well known brands might not mean it’s the same product. It’s possible the ingredients are of higher quality resulting in a higher quality product. It’s also possible it’s the same thing, or the quality isn’t worth the extra price.

I remember there was a whole thing a few years ago about fake olive oil and fake grated Parmesan cheese (or what was mostly wood pulp which was allowable per legal definition). I think Kirkland was one of the real olive oil products, but the point is there were differences and some of the expensive brands were real and some were fake.

Re: When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

#142

Post by eru »

nilsbunger wrote: post #14

Trader Joe’s is fascinating. Their own products are unique and you develop a craving for them. That creates serious retention. And over time they’ve designed out more and more third party stuff, replacing it with their own (instead of selling both alongside each other). I’ve never read a business case about them but it seems like a killer strategy

For what it's worth: Trader Joe's is owned by German Aldi. They are the king of store brands.

Re: When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

#143

Post by eru »

theamk wrote: post #16

Unrelated to actual content: if you visit the site with ad-blocker on, it does not load. Instead, you just have this icon of the eye looking at you and blinking. And the eye will just blink until you turn ad-blocker off. I know the site is called "eye on design", but the associations of user tracking via ads and this blinking eye were amusing to me. Imagine having a blinking eye in the corner of each website for each…

Opened without any problem with ublock origin.

Re: When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

#144

Post by rdtwo »

theamk wrote: post #16

Unrelated to actual content: if you visit the site with ad-blocker on, it does not load. Instead, you just have this icon of the eye looking at you and blinking. And the eye will just blink until you turn ad-blocker off. I know the site is called "eye on design", but the associations of user tracking via ads and this blinking eye were amusing to me. Imagine having a blinking eye in the corner of each website for each…

Why can’t I down vote this ahhh totally sabotages the entire thread

Re: When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

#145

Post by irrational »

CivBase wrote: post #118
irrational wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know if I could live somewhere without a Trader Joe’s. Though, I only buy the pound plus chocolate bars and chocolate treats there.

We have a total of two Trader Joe's locations in Iowa. I've gone to one of them a couple times, but I didn't see anything I couldn't get at my local Hy-Vee.

I've never heard of Hy-Vee. I assume that is a Trader Joe's like store where you live?

Re: When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

#146

Post by melomal »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #141
melomal wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm desperately trying to find the source but discounters like Lidl/Aldi just use well known brands, signed with NDAs on both sides. Imagine knowing that a discount chain is about to make a regular purchase of 300,000 tins of beans. You will happily rebrand, keep it hushed up and take the repeat large orders. It makes me wonder what the margins are on a single tin of Heinz beans.

Using the same manufacturers as well known brands might not mean it’s the same product. It’s possible the ingredients are of higher quality resulting in a higher quality product. It’s also possible it’s the same thing, or the quality isn’t worth the extra price. I remember there was a whole thing a few years ago about fake olive oil and fake grated Parmesan cheese (or what was mostly wood pulp which was allowable per…

I still make references to friends and family to the whole wood pulp issue (I should find some new references). I believe it's Hershey's chocolate that is basically 1% off the minimum amount of chocolate content to legally call it chocolate.

Bigger brands have bigger pockets to line with profits so we all know that the ingredients are probably the first to take a hit. Discounters do not have to deal with brand taxes.

Re: When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

#147

Post by kergonath »

dingaling wrote: post #136
kergonath wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marks & Spencer seem to be doing that as well. The vast majority of what they sell is their own brand, and apparently it is keeping them in business, COVID notwithstanding. I won’t comment on the quality though, I very rarely shop with them.

Marksies' own brand is good quality, never subpar compared to mainstream brands. In Northern Ireland it's still mocked gently as being a bit pretentious, where the 'ladies who lunch' from Malone do their shopping. But at the same time there is a great affection for the brand as it was the only mainland supermarket company to have a presence in NI throughout the Troubles.

Interesting, I had no idea. M&S is also apparently the only place where one can buy decent British food on the continent.

> In Northern Ireland it's still mocked gently as being a bit pretentious

Waitrose seems to be filling that role in England.

Re: When did generic grocery brands get so good looking?

#148

Post by jjeaff »

jerf wrote: post #65

I expect one aspect of this is that fancy printing has gotten dirt cheap. You're not saving much money anymore slapping the black CORN on a white can vs. a full color full spread. It's a lot easier for an attractive design to pay for itself since it's cheaper to print.

It hasn't been much more expensive for a long time. I think it has more to do with the marketing idea that if it looks more plain, you will feel like it must be a good deal and good value since they didn't waste money on fancy colors.
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