Battle of the brands: which store brands beat the big names?(Evaluating generic products that are just as good as their name brand counterparts)(Buyers Guide)

Publication: Consumer Reports

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Consumers Union of the United States, Inc.

Is Bounty really "the quicker picker upper"? Which food-storage bag is sturdier, Ziploc or Wal-Mart? Is Dannon tops in low-fat strawberry yogurt?

The answers might surprise you. Three store-brand paper towels absorbed just at fast as the Bounty we tested; Ziploc and Wal-Mart bags were equally strong; and if you think Dannon wins hands down, you haven't sampled Stop & Shop or America's Choice yogurts.

In tests of 65 products in six categories-facial tissues, paper towels, plastic bags, canned peaches, french fries, and yogurt--we pitted the leading name brands against big store brands including Albertson's, America's Choice (A&P and several chains under its banner), Kirkland Signature (Costco), Safeway Select (Safeway and all chains under its banner), Trader Joe's, and Great Value (Wal-Mart). The product categories are among those that visitors to our Web site, Consumer Reports.org, told us they buy most often in store brands. We rated the foods on overall quality, the other goods on attributes that count, such as strength and softness for tissues.

Store-brand yogurt came out on top, and in most other categories store brands performed at least as well as the competition, including big names such as Kleenex, Brawny, Dannon and Yoplait, and Ziploc. Only in facial tissues was there a clear name-brand winner: Puffs, from Procter & Gamble.

Buying store brands can not only get you high-quality products, it can save you hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars a year. When you buy a big-brand cereal, say, you pay for a lot more than you can eat--the enormous advertising and marketing costs that made the brand a household word, plus hidden extras such as slotting fees, which branded manufacturers pay for placement on shelves.

You also pay for "the trust and love" that accompanies names you've known for years, says Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, a trade association for national brands. "You're buying innovative products that companies have invested heavily in and that assure 100 percent consistent quality," she said.

In our tests, however, the quality of Hefty storage bags and Kirkland yogurt proved uneven, demonstrating that consistency can be an elusive target no matter the brand.

When we averaged the amounts that staff shoppers paid across the U.S. for many samples of each product we tested, we found that national brands cost an average of about 25 to 50 percent more than similar-quality store brands. (The exception: Trader Joe's peach halves, which came only in glass jars and were about 1 1/2 times the price of top-rated Del Monte slices in a can.)

Sales and promotions make prices a moving target, but among the differences we found when we shopped were: an average of $2.72 for a package of Ore-Ida fries vs. $1.71 for the same-size Winn-Dixie fries (both brands were very good), and $1.70 per 100 sheets for Brawny vs. $1.10 for Kirkland (Kirkland was better).

Details about how name-brand products compared with store-brand in each category are spelled out in Quick Picks, on page 15. The highlights:

Facial tissues: Name brand wins. Of the dozen brands tested, only Puffs could withstand a big sneeze yet...

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