Basics food vs branded/supermarket finest

[mat777]

I know that some types of food will have very obvious differences when compared to decent stuff. IE: basics ham full of water, basics mince mainly abbatoir sweepings. However, I have been wondering at some other foods where it is less easy to think how the costs are saved. For example - baked beans. Basics - 20p a can, Heinz - 80p to £1. Now, for something as simple as a white bean in some tomato sauce, how do they possibly make it out of crap stuff? Or another simple one - basics garlic bread. Some garlic-y butter on a french stick is also hard to cheapen significantly.

Anyone got any enlightening revelations on the subject?

[Burgmeister]

The list should also include;

Chopped Tomatoes
Kidney Beans


And probably other stuff where the quality mustn't be different from Basic to Finest

[calibrax]

For those kind of things they don't need to make them cheaper, they just take a much smaller margin on them. Or even a loss in some cases, simply to attract people into the store where they will buy other stuff as well to make up the loss
.

[miniman]

I'd say both baked beans and chopped toms in the value aisle will be much more watery than the branded equivalent.

[15peter20]

From experience you seem to get a lower quantity of the actual product - i.e. fewer beans with more sauce in the kidney and baked bean examples. I suspect you're also getting ingredients which although perfectly okay perhaps didn't make the grade - i.e. fractionally below a weight/size threshold. I also would have thought the purity of ingredients drops - the pasta may have a different makeup on a percentage basis.

[Bradgate]

Fresh fruit and veg is one area in which the 'basics' ranges make a lot of sense. For example, the only difference between basics apples, onions, carrots, pears, peppers etc and the normal price versions is that the cheap produce comes in all shapes and sizes, while the more expensive stuff is more uniform.

I wouldn't feed basics sausages to my dog, though.

Edited by Bradgate on Wednesday 24th October 18:50

[anonymous-user]

miniman said:

I'd say both baked beans and chopped toms in the value aisle will be much more watery than the branded equivalent.

Prob spot on, Branson beans only a quid for 4 at lidl @ the mo, stock up, I tend to try & stock up on premium brands, bog roll etc when it's on offer,,

I well never understand how princess tuna chunks are priced, they seem to be a scam.

[Mobile Chicane]

I think anyone who wants to eat good food had better forget about 'value' ranges.

The one exception to this being odd-shaped/blemished fruit and veg sold at lower prices - however I benchmark prices of all supermarket fruit and veg against what I know I can get at Lidl.

Tinned stuff will be watery and/or contain more starch. Baked beans and tinned tomatoes are the greatest false economies when these things are cheap enough to buy anyway.

Another one is pasta. Good pasta should contain 100% durum wheat (ie. hard wheat). Cheaper versions will have an element of softer wheat flours, meaning that it will be impossible to cook the pasta to a non-soggy result.

You don't have to shell out vast fortunes for 'fresh' pasta, just get a decent-quality dried. Fry off some garlic in olive oil, add a can of Lidl 'Polpa di Pomodoro' at 49p, and you've a chunky tomato sauce right there that will serve four.

[miniman]

Mobile Chicane said:

I think anyone who wants to eat good food had better forget about 'value' ranges.

The one exception to this being odd-shaped/blemished fruit and veg sold at lower prices - however I benchmark prices of all supermarket fruit and veg against what I know I can get at Lidl.

Tinned stuff will be watery and/or contain more starch. Baked beans and tinned tomatoes are the greatest false economies when these things are cheap enough to buy anyway.

Another one is pasta. Good pasta should contain 100% durum wheat (ie. hard wheat). Cheaper versions will have an element of softer wheat flours, meaning that it will be impossible to cook the pasta to a non-soggy result.

You don't have to shell out vast fortunes for 'fresh' pasta, just get a decent-quality dried. Fry off some garlic in olive oil, add a can of Lidl 'Polpa di Pomodoro' at 49p, and you've a chunky tomato sauce right there that will serve four.

Spot on IMHO. Not dissimilar to what Jamie et al have to say on the subject - spend your money on better quality basics and less junk, and you'll have something much tastier.

[Monty Zoomer]

Fresh produce is graded by variety, size, colour, shape etc. Normally each area buys its own produce, it isn't done by a central office like other stuff. Every single deal is "negotiated." They buy what is available from the producers or importers for the lowest price possible. It's all done to proper standards of QC and the supplier already has various grades of everything from various other suppliers.

A lot of canned products are done by reworking existing stock.

There are reworking centres that work for supermarkets and they are sent lorry loads of items from the supermarkets' distribution centres or directly from the manufacturers. Suppliers don't like their items on display to be too close to the sell by date so when stuff gets to a certain age, I think it's twelve weeks from the sell by date, it goes for rework.

They wash the old labels off and stick new, own brand labels on. They come back as expensive, or cheap, own brand products according to how good they were to begin with.

Then they go back out through the distribution system and they are sold quickly.

[calibrax]

It's all about picking the right stuff to buy from the value range. They are cheap enough that you can try them for very little outlay. If it's not up to standard you've lost 20p, and you don't buy it again. But if you find it's good (and quite a few things are indistinguishable from the real thing), then you've saved 60p or more. Got to be worth the gamble.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

I use tinned chili con carne now and then, for when I want a quick topping for a jacket potato or something. Sainsbury's own brand is by far the nicest, for better than Stagg or other brands costing twice as much.

A mate of mine says Tesco blue stripe super economy floor sweepings instant coffee is his favourite. I don't drink coffee so I can't comment.

Havest Morn muesli, which is the cheapo brand in Aldi/Lidl, is great. Better than Alpen.

[xr287]

Savings mostly made in packaging and less quality control.

[Flibble]

Value butter appears to be the same as any other butter. Not much you can change really; it's milk and salt... That said, it's only about 20p cheaper.

[dazco]

miniman said:

Spot on IMHO. Not dissimilar to what Jamie et al have to say on the subject - spend your money on better quality basics and less junk, and you'll have something much tastier.

But searching through basic brands can reveal some surprising bargains.

There are good and bad basics out there, all anyone has to do is look at the ingredients, or the nutritional info.

Things I would buy:
Passata
Cheddar
Tomato puree
Pasta
Rice
Stock cubes
Chocolate
Flour
Pasta sauces
Tinned veg


Things I have found to be poor quality:
Beans. Tiny hard beans in a watery sauce,
Tinned tomatoes. The tomato content is quite a bit different according to the label.
Soft fizzy drinks. Ewwwwww
Coffee creamer
Butter. Might be just butter but does not taste right.
CHEESE. This applies to any basic food just labelled as 'cheese'. Got stung by this once.
Bacon.
Most products containing meat.

The nutritionn labels give a lot more of a clue than the ingredients label

[mat777]

I pretty much agree with that list, with the exception that if the baked beans are for a stew then it doesnt matter if they are small or watery.

Basics tomato sauce (40p per big jar) with basics strong cheddar grated into it and mixed in, on basics penne pasta (£3.50 for a 3kg bag) makes a very cheap but surprisingly palatable marscapone pasta sauce.

I also agree with whoever said supermarket chilli con carne is nicer than Stagg - and on top of basics rice (who cares that its mainly broken grain ends?) is another cheap but tasty meal.

I do disagree with the chocolate though - cheap choccy is awfully bitter and brittle

can anyone tell that I'm a student?

[chevy-stu]

I think alot of supermarkets shift buying sources when purchasing their own branded and cheaper 'basics/value' range....

A good example is about 8 months ago I switched from Heinz baked beans to Sainsburys own brand.... Initially I couldn't tell the difference, few months on they all seemed to be more watery and less tasty, month or two later the opposite-very stodgy and dry..

I would assume this hugely varying quality indicates different batches they buy from different sources according to availability, price etc...

[Cheese Mechanic]

Buying "basics" ranges is no guaranteed magic bullet when it comes to VFM.

It appear though, that the least processed a basics product is, the higher chance it has of being good vfm.

Rice is a prime example, tinned toms I get along with fine, but stuff like sausages are almost 100% to be awafull ste,
quite simply because its so easy to curtail the most expensive ingredients and substitiute with cheap ste to bulk them out.
Same goes with ready meals, etc etc.

Fish is another thing I tend to buy, "fresh" (if any supermkt food is) salmon as instance, sold as a value range because the pieces are odd sizes...simple to
remedy that eh?

As for celebrity endorsements of food ranges , well, vested interests, and all.

[Rutter]

I'm happy to admit that we buy certain items from the basic range at Sainsbury's, chopped tomatoes are exactly the same, I used two packs the other week, one basic and one standard, I could not notice any difference other than the basics one came in a paper carton and the standard a tin. We also buy basics peppers, they are often an odd size but you usually get 5 odd sized ones for less than the price of 3 "correct" shape ones.

[jackh707]

Basics marrowfat peas at 9p a tin are lovely.
Cook down with mint, White pepper and a splash of balsamic for really good mushy peas.

Also live the basic tinned potatoes, for making stews on the cheap, throw a couple of tins in at the end, and saves time.

I religiously buy cheap stewing stake and chicken thighs and the like. It's often great quality meat. And 1/3 of the price.

I never skimp on mince or tinned tomatoes though.