Generic Lovefest
As we were driving into Ballarat on Monday afternoon, I let out a squeal that gave farmboy a heart attack. The word “Aldi” held no meaning whatsoever for him but given I was supposed to be navigating, he assumed it had something to do with the navigation. 
He didn’t really appreciate my explanation either.
We continued on, only to come across ANOTHER Aldi resulting in another squeal from the navigator. Unfortunately at that precise moment I managed to miss a street we were looking for (in my enthusiasm over there being not 1 but 2 Aldi’s in Ballarat!!!!). Farmboy just didn’t share my excitement.
But I know you’ll all understand. What’s a little “getting lost trying to find our accomodation” when there’s an ALDI I can check out. And right in time for writing this post????
I was “good” though and waited until our last day (by which time Farmboy had forgiven me for getting sidetracked) to visit. So I’m going to start with my first impressions of Aldi.
ALDI
Was nothing like I expected.
It was clean and light and well set out and COLOURFUL. All their packaging just looks like a regular brand! Rather than a “no name” brand.
I didn’t buy a lot because well, we had 1200km to bring it.
The prices? I didn’t find them quite as cheap as I expected. As with everything I think you need to know your prices. In general I thought *most* things were either on par or around 10% cheaper than what I’ve bought elsewhere. I didn’t look thoroughly though. One thing I DID buy was some powdered milk as it was $2 cheaper than anything here. So about 25% cheaper.
I haven’t tried anything yet so I can’t comment on the quality. However, my overall experience was positive and if I had the chance to shop there on a regular basis, I would.
Oh, and I checked and a LOT of the products say they are made in Australia. I can’t comment on where the overall profits go but neither can I comment on where the profits from other supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths go either.
One thing I did find interesting was that pretty much the entire first aisle upon entering the store comprised of biscuits, prepackaged snacks and chips. Hmmm….. And I bought…. a box of chips (treat for the kids), 2 packets of savoury biscuits (for the trip home) and a couple of prepackaged snacks for the kids lunch boxes. I’m not sure if every Aldi is set up the same way but it’s something to be aware of. A few dollars savings can easily be eaten up if you’re tempted to buy that kind of stuff on a regular basis.
BLACK AND GOLD
Black and Gold brand here in Australia is a common generic brand in the smaller, independent type stores. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the products in this range. I have found many of them to be substandard and disappointing.
There are two products that we use regularly and enjoy within this range though.
1. Ice cream - some people hate generic ice cream and I do agree that the more expensive varieties are creamier. However, in many cases this is what you are used to. We regularly use the Black and Gold brand ice cream and enjoy it. A word of warning though, the neapolitan (which is a mix of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate) sends my kids hyper (and generally speaking we don’t have issues with colours affecting our kids).
2. The black and gold lolly range is Y.U.M!!!! I suspect they come out of the Allen’s factory.
WOOLWORTHS GENERIC
To be honest, I’m not all the impressed with the fact that Woolworths (and also Coles) have chosen to release a variety of different types of “store brand” products. I find it frustrating and confusing. In talking here though I’m going to be mainly referring to the basic products that are generally known as “homebrand”.
My favourite products?
Mint slice biscuits and fake kit kats! 
And no, buying either of those is generally not the way to keep your spending down (or your waistline measurements). Ooh, and recently we tried their choc chip biscuits too and they were FABULOUS!!!
I do buy biscuits, baking products, dairy products and many many pantry items from Woolworths (when I shop there - it isn’t my main shop).
What I wouldn’t buy generic from Woolworths again?
Frozen corn. It was TERRIBLE!
COLES
Most of my pantry shopping is done at Coles so we use a LOT of Coles generic products. Again, like Woolworths, they have brought out several ranges of their own products so you have to be alert and aware as to which provide the better value.
To be honest, I am yet to find a generic product in Coles that I’m not really happy with. Most of our pantry staples are generic as well as many dairy products and freezer products.
There are some items, like cocoa, that I’ve yet to try (I have tried Woolworths cocoa and didn’t like that but reader feedback has caused me to reconsider) so I really need to consider doing that.
I was also disappointed when they recently switched to using syrup for their canned fruits. They now only offer canned/tinned fruit in fruit juice in their more expensive range.
FOODLAND
I think Foodland is a South Australian company so may not be familiar to many of you. Having said that, I was THRILLED when our local store became a Foodland store as I LOVE their generic brand products. I haven’t found any that I haven’t liked. When I was first living on my own, Foodland was the closest supermarket to me so I did most of my grocery shopping there. In particular, I REALLY like their multigrain bread. We also like their tinned two fruits.
I still choose to purchase many of my products from Coles as overall their generic products are cheaper than our local Foodland. Some would argue the case for shopping locally but that is a topic for another day.
LET THE BUYER BEWARE
A couple of things I have learnt in my journey to be more frugal.
1. Generic is not ALWAYS the cheapest. I have had other shoppers point this out to me before when I’ve automatically reached for the generic product. Items like sugar will sometimes go on special for a price LOWER than the generic product. You do need to be aware when it comes to shopping (which is annoying I know).
2. Generic products DO come on sale. Keep your eyes open because they will sometimes drop by 10% and it’s a good opportunity to stock up.
3. Check things like weight and percentage of product. On the sides of canned goods in Australia, they have to indicate what percentage of the product you are purchasing is in the can. Often-times generic products have a higher percentage but not always so it is something to be aware of.
OVER TO YOU
Please take the time to read these posts and comments made by others. It’s great to get a variety of perspective in regard to these things. As you’re aware, I have been rather distracted of late so if I’ve missed your post or comment, please let me know and I’ll add it in ASAP.
Generic Grocery Brands by Lizzie from Lizzie’s Home.
Generically Speaking by Maggie
Marita states:
When it comes down to it. Everything that ALDI sells is generic and I find in 99% of the time it is better than label brands.
My only label addiction is Pepsi Max. I can not stand generic cola. Hubby loves the Maxi Ice cola. Both of us loath Coke.
Some comments from River:
“..tomato sauce was alittle runnier…” HA!! I tried a savings (coles) tomato sauce and it was like coloured water and tasteless. The Farmland brand (coles) was ok, but it’s been replace by You’ll love Coles, and it’s not as good.
I buy other generic stuff, flour, sugar, paper towel, “glad” wrap etc. but a lot of the foods just aren’t as good. Canned tomatoes are more liquid than tomatoes, baked beans are hard and tasteless, both savings brand (coles). Farmland brand which is now you’ll love coles is better, but if I was in Foodland, the generic black and gold brand baked beans were nice. Generic biscuits are okay and jelly crystals, but I don’t like the cake mixes. years ago I tried a generic garlic bread and it wasn’t nice but hubby bought some home today to have with our pizza coles “smart buy” which has replaced the blue and white “savings” and it was nice. I’d definitely buy it again. I don’t buy the smart buy icecream, it’s yuk in my opinion, but the you’ll love coles vanilla is okay. Mostly i buy generic for single use things such as tissues, cottonbuds etc, or for foods where the taste doesn’t really matter, for instance flour will be mixed with other things and can’t be tasted in the final product.
Polly has given her feedback which has prompted me to rethink my stance on the cocoa and give it another try (it has been over a decade since I tried the generic cocoas):
I completely agree with you. However as a somewhat chocolate compulsive/expert, I think the homebrand cocoa is superior to the other supermarket brands. It is the richest, and finest I have come across, with a high percentage of cocoa….
Chris has added:
Totally agree with you in buying generic. My mom raised us in name brands but I raised my children with generic brands. Now they rather use generic than name brand…LOL
If you have something you’d like to add on this topic then feel free to jump in via the comments section. If you have a post on generic products, feel free to send me the link and I’ll add it to this post. 
A FEW OTHER POSTS I’VE FOUND
How to Choose Generics or Store Brands
Similar Posts:
- Reducing the Grocery Budget - Buy Generic
- Tips for Reducing Spending on Non Food Grocery Items
- Ouch - I’ve Just Been Hit in the Hip Pocket
- I’m so excited….
- Generic Lovefest Postponed
19 comments:
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We prefer homebrand cornchips to Doritos when making nachos. I really don’t like the taste of homebrand cheese (I don’t mind it when melted eg in toasted sandwiches) but it stops me from eating too much (good for me) and since Peter can easily go through a kilo in 10 days, 2 weeks it’s good for our budget.
I’m glad the trip went safely. 1200 km is a LONG way! I’m worried about driving 500km by myself when I go out west for my prac and that’s not even half that distance.
My husband grew up in a supermarket. His family runs (still does) his small town’s IGA supermarket. They - and the family I come from - have always sworn that black and gold icecream is the best you can buy. I agree.
We don’t have an Aldi local to us either but I’m not surprised by what you found. A careful shopper is far harder to impress than those who always threw the same items regardless of price in their trolley week after week. I know that I spend about half what my neighbours do even though our shopping lists are very similar, just because I look before I buy to make sure I’m getting the best deal. Therefore I don’t think I’d see a big saving at Aldi either, although $2 off powdered milk would be nice. I’m still waiting for that to come on special before I buy it.
Anyway, I agree about Coles brand, my pantry looks like a mini Coles store. Even got Ben over from the ridiculously priced Twinings tea to the YLC version, never thought that would happen. The only dud I’ve gotten so far was the fake magnums although I thought they were OK, but they apparently don’t compare to the real thing. Not allowed to buy those again, lol. But I think the fancy own brand dominance will settle down. I’m running on the theory that they want us to try them and then not switch back when the basic brands hit the shelves again. Although my local Coles still has a good mix of YLC, Value and even Bi-Lo (if you look carefully) brand. I personally love the different levels but I was used to them in the UK where own brand rules the shelves.
I linked over to Lizzie’s post and have to say that I agree with her on the peanut butter issue. (why would anyone buy Kraft?) I changed to the store brand when Kraft became too expensive and the taste is nicer, the peanut butter just as spreadable, and I was surprised to find when I read the label that the You’ll Love Coles brand contains only peanuts 91% and vegetable oil, whereas Kraft contains emulsifiers etc, with a much less percentage of peanuts. Like I said on her post (yes, I left a comment there) I now prefer my foods with as few additives as possible because after all I’m going to EAT it not STORE it for however long the preservative might last.
I am a big fan of Woolies Tortillas - you get 15 in the pack, and that is about the amount we need!
Have been in to Aldi once and wasn’t impressed, but I have a friend who swears by it.
Am not much of a Coles shopper, mainly because they are not our local and also they never have enough lanes open when you wish to vamoose!
We have a local IGA - they have a brand of fish there - Sea Point - that my daughter loves, which makes a regular appearance on Friday nights. Speaking of which - must go eat the Friday feast.
First off, I cannot stand Aldi. Our first (and only) visit there was horrible - the customer service was non-existant, the prices weren’t that much of a saving, and the food looked dodgy and unappetizing. On top of that, there’s a (refundable) charge for using the trolleys (and of course we hadn’t brought coins so we had to carry everything) and a surcharge for credit cards. The woman sitting on the chair at the cash register shoved everything down the conveyer belt and told us rudely that we had to buy a bag and bag it ourselves. We will never shop Aldi again.
I don’t mind Generic brands, but I won’t buy it just for the sake of saving a few cents (if I’m going to compromise on taste). Since being with Phill, I’ve started buying brand-names of things that I just like - life is too short to miss out on certain things for the sake of 50c price difference. If a brand-name tastes better, then buy it. You’ve just got to know where to draw the line, and what things are better generic than not.
I like the “Woolworths Select” brand for lots of things, I’m quite impressed. I don’t shop at Coles (never been impressed with their prices or products) - the only thing I buy from there is their “You’ll Love Coles Scented Kitty Litter” and that’s only because I can’t find it anywhere else. I agree with Jeanie - Coles never have enough check-outs open - I hate having to queue when I’m getting my kitty litter and look over and see Woolworths with more registers open and faster service!
That’s a long-winded comment sorry! Since I’m a student working part-time and studying full-time, I have to be conscious about how much I am paying for certain things. I love knowing I bought 100 items for around the same amount that someone buying 60 items spent.
Hmmm. I have to say I’m with Farmboy here. I thought you were getting excited about some sort of car or something! Can’t say I’ve ever heard of Aldi! But there you go. You learn something new everyday!
When I first experienced shopping in a Coles, it was a very bewildering experience. Firstly, coles is (was) a Bookstore in Canada. So when I found out I was going ‘grocery shopping’ at Coles i was very confused. Perhaps it was jetlag?
Secondly, it was an inner-city Coles and my host told me that it was probably the tiniest and most expensive store in the city. Although I am from Northern Ontario and I grumble about the lack of choice and food prices here with my parents who live down south, it was nothing compared to Coles. I think you had about two choices name brand or store brand. Very different from Canada where we have several name brand, store brand, and generic brands to choose from.
However, when I was in Scotland, I noticed the same thing, you have a couple of varieties and that’s it. I think here in Canada we’re overwhelmed with two many choices. Perhaps only having 2 or 3 is much easier on the shopper?
Have any of the posters here shopped in Canada or the US?
Congratulations on your Aldi visit.
Unlike Katie, I was most impressed with the checkout. That could be because where we live there is never enough operators at Woolworths/Coles and it takes a very long time for them to serve each customer. The way Aldi do it they can whiz through people in a short amount of time.
I was trying to work out what it was that made it so much quicker while standing there yesterday and the bagging certainly is a big part of it. But the first time you go there it must be a bit of a shock because you don’t know what to expect.
What most people do is put everything back in their trolley and bag it over at the side where there’s a counter area specifically for that purpose, or as they get into the car.
And hello, how fantastic that they don’t provide plastic bags (or any bags) for free. It makes people remember to bring their bags.
Well, it makes me remember them every time, so it works for me.
I think a large part of the saving comes from the fact that they don’t employ nightfill staff. At all. You should see how many our Woolworths has. All those wages have to be paid from somewhere.
Here where I live, it is a *lot* cheaper for the majority of items we buy. I’ve done the price comparisons, even down to checking receipts against each other. However there’s still stuff we need to get from the mainstream places, so we’re trying a Aldi one week, Woolworths the next week thing.
I love the Woolworths Select Creamy Coconut and Lime salad dressing. I make sure to keep plenty on hand because I can’t eat salad without it now.
I do eat potato chips and the Aldi ones which are deli style are always $1.00 or more cheaper than the same thing at the other supermarkets. The biscuits are amazingly good, and up to $4 cheaper than at the other supermarket - that is the big family assorted pack. A little birdie told me they are actually made by Arnotts and having tasted Aldi’s version of a Tim Tam I am pretty sure that is true.
Truss tomatoes were available there for $2.99 and in the same week those were over $7 in the other stores. And avocadoes. Wow. I’ve been buying these 1kg packs of them for $4.48 - there’s 6 avocadoes in a pack and because they’re in a pack they haven’t been touched by every shopper. They are from New Zealand but I love avocadoes and that kind of saving I can’t overlook because most weeks they are at least $2 per avocado in the other supermarkets, sometimes even more.
Tuna. $1.49 for the big tin vs $4.69 for the one I used to get. Though looking at my receipts I sometimes got that on special for $2.99. Yes, I went and got out my receipts. I keep them all.
Cheese has been a major budget breaker lately. We eat a lot of cheese and I’m a bit fussy about it, I like a matured cheese. But the other half is not fussy and the price of Aldi tasty is half that of the other stores, so we’ve been buying that for sandwiches.
The bottom line is, I can walk out of Aldi with a very full trolley for $150 or less - I can’t do that with the other stores anymore.
Cheers,
Snos
Wow, it’s really interesting reading other people’s reactions and experiences with various stores. I must admit I did wonder about the whole “bag packing” thing with Aldi. We noticed they had a nice long counter on one side but a tiny little one on the “packing” side. I didn’t look around enough to notice a separate back-packing type counter but it makes sense in the scheme of keeping things moving. I was a little envious of the girl getting to sit down. Wish we had chairs when I was a check-out chick!!!! LOL.
An interesting thought having “Coles” as the name of a bookstore. It is funny how we associate things.
Lauren - you got an Englishman drinking YLC tea???? More power to you!!! LOL. That’s got to be a pretty good endorsement.
And I forgot about generic brand corn chips - mmmmmm…………..
My monthly grocery shop at ALDI comes to $300 (without nappies). On the occasions when I shop at Safeway/Woolworths or Coles instead it comes to about $300 for a week and that is with me being careful to get the lowest cost product.
I love ALDI wafer biscuits (59c/pkt). They are delicious and very handy to keep in the cupboard for unexpected visitors.
All ALDI’s are layed out the same but i just ignore the biscuits and snacks unless I wanted something specific.
My hubby loves eating the flavoured sandwich tuna and at 79c per tin ALDI is cheapest (about90gtin). They no longer pack it in oil either which is great, much healthier.
ALDI soy milk is $1.59/L, this week Coles had their homebrand UHT soy milk on special for $1.29/L - we now have 47 L of UHT soy milk. Heidi is rather fussy about her soy milk, thankfully the only two brands she will drink (ALDI and coles home brand) are the cheapest.
ALDI nappies are great, I’m a huge fan. BUT they don’t make newborn nappies and their pullups come in one size only and are useless at night.
Shopping around and knowing your prices is the best way to save $s - I was at the Preston Market this week and scored a couple of loaves of Burgen Soy and Linseed at $2.50 / loaf from the specialty bread outlet there. More than I’d usually pay for a loaf of bread but cheap for Burgen brand. Special treat for my father-in-law when he comes to visit as Burgen is on his list of approved food (diabetes diet).
Sometimes I don’t have the time to shop around either - two kids at Kinder and all the extra therapy stuff we do. Then at least I know that just buying everything from ALDI will overall save me $s even if a few individual items cost more.
I don’t usually mind that ALDI makes you pack your own bags - I just chuck everything back in the trolley and back the bags whilst standing at the boot of the car. This backfired when I did my monthly shop this week in the pouring rain.
Hi, I have an ALDI near where I live (Geelong), and find I definitely save more by shopping there. I also have a Safeway and Coles.
When I shop (it may sound tricky, but it is a round trip from dropping child at school to home) I go to a ‘frozen goods’ outlet (actually the retail of PFD foods) and get my frozen veges, also catering sizes of canned tomatoes, tomato paste, muffin mix, etc (cans only when dinted and therefore a lot cheaper - like $5-6 for 2.9kg).
Then onto a fruit shop, then ALDI. We love their cheeses expecially the ‘plastic’ cheese (low fat), so much nicer than Kraft slices. Also I get my meat there. They have a frozen lasagna for $9.99 for 2kg which is nice though a bit runny - you have to be careful serving it. I find that most things I want are in the back corner of the store (dairy, meat, veges), though we do drink the diet lemon soft drink, and our dog eats their cheap canned food, she won’t eat more expensive stuff - what a shame
I also buy their toilet paper, tissues, etc.
After ALDI I go to Safeway and get the items I can’t get at ALDI either because they don’t stock them or I prefer the name brand. I don’t like using any other laundry detergent other than Biozet (cleans my clothes and good for the environment), and have discovered I DON’T Love Coles (or Woolworth’s Select) laundry spray! It just fizzed and sat on top of the clothing and didn’t remove the stains. The best cocoa (I’ve found) is the Black and Gold label - so dark and nice.
My shopping trip sounds like such a convoluted way to do it, but I only do it that way every two weeks, and use my local Foodworks for fruit and veg if I’m not going into PFD, and Safeway for other incidentals I might need.
I definitely save money by going to ALDI/Safeway - much more than the petrol required to drive the ten minutes to get there. I have a Coles two minutes away, but they never have what I want or the brand I want (am I the only one who bought it so they no longer stock it?) and they are more expensive than the other places.
You were never this enthusiastic about BI-LO
It’s true that a lot of Coles stores no longer stock many items which were poor sellers. One customer who always bought a certain item shopped infrequently so the item was deleted from our range. Sucky, but nothing we can do about it. I’m also angry about the lack of checkout staff and the long lines of people waiting to get through. I’m a checkout operator myself and I do try to put people through as quickly as I can (about 3-4 minutes for a full trolley load). Customers are always asking me why I can’t open another checkout, but if the staff isn’t rostered on what can I do? Plus I’m not a supervisor or front end manager, so those decisions aren’t mine. All I can do is apologise to them for the delays. Occasionally I’ve watched while a customer leaves a full trolley of goods and just walks out of the store. I work for Coles.
wow, you have woolworths and foodlands? Those stores were in Hawaii where I grew up! I didn’t know that Foodland is Australian
River - It’s interesting to hear from the perspective of a worker. Personally I haven’t had too much trouble with having to wait long for check outs. I know when I was a check-out chick we would always give priority to opening check outs if we had staff available. And the floor guys would come and pack for us to speed things up. You can’t always know when there will be a run on customers either.
Stuffy - I LOVED that job!!! We don’t have Bi-Lo here anymore.
Are they still in Victoria?
Hi Baglady and thanks for dropping by and taking time to comment. I’ve not heard of Foodland being overseas but it could well be two separate companies using a similar name? Not sure. Maybe what we have here is just an Australian branch but I know they promote themselves as being South Australian owned.
Lightening, we do call for extra staff when there’s a run of customers, but I can’t help thinking that if we just rostered on one extra person things would flow more smoothly. Unfortunately it all comes down to the ever-present “budget”. Our floor boys are great at turning up quickly when called at least, but they go to the express lanes where there is often a line of customers snaking back past several “big” checkouts. I have to say that when I’m working express we don’t seem to need the floor boys, but when my shift is over and I’m upstairs at my locker I hear the call go over for priority service. Maybe the customers wait until I leave then all head to the checkout at once……..Sheesh, don’t they like me?? Heh.
I love hearing about other people’s successes and failures with trying to keep the grocery bills down, its an ever increasing battle round at the Super Whites. I do buy generic but its just taking me a long time to work out which are good and which aren’t so everyone’s comments are really helpful. I have a totally geeky spreadsheet with all my receipts entered and I am compiling a list of good v. bad generics so I can make my shopping lists even more efficient. I have to say that I tend to buy on price right now rather than by brand (see the Kraft peanut butter v. Woolworths own brand debate - I get whichever is on special) but as my daughter gets older I really do want to pay more attention to the additives and I think River’s EAT it not STORE it theory is a great one to live by!