Housebrands

Was having a conversation with a friend the other day about housebrands and which ones we would buy and wouldn't buy - we were eating 'Home Brand' biscuits at the time.

And I was wondering

Do you buy supermarket housebrands when shopping? ie Home Brands/Signature Range/Select/Pams/Budget.

Which products do you buy of the housebrands - is it a cost thing or a taste thing?

Are there any housebrand products you wouldn't buy?

We get Pams or Budget bread, not only for the cost, but because they are dairy free. They always seem fresh too. Also get the cheapest milk. Usually it comes down to cost for us.

I agree with Becks, in our house Watties are the only company that make baked beans, spaghetti or tom sauce.
Everything else I buy HB or SR if I can, baking products, biscuits for the kids, canned fruit, fake weetbix, milk, pasta etc. We buy the 94c HB bread and I also love the SR tomatoes that come in a carton rather than a can.
The only other thing I refuse to buy cheapie brands of is toilet paper. I will not use budget toilet paper, you might as well wipe your butt with sandpaper. I usually get either Cottonsofts or Purex, and even the SR embossed one is OK, but yesterday I found 18 packs of Purex in the Warehouse for $8 so I stocked up.

Our last shop had a number of Progressive House Branded Products in it for a number of reasons. Bulk foods that we seem to go thru like they are going out of fashion rice & pasta as well as bread - I can go thru 4 bits of toast for breaky alone. Some of it's cost related, but some of the stuff I find tastes really good, the baked beans and spaghetti are really tomatoey.

Last shop we got the above as as well as soya sauce, toilet paper (was on a good special last time) a packet of nappies for short day use - ie if he needs a change and bath time isn't too far off, but I can't run the risk of having nakie bum crawling around. (he's in different brand during the rest of the time)Biscuits, and sugar were also in the last shop.

I probably wouldn't buy Soft Drink, I haven't tried the OJ,


Edited by MonicaMouse

We buy SR diet lemonade - never buy any other sort now!  I will buy SR but I am like Emma and REFUSE to buy budget Toilet paper, tissues, tampons etc. I am a bit stuck in my ways about some things as well....like I will only use Heinz Tomato sauce (but then I am a "Piwi" as my mum calls us....Poms / Kiwis) and colgate toothpaste (thats DHs thing!!)

I dont care with things like tinned tomatoes (interestingly often some obscure brands that are on special are actually italian made....so I stock up on these!). I will always buy whichever brand is on special for cheese, and things like frozen veges.

MonicaMouse wrote: Do you buy supermarket housebrands when shopping? ie Home Brands/Signature Range/Select/Pams/Budget.

Yeah, I find that we buy a lot of Pam's products I like Homebrand products as well but they don't stock them at PnS.

MonicaMouse wrote: Which products do you buy of the housebrands - is it a cost thing or a taste thing?

Definitely more of a cost thing. On the upside though there are a lot of quality things about the umbrella branding, makes me wonder who is really making them like Pams' bread is basically Yarrows and their bagged chickens are from Tegal. I would like to know where they get their nappies through and who is the supplier of their tinned tommies -tasty.

MonicaMouse wrote: Are there any housebrand products you wouldn't buy?

I am really not a fan of Budget nappies, even if they are Treasures in disguise they are still gimpy and annoying. I don't like the taste of their tinned spaghetti either.

Edited by Peace

We buy everything Budget or Pams at PnS but if the more expensive brands are on special I'll get those instead. Watties BB's and Spag are 99c at the moment so we'll stock up on those tomorrow.

We buy the budget or Pams milk even though it's the same milk as the others just cheaper packaging.

I buy Pams Tampons, they are basically the Carefree ones. Nappies I get from Nappies for Less around the corner from home 70 nappies for $20

We have some 'non-negotiable' brand stuff. Such as Uncle Bens rice (the budget stuff was rubbish), Oak beans and spag, Heinz tom sauce (apparantly the Oak beans are closer than Watties to my English hubbies beloved Heinz Beans and we do Heinz tom sauce for the same reason), Weetbix and other brand cereals and I love Molenberg bread. However, tinned fruit is whatever is cheapest, milk and cheese are whatever is cheapest, porridge oats, cooking basics etc are cheap as well.
And my fav paper towels are SR ones, and it has to be brand toilet paper here too.

I stick to the same brands of toilet paper, laundry powder, health & beauty stuff, cereal, bread, spaghetti & baked beans, chocolate, tea bags, etc. But our kids choose budget drinks, cereal and of all things Pams tomato sauce (obviously not real "kiwi" kids!)
I do buy housebrand flour, sugar, milk, cheese as they all seem the same to me.

I rarely buy any housebrand stuff.. The only thing I can think of is the Signature range cat food cause my cat loves it. Other than that, I'm a brands girl probably because I have the perception it tastes better when it probably doesn't.