Consumers are increasingly turning to supermarket and discount store brands when shopping.
They are often cheaper than brand name items.
In terms of quality, they are in no way inferior to the originals.
Munich ‒ Regardless of whether it's bread, sausage or preserves - food prices have risen significantly in the past year.
The trend continued this year as well.
Dairy products in particular increased again.
In order to save money, many customers are increasingly turning to grocers' own brands when shopping in supermarkets or discounters.
These products are usually cheaper than the premium items from brand manufacturers.
Consumers who rely on retailers' own brands can end up saving a lot of money.
Up to 34 percent according to the result of Stiftung Warentest, which compared a total of 1414 foods.
No-name items were compared with comparable products from the premium segment.
The good thing about it for consumers is that private labels can definitely keep up with branded products in terms of quality.
According to the Stiftung Warentest, it is particularly worth choosing the cheaper product for
apple sauce
(Lidl Freshona apple sauce)
, baby food
(dm organic infant formula, dm organic fennel parsnip with couscous and chicken) and
veggie products
(Edeka organic vegan paprika vegetable spread).
With price differences of up to 50 percent for the same quality, according to the verdict of consumer protection groups.
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Shopping (icon image)
© Martin Wagner/IMAGO
Shopping baskets in a test comparison: potential savings of around 40 euros
The inspectors from Stiftung Warentest tested products from the entire range of retail chains Lidl, Aldi (North and South), Edeka and Rewe - from drinks and meat to smoothies, coffee beans and tofu.
If you were to buy the same 25 products in branded and private label production, a purchase with private labels alone would cost 75.60 euros.
Consumers would have to pay EUR 115.08 to buy branded products.
That is an
increase of almost 40 euros
.
No-name products are as good as branded items: There are subtle differences in the declaration and germ load
With a view to some products, however, there are still differences.
For example when
declaring articles
.
The labeling – such as an easily legible nutritional information and list of ingredients – of private labels is somewhat clearer than that of brands.
With brands, clarity is easily lost.
They want to tempt you to buy with advertising texts, colorful pictures and multilingual information.
The suppliers of private labels usually focus the labeling on the essentials, they usually convince with the price.
Stiftung Warentest, in: 14141 food in comparison
In terms of
appearance, smell and taste
, on the other hand, the scores of the testers for brands and private labels differ only slightly.
However, brands in this category are more often rated “very good” (23 percent) than store brands (10 percent).
With the rating "good", the deviations disappear again.
49 percent of the brands are rated "good" in terms of sensor technology and even 52 percent of the private labels are rated "good".
According to consumer advocates, it looks similarly good when
comparing organic food
from private labels and branded products.
52 percent of all tested products scored “good” in this category.
Comparison “Best Brand vs. Best Private Label”:
Branded Product (MP) | Trademark (HM) | Price MP | price hmm |
Chips Krusty Tomato and Pepper | Aldi Sun Snacks Chips Paprika Style | 2.29 euros (115 gram pack) | 0.99 euros (200 gram pack) |
Bertoli Bio Originale Extra Virgin Olive Oil | Edeka organic extra virgin olive oil | 5.59 euros (500 ml) | 4.99 (500ml) |
Aquintus Classic | Lidl Saskia Classic source Löningen | 0.69 euros (1 liter) | 0.25 euros (1.5 liters) |
Meica Bratmaxe | Aldi Gut Bio Nuremberg Rostbratwurst | 3.89 euros (313 grams) | 3.99 (250 grams) |
Source: Stiftung Warentest, test from February to November 2022
Only in the case of
germ contamination
do the brand manufacturers win the race for a “very good” rating.
The inspectors rated 70 percent of branded items as “very good”, while the figure for private labels was only 60 percent.
But overall, most foods are microbiologically flawless.
Brands are slightly ahead of private labels here.
No-name products are as good as branded items: bargains are often only half the price
As a result, the auditors from Stiftung Warentest found that the private label products of the top-selling discounters and supermarkets “broadly” do not differ.
The own brands of the big chains - including Lidl, Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd, Edeka and Rewe - offer comparable product quality.
According to the testers, no chain particularly stands out.
The price differences between the best private labels and branded products are sometimes smaller and sometimes larger.
Bargains can be found in crisps, baby pre-food, mineral water, dark chocolate, children's desserts, tortelloni, veggie spreads, apple sauce and balsamic vinegar.
They are often only half as expensive.
But when it comes to prices, consumers should continue to take a close look and calculate coolly.
Own brands are becoming more and more popular with customers.
But here, too, it has been shown in the past few months that their prices have risen much faster than for branded articles.
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List of rubrics: © Martin Wagner/IMAGO