Supermarket own brands are not always cheaper than branded products - No Name is not necessarily of lower quality.
Which food from which manufacturer scores best in the large quality check by Stiftung Warentest.
In the supermarket, consumers are spoiled for choice when it comes to almost all the food on offer: expensive branded products or inexpensive private labels, also known as No Name.
To make it a little easier for one or the other when shopping and for customers to know what quality they can expect from which product,
Stiftung Warentest
carries out different analyzes again and again.
In these, the price-performance ratio is determined in comparison, for example with potato chips.
Ökotest also carries out quality analyzes and failed numerous butter brands.
Stiftung Warentest has looked at all test results again and draws conclusions
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Stiftung Warentest compared food from different brands and own brands.
© Schoening
In the major brand check,
Stiftung Warentest
looked again at its own test results from July 2018 to November 2022.
It turns out: In many cases, no-name products are not only ahead in terms of price, but also in terms of quality.
In the following, you can read about which foods are involved and which products are still worth the branded product, since it is sometimes even cheaper than the private label.
Stiftung Warentest: brand, trademark or no name - what distinguishes the products from each other
Brand:
Products from one manufacturer, sold in different supermarkets or supermarket chains, price increase e.g. through advertising, promise of consistent quality, examples: "Hipp", "Iglo", "Jacobs", "Bertolli"
Private label/no name/own brand/house brand:
only available from a retailer/supermarket/supermarket chain - branch or online, trading company commissions production with quality and price specifications, no advertising costs, examples: "Gut Bio" (Aldi), "Gut & Inexpensive" (Edeka), "Penny", "Rewe Feine Welt"
Stiftung Warentest: No name vs. branded product – which is better in which case?
The prices were calculated for a uniform quantity depending on the product, for example for potato chips the price for both products refers to 200 grams, for mineral water both the brand and the private label are based on one liter.
brand | Price | valuation | No Name/Trademark | Price | valuation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Potato Chips | ❌ Krusty guys tomato & pepper | 3.98 euros | good (1.8) | ✔️ Aldi Sun Snacks Chips Paprika Style | 0.99 euros | good (2.2) |
olive oil | ❌ Bertolli Bio Originale Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 5.59 euros | good (2.1) | ✔️ Edeka organic extra virgin olive oil | 4.99 euros | good (2.1) |
starting milk | ❌ Löwenzahn Organics Bio Pre Infant Milk | 13.45 euros | good (2.0) | ✔️ dmBio Infant Formula Pre | 4.96 euros | good (2.2) |
grilled sausages | ✔️ Meica Bratmaxe | 3.73 euros | good (2.1) | ❌ Aldi Gut Bio Nuremberg Rostbratwurst | 4.79 euros | good (1.9) |
Mineral water | ❌ Aquintus Classic | 0.69 euros | very good (1.4) | ✔️ Lidl Saskia Classic source Löningen | 0.17 euros | very good (1.4) |
Apple juice | ❌ Wesergold apple juice naturally cloudy | 1.26 euros | good (2.2) | ✔️ Lidl Solevita Premium direct juice apple naturally cloudy | 0.99 euros | good (2.2) |
coffee beans | ❌ Jacobs Barista Editions Cream | 15.99 euros | good (2.2) | ✔️ Net brand discount Cafèt Caffè Crema Barista | 9.99 euros | good (2.0) |
tofu | ✔️ Taifun tofu natural (organic) | 1.69 euros | good (1.6) | ❌ Rewe organic tofu natural | 1.15 euros | good (2.3) |
salmon fillet | ❌ German lake salmon fillet | 5.49 euros | good (2.0) | ✔️ Lidl Fischerstolz Norwegian salmon fillet | 5.49 euros | good (1.7) |
smoothies | ❌ True Fruits Smoothie Pink Apple, Guanábana Banana, Pink Dragon Fruit | 2.39 euros | good (2.0) | ✔️ Edeka All in Fruits Fresh Smoothie Orange, Mango, Grape, Banana, Mangosteen, Yuzu | 1.89 euros | very good (1.5) |
crust bun | ❌ Slooow Bio Organic Bio Rusti | 2.57 euros | good (1.6) | ✔️ Edeka organic crust rolls baked on stone | 1.69 euros | good (2.0) |
baby food | ❌ Hip vegetarian menu couscous and vegetable pan (organic) | 1.55 euros | good (2.2) | ✔️ dmBio fennel parsnip with couscous & chicken | 0.95 euros | good (2.2) |
dark chocolate | ❌ Hachez Noble Bitters | 2.29 euros | good (1.7) | ✔️ Aldi Moser Roth Edel Bitter | 0.87 euros | good (2.0) |
Red cabbage with apples | ❌ Iglo apple and red cabbage | 1.89 euros | good (1.7) | ✔️ Edeka apple red cabbage | 0.99 euros | good (1.9) |
yogurt | ❌ Fruit dwarfs strawberry, apricot, banana | 1.99 euros | good (2.0) | ✔️ Aldi Süd Desira fruit juniors strawberry, raspberry | 0.74 euros | good (1.9) |
Source: Analysis results from Stiftung Warentest
Even if some branded products, such as potato chips or starter milk, received a slightly better rating from
Stiftung Warentest
, they are significantly more expensive than the no-name product, which did not fare much worse in terms of quality.
With coffee beans and smoothies, on the other hand, the no-name product is not only cheaper, but also of higher quality than the branded product.
In the case of salmon fillet, the private label is just as expensive as the branded product, but performs better in the quality check.
The branded product from Tofu is a little expensive, but comparatively better than the private label.
In the case of grilled sausages, on the other hand, even the branded product is cheaper than the no-name sausages.
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Lidl, Aldi, Edeka, Rewe or Penny: Which supermarket is the best/cheapest according to Stiftung Warentest?
According to the test results of the
Stiftung Warentest
, it cannot be said that a supermarket differs significantly from others in terms of price-performance ratio, because according to the analysis, the different no-name products have an average rating of between 2.4 and 2.7.
So it doesn't really matter whether you buy your own-brand milk products "Milbona" from Lidl, or your own brand "Milsani" or your "Mühlenhof" sausage from Penny, or if you prefer Lidl's "Dulano".
At Edeka and Rewe, the various private labels differ in terms of price: While "Gut & Billig" (Edeka) and "Ja" (Rewe) are in the lower price segment, the products from the private labels "Edeka" and "Rewe Beste Wahl" cost a little more.
There are also the premium brands "Rewe Feine Welt" and "Edeka Genussmomente".
List of rubrics: © Schöning
