For some products it is worth choosing the cheaper own brand. The packaging can help with the decision. Experts explain what to look out for.
Munich – When shopping, some people pay particular attention to getting it as cheaply as possible. Others treat themselves every now and then and therefore sometimes resort to more expensive branded products. But does that really make sense at the end of the day? A test of the
WDR
program “Servicezeit” has a clear answer. This revealed that various products from well-known brands and private labels actually come from the same factory, although there are significant price differences.
Does quality have to cost? Experts take a close look at branded products and own brands in the WDR broadcast
In the “Servicezeit” broadcast on March 18th, some supermarket products were examined in more detail. Two brand detectives supported the TV team in identifying similarities between expensive branded products and cheap own brands from Edeka, Lidl, Aldi, Kaufland or Rewe.
Brand detective Patrick Sieber explained that consumers can sometimes find this out quite easily themselves: “With some products it is actually quite easy to find out. With others, the manufacturer makes it really difficult for us and they are also very creative when it comes to hiding it.”
Especially when it comes to dairy products, the information is easily visible to consumers. They have a code on the back of the packaging or jar that reveals some secrets about the origin and manufacturer that not every consumer might know. “This code is mandatory for dairy, fish and meat products,” says brand detective Manon Sieber. “You can see which factory the products come from.” Nevertheless, the price differences between the brand and the own brand are significant – for milk even up to one euro per liter.
According to research by brand detectives, manufacturers produce the following products in the same factory:
Branded product |
Private label product |
price difference |
|---|---|---|
Meggle prank tenderness |
K-Classic Smålgarden (Kaufland) |
64 cents per 100 grams |
Black Forest Milk Fresh pasture milk |
Good & cheap fresh whole milk (Edeka) |
86 cents |
Exquisa The Creamy One |
Gutes Land Cremoso (Netto), Rewe Best Choice Frischella, K-Classic Cream Cheese (Kaufland) |
25 to 49 cents per 100 grams |
Golden toast butter toast |
Ears of gold Simply good wheat toast (Aldi Süd) |
1 € |
Zentis breakfast jam strawberry finely strained |
Rewe Best Choice Gentle & Fruity Strawberry |
31 cents per 100 grams |
Müller rice pudding original |
Milsani rice pudding classic (Aldi Süd), yes! Rice pudding classic (Rewe), Milbona rice pudding classic (Lidl) |
22 cents per 100 grams |
Differences in quality between own brand and branded goods despite the same origin - expert explains tricks
However, there is a limitation with products like the “Prince Roll”: If you look closely, there are differences between expensive branded products and cheaper own brands. Sabine Holzäpfel from the consumer advice center explained to
WDR
that manufacturers sometimes use a few tricks with the ingredients. Therefore, there are differences between branded and discounted products, even if they come from the same manufacturer or factory.
For example, according to the product name and list of ingredients, the “Prinzenrolle” contains a chocolate cream filling, while the Aldi Süd discount product contains a cocoa cream filling. “The chocolate is missing from the filling,” said the consumer advocate. Therefore, the “Prince Roll” in this case is “a higher quality product with higher quality ingredients,” says Holzäpfel. When it comes to toast, the “Goldentoast” branded product with pure butter also contains a higher quality ingredient than Aldi’s cheaper toast, which contains rapeseed oil.
According to research by the brand detectives, the same manufacturer produces the following products for brands such as own brands, sometimes in different factories:
Branded product |
Private label product |
price difference |
|---|---|---|
De Beukelaer Prinzenrolle Chocolate |
Sondey double biscuit roll cocoa (Lidl), biscotto double biscuit cocoa cream (Aldi Süd) |
16 cents per 100 grams |
Leibniz Choco whole milk biscuit |
K-Classic whole milk chocolate butter biscuit (Kaufland), Sondey chocolate butter biscuit whole milk (Lidl) |
56 cents per 100 grams |
Storck Super Dickmann's |
Choceur giant chocolate kisses (Aldi Süd) |
40 cents per 100 grams |
The own brands can sometimes even deliver better quality
However, a look at the ingredients of the rice pudding products shows that in some cases cheap products are in no way inferior to the expensive ones. According to the list of ingredients, Müller's expensive branded rice pudding contains 7.8 percent rice as well as thickeners and flavoring. In comparison, the Aldi product has 8.2 percent rice, the Lidl rice pudding has 9.5 percent rice. Rewe's own brand "ja!", which
recently outperformed
the Müller product in a
ZDF
test, even contains ten percent rice and, according to the list of ingredients, contains no thickeners. “This is the higher quality product,” says Holzäpfel, compared to Müller’s branded products.
Survey shows consumers have a high level of trust in own brands
When shopping, more expensive doesn't always mean better. Stiftung Warentest also drew this conclusion when analyzing day creams.
And the private labels have also gained trust among consumers. According to the NRW consumer advice center, a representative survey by the private label monitor in 2022 among 1,000 “household-heading people aged 18 and over” showed that over two thirds of those surveyed (67 percent) rated the own brands of supermarkets and discounters as equivalent to branded products in terms of quality. Overall, 96 percent of survey participants stated that they generally buy their own brands.
(kh/sp)