Generic is Generic is Generic
As I’ve mentioned before, I do the vast majority of my non-perishable shopping at Aldi. Aldi is a chain supermarket that carries primarily generic brands. Once I am done shopping there each week, I go to Walmart and Kroger to fill in the things I can’t get at Aldi.
Two of the things I buy regularly at Aldi are chewy granola bars and cereal and fruit bars. Last week, however, I forgot to get them at Aldi, and didn’t realize it until I got to Kroger. So I sucked up the extra cost and purchased the generic Kroger brand instead. I figured they’d be close enough to the same as Aldi’s ones to fool my picky four year old.
When I got home, I made a really hilarious discovery. Not only were they both close enough to make my four year old happy, they were in fact, the exact same bars. The exterior packaging (boxes) were different, but the wrappers inside around each individual bar was identical to the Aldi brand. Absolutely 100% identical.
So what i did I pay for my forgetfulness? Regular price of Aldi chewy granola bars: $1.69. Kroger: $1.97, but were on sale for $1.69 so I lucked out. As for the cereal fruit bars, Aldi’s price is $1.79 per box and Kroger’s regular price was $2.28 but on sale for $1.89, so only $0.10 a box (I bought two). Because I timed my mistake well and forgot on a week where the equivalents were on sale, I only spent an extra $0.20. But I could have spent an extra $1.26 - $0.28 for the box of chewy granola bars and $0.49 each for two boxes of cereal fruit bars. For the EXACT same thing.
Generic is generic is generic all right - I didn’t realize that the Aldi generics were actually sold other places like Kroger. Score one more point for Aldi. 
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July 9th, 2008 at 7:25 am
That is too funny, thanks for sharing! I know lots of people who will by generics at our local grocery store, but refuse to buy food at Aldi.
We have a newer Aldi in our town, and it focuses mainly on affordable fresh food such as fruit and meat. But now I will have to try their fruit and grain bars!
July 9th, 2008 at 7:41 am
I’m pretty sure some generics aren’t even generics. My BFF works for Aldi, and she says a lot of their are the exact same foods as their name-brand counter parts. The only differences are the labels and the price.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:26 am
i think i have an aldi nearby and i keep saying i need to check it out. but maybe i’ll wait til my kids are back in school!
July 9th, 2008 at 9:33 am
I wish we had Aldi in my Central TX city. In fact, I never had heard of Aldi before I started reading blogs. Are they only in the north?
July 9th, 2008 at 9:43 am
I have friends who work in several food processing factories in my area. The only thing that is different between the generic and name brand food is the labels. They switch labels as they fill orders. Crazy, huh?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I better not have a picky kid. Well, I am sure I won’t because he will adapt to what I want him to eat by not having any other options.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I’ve become a big Aldi fan for almost all my staple supplies, most dairy, cereals, baking products, canned soups, snacks, etc. I’ve only had a few items that I really don’t like. Each time I go, I buy a new item or two to try out and overall have not been dissapointed. One of my blog readers told me Aldi was owned by the same company as Trader Joes.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
In this case, you may have saved money due to gas costs.
-Erica
July 9th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
oh how I wish there were more than two grocery stores here at the coast! Safeway and Fred Meyers…that’s it…
Anything else, except small private stores, is over 50 miles away.
The best canned corn I have ever tasted is the Fred Meyer brand - it comes on sale 3/$1 and I stock up…tastes just like it just got cut off the cob
July 9th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Really interesting! Reaffirms that “name brand” stores tack on extra costs no matter what. Around here its obvious with known name brands that the fancy store charges more for the privilege of walking in the door, but I have never compared the generics!
Great observation. Thanks.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
@ Brandon - then your pediatrician threatens to put your child in the hospital on an IV to gain weight for failure to thrive, and you decide to feed him whatever the heck he wants.
Maybe not, but it happened to us. My son was a day away from being in the hospital for failure to thrive when he was a baby because he wouldn’t eat what we were offering. We gave in
July 9th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
You do what you gotta do! Babies aren’t out to annoy you.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I just have to add in a word of caution when buying generics/store brands. If you have a family member with any food allergies (nuts, peanuts, shellfish, dairy, etc) be sure to read ingredient panels carefully before you make a brand substitution. You don’t want to find out the hard way that saving a little cash on groceries risks the health of your loved one with a case of anaphylaxis!
July 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
YES!!!
Imagine my horror when I opened my $15 box of Boys Scout microwave popcorn, that I had bought from my nephew, only to find the packaging of the individual bags was IDENTICAL to my box of popcorn from Aldi!! That was a huge eye opener for me! I knew, of course, that most generics are manufactured in the same factories as name brands, but I couldn’t believe that Boy Scouts didn’t even bother to change the packaging!
July 10th, 2008 at 12:27 am
I could not agree more! It is amazing what companies package to try to get us to pay more for a “brand name”. The same goes so many products, that you are almost always better off buying generic!
July 11th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I love Aldi’s for “junk” food. We save a ton of money on their snacks like ho-hos and nutter bars. I don’t really like the cupcakes and stuff because they really don’t taste that good but every now and then I get the urge for something “bad.” If you’re gonna eat junk food that tastes like ick you might as well get it for cheap!!
I’ve noticed our Aldi’s has gotten more crowded since the food crunch. Has anyone else noticed it? I think there was a stigma on discount stores, my mother for example thought Aldi’s only had “reject” food. (It wasn’t a knock to the store, I think she just heard that from someone who had a bad experience with a couple items.)
I’m glad people are trying to make the most of their money, it’s too bad it took such a food crunch for people to warm up to the idea of saving money.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
The regular grocery stores like to sell the “generic” or store brand items because they make more money on them. It’s the same way at the pharmacy. It costs less to manufacturer/purchase generics so in turn, they make more on the markup, even though to us it seems like they would make more money on the national brand.
I buy the generic when ever possible (or tasty). Our local Pick N Save even has store brand organic food!