4 • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2021 • HOUSE TO HOME
Readers share tips on quality store-brand items
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I’m always thrilled to
share great shopping and
couponing tips frommy
readers, and this month’s
column is devoted to seeking
out and finding the best
house-branded items at our
stores.
Major brands work hard
to create unique products
that they hope we develop
strong loyalties to, but
here’s a secret youmight
not know: Many of those
big brands also create
private-label versions of
their own products to sell
to stores under the store’s
name or label.
These brands know that
many people will paymore
for the brand name (and
they’re banking on that),
but they still profit when
you purchase a store-branded
item that they created
for that retailer.
I spent my college years
working at a chain hardware
store, and one of the
first things that I learned
during my training was
that our store’s line of
batteries was made by one
of the biggest brand names
out there. I immediately
started buying those identical
quality batteries with
the store’s logo on them for
a few dollars less.
Some of my readers have
spotted unique ways to
figure out whenamajor
brand might have created
a store-brand item, while
others have their own
tips for spotting quality
house-branded products:
Dear Jill,
I found that my store’s
brand of peanut butter is
made by one of the name
brands of peanut butter.
I picked up both jars,
and the design imprinted
in the plastic jar is the
same for both. They also
have identical plastic
lids, but the lids are different
colors.
Look at the ingredients
list, too, when you compare
the store’s brand to
the name brand. If they
are identical, the name
brand probably made the
store-brand item.
—Bryan H.
This is a great tip! If
a brand is creating the
same item for itself and a
retailer, it’s very unlikely
that they will stop the
production line to add one
different ingredient to differentiate
it from the name
brand.
Dear Jill,
I have to tell you about
the facial tissues at my
supermarket. Every time
this store has a sale, I
stock up. They are not
what you would expect
from a store brand. I
suspected they must be
made by the most popular
brand you can think
of for tissues.
Well, I noticed the last
time I bought these that
there is a small warning
of sorts on the boxes
of tissues. It says, ‘This
product is not manufactured
or distributed by
Parent Brand owner of
the registered trademark
Brand Name.’
So, while I now know
that the popular brand
did not make these, I
actually consider this
‘warning’ a notice that
the product inside is of
such good quality that
you might mistake it for
the real deal.
—Michaela E.
This disclaimer indicates
that the product is so comparable
to the brand name
that the brand does not
want shoppers tomistake
the store’s product for their
own. Perhaps the private
label item’s packaging
is very similar to the name
brand’s design. At any rate,
it’s another tool that we as
shoppers can use to evaluate
the potential quality of
a store-brand item.
Jill Cataldo, a coupon
workshop instructor, writer
and mother of three, never
passes up a good deal.
Learnmore about Super
Couponing at her website,
jillcataldo.com.
Jill Cataldo saves hundreds
by making the most of
the common coupon.
You can, too. Here’s how.
SUPER COUPONING