Consumer reports shopping guru Tod Marks says buying store brands can cut your grocery bills by an average of 30 percent.
However, a consumer reports shoppers' survey reveals 81 percent are reluctant to give up certain name-brand favorites.
Consumer reports' taste testers pitted 21 store brands against big-name brands for staples like soup, orange juice and peanut butter.
"Out of 21 head-to-head match-ups, the store brands won outright three times. Eleven times, it was a tie. So store brands are a good bet," Marks said.
One of the consistently best performing store brands in consumer reports test is Costco's Kirkland from their paper towels to batteries
Walmart's great value original potato chips tied with Lay's classic potato chips. Both have a nice balance of real potato flavor, fat, and saltiness.
And Target's Market Pantry Ketchup tied with Heinz ketchup. But while they're similar quality - that doesn't mean they taste the same.
"The Market Pantry was very "tomatoey." the Heinz was spicier.
But you can skip target's market pantry chunk light tuna.
"The product exhibited some off-notes and varied in quality from lot to lot," Marks said.
Bumble bee's chunk light tuna was far better in the taste tests. But on the whole, consumer reports finds store brands are worth a try.
"Like national brands, store-brand manufacturers and retailers stand behind their products. If you're not satisfied for any reason, you can simply bring it back for a refund," Marks said.
Consumer reports says there isn't any reason a store brand can't hold its own against a national brand. After all, some of the companies that make the national brand products are one in the same with those that make the store brands.
