The pros and cons of buying supermarket own-brand food

theguardian.com:

Critics of the government have seized on comments made by the environment secretary, George Eustice, who suggested people could help ease the cost of living crisis by buying value-brand food.

Opponents pointed out that this would barely scratch the surface when energy bills have soared by 54% and the most vulnerable are already buying the cheapest foods.

The truth is, there are pros and cons of buying own-brand foods. And according to nutritionists, cheaper often does mean a drop in quality.

You may not be comparing like with like, or getting quite what you’re used to.

For many non-perishable lines, supermarkets offer several options, and these increasingly include an own-brand version and a cheaper value range.

Financially, there can be a lot to be gained by moving down from a branded product to a supermarket own-brand, and more still by switching to its value range.

Take a tin of baked beans bought at Sainsbury’s, for example. Online, the supermarket is charging £1 for a two-serving can of Heinz Beanz. Its Sainsbury’s own version retails at 35p and its Hubbard’s Foodstore line costs 21p.

The tins may look directly comparable, but they are not: while Heinz’s weighs in at 415g, the other two weigh 400g each. But even when you strip out that difference, the cost saving is big: for Heinz, you are paying £2.41 a kg, for Hubbard’s you are paying 53p.

Inside the tins, all is not equal either. In this instance, Heinz and Sainsbury’s both boast 51% beans, but the Hubbard’s tin contains 45%. That’s 212g from Heinz and 180g from Hubbard’s.

For a product where the headline prices are more closely matched, the saving could be eaten into if you need to buy an extra pack to get what you actually need. However, the price difference is so great