This Store Has the Best Generic Brand Items

There was a time when the only people who purchased generic brands were those who could not afford "the real thing." Through the years, though, the truth has seeped out: Sometimes, the generic brand is better than the big-name brand.

We looked at some of the largest grocery retailers in the U.S. to determine which retailer has the best generic brands. Given how many stores carry generics, it became a little tricky to choose a single winner. In the end, it came down to the store with the greatest selection of highly regarded products.

Aldi has the best generics

It was easy to spot generic products back in the 1970s. Many of them had plain white and black labels. Sitting among colorful boxes of Kraft, Del Monte, and Duncan Hines, generic products looked like orphans, alone and uncared for.

What Aldi figured out before their competitors is that generic items are often as good or better than their name-brand counterparts. And so, Aldi filled its stores with products purchased from smaller, less expensive third-party manufacturers. Before being placed on the shelf though, Aldi puts its own label on the products. Once goods are on the shelves, Aldi can sell them at a deep discount.

There are four things to know about generic products at Aldi:

1. 90% of what's sold in Aldi is a store brand.
2. Aldi's Simply Nature line of organic items includes a wide variety of foods, including milk, bread, cereal, frozen foods, and pasta.
3. Shoppers can easily pay 50% less for an Aldi store brand than they would pay for the same product in a name brand. That's quite a lot of savings if you're working to buy a home, build an emergency savings account, or to retire.

When 90% of the products you carry are generics wearing your store's label, it's imperative to keep the best possible products on the shelves.

Who competed

In determining which retailer offers the best selection of high-quality generics, we looked at these large retailers and the store-label brands they're famous for:

• Costco: Kirkland Signature
• Sam's Club: Member's Mark
• Safeway: Safeway Select
• Kroger: Simple Truth
• Target: Up & Up
• Walmart: Equate

Each retailer has a good selection of generic products. Undoubtedly, regular shoppers will discover their favorites, and perhaps that's the point. As a growing number of people find that they prefer the generic over a name brand, it becomes increasingly clear that spending money on fancy packaging is a goofy way to drain one's bank account.

Hiding in plain sight

It may be the worst-kept secret in business that generic products are not always produced by small, barely-on-the-radar manufacturers. Here's a small sample of the companies that produce products for retailers to put their own store labels on:

• Starbucks
• Duracell
• Reynolds
• Townsend Farms
• Keurig
• Jelly Belly
• Bumble Bee
• Kimberly Clark
• Bolthouse Farms
• Stearns & Foster
• Ocean Spray
• CooperVision
• Blommer Chocolate

The arrangement makes sense. It pulls extra cash into the manufacturer's coffers and provides retailers with generic brands consumers already enjoy.

If you're looking to save money on everyday items and are willing to take a chance on generics, trying unfamiliar products could be fun. If nothing else, you may find a few new favorites.