It's time for a confession: I'm a sucker for salty snacks, and an even bigger sucker for classic Lay's. Yes, the ultra-thin, extra-salty and shockingly greasy potato chips. And dipped in French onion dip? Forget it.
Earlier this summer, though, I suffered the unthinkable: a "sold out" sign where my usual Lay's should have been at my local grocery store.
My cravings were not to be deterred, so I grabbed a bag of no name regular potato chips instead. Believe it or not, they were great. They had everything I wanted from my usual chips, but at $1.50 a bag compared with $2.75 for Lay's.
That got me thinking: How often am I paying extra for groceries simply because I recognize the name on the package?
So I took a closer look at some everyday no name products alongside their brand-name counterparts, comparing prices and sizes and considering where that extra spend actually feels worth it.
From canned goods and pantry staples to frozen foods and snacks, there were plenty of places I'd happily pocket the savings — and a few where you'll still have to pry the brand name from my hands.
Canned goods: no name
Canned good economics in action.
If you're in the market for canned pantry staples — think pureed tomatoes, kidney beans and the like — look no further than no name. The sizes are the same, the sourcing is the same, but the prices most certainly are not. In some cases, the same price will even nab you more food.
I'm not expecting miracles here. For more "specialized" canned items, like clam chowder or cream of chicken soup, I'd go name brand. But when the stakes are fairly low, there's really no reason to overpay for things you'll toss into soups, bakes and sauces.
Brand-name cost: $2.79 for 398 mL
No name cost: $2.79 for 680 mL
Pantry staples: no name
This one's almost a no-brainer!
Since we're friends, I'll be honest with you: this category really comes down to price. Classic tangy yellow mustard — a pretty basic, albeit delicious, condiment — will run you a whopping $1.50 less if you go the no name route. French's may be getting all the marketing glitz and glam, but no name is delivering the same flavour for less.
At first glance, baby dill pickles with garlic — another classic pantry staple and excellent snack — are the same price from both no name and President's Choice: $4.99. But look closer and you'll see the no name version is double the size, which feels like a pretty easy choice. Especially when you remember these brands are owned by the same company.
And then there are peanuts, where the key is not to get too distracted by marketing language. Will Planters tell you its dry-roasted peanuts are "delicately seasoned"? Absolutely. Does that mean much as far as I'm concerned? Not really.
Using vague descriptors like "delicately" leaves plenty of room for us to fill in the gaps ourselves — in this case, that Planters peanuts are somehow exactly the way we like them, every single time.
No name peanuts make no such promises. They're seasoned, dry-roasted peanuts. What you see is what you get, and they're $2.50 cheaper for 50 grams more, too.
Brand-name cost (mustard): $3.99 for 550 mL
No name cost (mustard): $2.50 for 550 mL
Brand-name cost (pickles): $4.99 for 500 mL
No name cost (pickles): $4.99 for 1 L
Brand-name cost (peanuts): $7.99 for 600 g
No name cost (peanuts): $5.50 for 650 g
Freezer must-haves: no name
No freezer is complete without a great frozen 'za.
Look, sometimes it's a late night and all you want is some garlic bread, a basic pepperoni and cheese pizza or a few chicken nuggets. This food isn't pretentious, but it's the backbone of many a freezer — the staples we keep on hand for when days get busy, the weather's too bad to go out or you just haven't had time to get groceries.
And it turns out you don't need to splurge here. No name's thin-crust pepperoni pizza isn't just bigger than Ristorante's; it's also cheaper — by a lot — without sacrificing much. It's pepperoni, cheese and sauce, after all.
Brand-name cost: $6.99 for 320 g
No name cost: $3.50 for 350 g
Specialty items: brand names
Chocolate is too precious to gamble on!
All-dressed chips? You know I'm grabbing Ruffles, and I'm not even embarrassed about it. A great dark chocolate? No name almost had me with its very attractive price, but I'll still turn to the Swiss — or my all-time fave, ChocoSol — when the cocoa cravings hit.
When a brand does something really well, it's hard not to judge every other version against it. How can I be objective about all-dressed chips when Ruffles' version is so tangy, crunchy and wildly overseasoned?
The answer is, I can't. Which is why I'll always go name brand when I want something spectacular. Something that really hits the spot is worth paying extra for — and that's a price I'll gladly pay.
Brand-name cost (dark chocolate): $5.99 for 100 g
No name cost (dark chocolate): $2.69 for 100 g
When it all comes down to it, no name does one thing really, really well: the basics. You don't need to overcomplicate things here. Salted peanuts are salted peanuts, and kidney beans are kidney beans. These are the humble building blocks of home-cooked meals, the sturdy standbys we reach for when creativity — or time — fails us. And these are exactly the things you shouldn't overpay for.
That doesn't mean I'm ready to give up my favourite brands entirely, though.
There are some things I'm happy to spend a little more on because I genuinely prefer them, and Ruffles aren't leaving my shopping cart anytime soon. But for the everyday stuff? This little experiment has definitely made me question how often I've been paying extra for a familiar label when the cheaper option would do the job just as well.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.