Store brand vs. name brand: Are you making the right choices?

With the growing demand for affordable and budget friendly food products it's not surprising to find more and more people who prefer to buy store brand or store label products at grocers, rather than the name brand. However, according to the latest survey of Mintel, 2009's total sales of $61.4 billion, in Britain, has grown insurmountably to a whopping $74.2 billion in 2014 because of improvement in the quality of the products, making them gross higher in sales compared to the publicly known branded items.

In Britain, store-labeled range of food products from Essential Waitrose, Asda and even Lidl's are considered to be the high flyers in this category. While most of brand names are tasty and worth every penny, there are some that you and other shoppers are better off not trying out.

With help from the Daily Mail, here are some of the best and worst of brand name products compared to the store brands in the market:

Hellman's Mayonnaise

What to Buy:
Compared to Hellman's Mayonnaise, Bramwell's Real Mayonnaise from Aldi's, which is about $1.00 per jar tastes the closest to the name brand product.

What Not to Buy:
Do not bother trying out Lidl's Kania Mayonnaise since we found it to be odd tasting.

Heinz Tomato Ketchup

What to Buy:
Heinz Tomato Ketchup costs about three dollars each and is definitely a consumer favorite. Its cheaper counterparts, which are Sainsbury's Tomato Ketchup, Simply M&S Tomato Ketchup as well as Aldi's Bramwells Tomato Ketchup, are considered to be the closest to Heinz's product.

What Not to Buy:
Forget about Essential Waitrose Tomato Ketchup - we thought it was too tangy for our taste buds.

Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cereals

What to Buy:
Kellogg's Crunchy Nut is considered the most popular breakfast cereal in Britain. While it is delicious and healthy, it is also more expensive. Try Essential Waitrose Honey Nut Corn Flakes for about two dollars and you won't be disappointed. You can try Lidl's Crownfield Corn Flakes Honey and Peanuts for about $1.50; the taste is definitely identical to the original.

What Not to Buy:
Aldi's Harvest Morn Crunchy Honey Nut Cornflakes has a sort of burnt, sawdust taste.

Cheesy Wotsits

Based on the research survey conducted by Him! Research and Consulting, consumers are quite loyal to their cheesy crisps brand selection.  A 6 X 19 gram pack of Cheesy Wotsits, which cost about $2.50 at the grocery stores, are definitely crowd pleasers.  For those who are looking for cheaper but almost identical alternatives, you can choose from the following store brand products:

What to Buy:
M & S Cheese Tasters, which costs about $1.20 per 30 gram pack, are even tastier than the real brand! Aldi Snackrite Cheese Puffs also offer the closest taste to Wotsits for just about one dollar! Asda Cheesy Wiggles and the Tesco Cheese Puffs Snacks will also quench your appetite for cheesy crisps.

What Not to Buy:
On the other hand, Essential Cheese Puffs do not come close to the original one, nor to its store brand counterparts

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Heinz Baked Beans

What to Buy:
To experience the closest flavors to that of good old Heinz Beans, we recommend you trying Aldi's Corale Premium Quality Baked Beans in Rich Tomato Sauce. It's delicious with a slight hint of spice in the sauce. You can also check out Asda's Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce. Both brands cost about fifty cents, about half of what's on Heinz's price tag.

What Not to Buy:
Aside from it costing more than the best store brand baked beans, at about sixty cents per can, Sainsbury's Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce did not meet out standards in taste. The sauce had this metallic taste to it.

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