[malldian]

Worked at a pharmacy for 3 years... wait till this thread turns to generic prescriptions and OTC drugs...

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_baseball_08 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm going to go ahead and just disagree a bit on this one. I'm not sure if Gap jeans are made in the same factory as Walmart Wrangler's but I can sure as hell tell you the two fit a lot differently! Same for Ralph Lauren polo shirts vs. Saddle Creek polo shirts. You can buy both at Belk/JC Penney/etc but for my body type, Polo fits perfectly where the Saddle Creek doesn't fit well at all. My experience may be different from others, but when it comes to clothing, food, computer parts, etc, I buy what fits best, tastes best, and works best. More often than not, these things are usually "name brand." If I have to pay more for a product that suits me better, than so be it. I don't see the point in sacrificing quality of life to save an extra couple of bucks that I'm not going to be able to take with me after all is said and done.

You're mostly right. However, manufacturers use different patterns while the clothes come from the same factory. The Wal-Mart shirt may very well be stitched together on a machine next to the Polo. The patterns and colors might be different, but the overhead is the same.

Manufacturers also deliberately cheapen the inexpensive lines. That's to make the item with the bigger margin more appealing. Same reason why the highest margin stuff is at eye level in the supermarket, why realtors always take you to the worst house first and why funeral directors roll out the cardboard coffins. That's all to condition you to spend more. Keep in mind that an array of psychological tricks are used to get you to spend as much money as possible.

I try to get off the consumer merry-go-round. I try to cook from scratch, buy clothes that are discontinued, DIY and buy used. That's the only way to avoid the onslaught.

 

[darkangel9685]

Quote:

Originally Posted by malldian /img/forum/go_quote.gif Worked at a pharmacy for 3 years... wait till this thread turns to generic prescriptions and OTC drugs...

my drugs are generics....

 

[sisenor]

Still searching for that more nuanced answer from an industry insider...

 

[darkangel9685]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisenor /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I shop store brands pretty often but I've never really understood the whole story. I've seen a note on a bottle of something *don't remember what* that said they don't produce store brands. So that means some name brands do produce store brands? Are there also generic factories?? Thanks

Short answer:

Some brands (aka national brands - Frito Lay, Pepsi, Coke, Heinz, etc...) do not produce store branded products (aka private label stuff)
Those that do however, do it alongside their product, but just with another label on it.

As far as generic factories, short answer is no...
...but there are exceptions to everything

hope this clears everything up

 

[Drag0n]

That whole bean Hartford Reserve Coffee that you grind yourself in the store is the best!!!!
Reminds me, i need to go buy some more.

 

[zombie1210]

Its all about advertising.

Name brand=advertising
Store brand =no advertising

You pay more for the product that has a big advertising budget.

 

[Cold Brains]

Most "store brands" are produced at the exact same food processing facilities, which are owned/operated by a handful of massive transnational corporations. In reality, there are only so many large-scale peanut butter or chicken pot pie producing plants in the world. Companies like ConAgra and Cargill own and produce hundreds of different products under almost as many "name brands," but also produce generic brands in their plants. Grocery chains and Wal-Mart, etc contract with these massive food producing/processing companies to produce their "store brand." Wal-Mart, for example, doesn't own a single food processing facility (to my knowledge) and instead contracts with ConAgra and a few other companies to produce "Great Value" brand food products. Quality-wise, there is probably no difference, although YOU may prefer the taste one product over another. My guess, in that with the highly processed food products (soups, box meals, etc), the name brand features the latest in food research technology, although, again, sometimes the formulation is identical. For minimally processed foods (vegetables, beans, peanut butter) the products are basically identical (using the same commodity priced corn, beans, etc).

You might remember than back in 2007/2008, Peter Pan peanut butter was recalled, but also Wal-Mart's Great Value peanut butter. Both products were produced in the same plant, at the exact same time and may, in fact, have been the exact same product/formulation (I believe, the same product code stamped on the lid). Same situation happened with Banquet Pot Pies and generic pot pies processed at ConAgra food plants.

Finally, I'll just mention that "name brand" foods are more expensive because of advertising (and R&D), plain and simple. In reality, "name brands" are creating the illusion of higher quality product, although their ingredient quality is marginally better, at best. But they've invested heavily in 1) research and 2) advertising to convince the consumer the product is superior.