1. Batteries (Kirkland Signature vs. Duracell)
Costco’s Kirkland Signature batteries are one of the most well-documented examples of a store brand being manufactured directly by its famous name-brand counterpart. In 2016, the Costco CEO revealed during an interview with Atlanta station WSB-TV that Duracell produces Kirkland Signature batteries. That confirmation came straight from the top, and the relationship appears to have continued since then.
Kirkland Signature’s AA and AAA batteries don’t possess the copper-top design most Duracell batteries have, but like their Duracell cousins, they’re alkaline batteries with a 12-year shelf life. The price difference, though, is significant. Kirkland’s AA and AAA batteries tend to cost 25 to 35 percent less than their Duracell counterparts in the same shopping aisle. You can get 48 of the Kirkland Signature Alkaline AAA batteries for $15.99, or 40 of the Duracell Coppertop AAA batteries for $19.99, which works out to a savings of about 17 cents per battery if you opt for the Kirkland-branded package. For something you buy in bulk, that adds up fast.
2. Aluminum Foil (Kirkland Signature vs. Reynolds Wrap)
This one isn’t even a secret, because Costco doesn’t try to hide it. Take one look at a box of Kirkland Signature aluminum foil and you’ll see the word “Reynolds” printed right on the packaging. Each box is manufactured by Reynolds Brands, the maker of Reynolds Wrap, often considered one of the most durable types of aluminum foil on the market.
Costco carries four Kirkland Signature Reynolds products, which include a 12-inch foil roll, an 18-inch foil roll, foodservice foil, and a 500-pack of pre-cut foil sheets. The Kirkland Signature and Reynolds collaboration isn’t subtle. All Kirkland Signature foil products are co-branded with the Reynolds name. You’re essentially buying Reynolds Wrap at a warehouse discount, with absolutely no sacrifice in quality whatsoever.
3. Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers (Store Brand vs. Advil, Tylenol, Bayer)
This is probably the category where the savings feel most meaningful, and also the one where consumers are most unnecessarily skeptical. The active ingredient is the same in store brands and brand names. A popular over-the-counter brand name that you probably recognize is Bayer. The active ingredient in Bayer is aspirin, and there are countless store brand versions of aspirin. They are the exact same ingredient, with the same dosage, strength, safety, and performance.
The FDA requires manufacturing facilities to meet their standards regardless of whether they make store brands or brand names, and store brands must also meet the same FDA quality standards. By law, a generic drug product must contain the identical amounts of the same active ingredient(s) as the brand name product, and drug products evaluated as “therapeutically equivalent” can be expected to have equal effect and no difference when substituted for the brand name product. There’s no asterisk on that.
4. Pantry Staples: Sugar, Salt, Flour, and Baking Soda
Few product categories make the store-brand case as cleanly as these. Going generic definitely makes sense for staple foods like salt, sugar, flour, vinegar, and baking soda. These products contain only one ingredient, so there’s no difference in the formula from one brand to another. In fact, staple products like these often come from the same manufacturers as the name brand, so they’re literally identical.
Michigan State University Extension notes that most baking staples taste and perform identically to name brands, and professional chefs overwhelmingly buy generic. A study by scholars at the University of Chicago and Brown University found that professional chefs are more likely to choose store brands for their “pantry staples,” making over 75% of their purchases in this category from store brands. When the people who cook for a living aren’t paying a premium, it’s worth asking why you are.
5. Canned Beans (Store Brand vs. Goya and Similar)
Canned beans are, at their core, a commodity. The process is nearly identical across every producer: the beans are picked, sorted, cooked, and sealed. Canned beans are a commodity product; they are picked, cooked, and canned in a similar fashion. The only meaningful variable is what’s on the label once they leave the facility.
Once rinsed, the beans in blind taste tests were indistinguishable in taste, texture, and appearance. Both name brand and store brand were firm and held their shape well. A name brand can cost $1.29 for a 15.5-ounce can, while the store brand equivalent is often priced around $0.79 for the same size. Over a year of regular cooking, that difference is genuinely noticeable on your grocery bill.
6. Spices and Seasonings (Store Brand vs. McCormick)
McCormick is the dominant name in spices, and most people reach for it without a second thought. The markup for that familiarity, though, is steep. The markup on name-brand spices is significant. That store-brand garlic powder, chili powder, and cinnamon sitting right next to McCormick is usually the same ground spice from the same global suppliers.
Ground cinnamon is ground cinnamon. Ground cumin is ground cumin. The spice itself doesn’t change based on which brand name is on the jar. Flour, sugar, milk and frozen vegetables and fruits are other relatively unprocessed foods that are virtually identical to their more expensive name-brand versions. Spices fall squarely in the same category. Buying store-brand spices and keeping them fresh is the smarter move for nearly everyone.
7. Frozen Fruits and Vegetables (Store Brand vs. Name Brands)
Frozen produce is picked at peak ripeness and flash-frozen almost immediately, which means the quality window is already locked in before packaging ever begins. Whether you’re tossing berries into a smoothie or peas into a stir-fry, you won’t taste a brand-name difference in frozen fruits and vegetables. The source farms are often the same, and the freezing process is standardized across the industry.
Frozen vegetables and fruits are virtually identical to their more expensive name-brand counterparts, and many canned goods such as vegetables and beans are also very similar to the name-brand versions. Shoppers who opt for the store brand save an average of 25% on their purchases, according to Consumer Reports. Frozen produce is a reliable place to start capturing those savings without any noticeable change in what ends up on your plate.
8. Cereal (Store Brand vs. General Mills, Kellanova)
The toasted oat category is one of the most studied examples of store-brand parity. In a head-to-head comparison, General Mills Cheerios cost roughly $0.32 per ounce, while the store-brand toasted oats come in at $0.17 per ounce, meaning in a typical family-sized box you’d save over $2.50. That’s on a single box.
In blind taste tests, tasters found the store-brand oats to be slightly crunchier and toastier, which many preferred. The name brand was a bit lighter in texture. More broadly, there is a good chance those store-brand toaster pastries are made by Kellanova, formerly Kellogg’s, the maker of Pop-Tarts. Research has found that more than 70 percent of private label suppliers in grocery data were national brand manufacturers. Cereal is a category where the name on the box is often the only real difference.
9. Shredded Cheese (Store Brand vs. Kraft and Similar)
Shredded cheese is another product where the production process is nearly identical across brands. The milk comes from the same regional suppliers, the cheese is produced under the same food safety regulations, and the shredding equipment works the same way regardless of which label ends up on the bag. Cheese is often treated with anti-caking agents like potato starch, which can affect meltability, but both name-brand and store-brand versions perform comparably. For everyday uses like tacos, casseroles, or grilled cheese, the cost savings make the store brand a strong choice.
Eaten straight from the bag, the difference is minimal. The name brand may be slightly sharper, but the store brand is perfectly acceptable. When melted into a quesadilla, the two are absolutely identical. Once the cheese hits heat, the brand name becomes entirely irrelevant. Shredded cheese is one of those grocery items where switching to the store brand is a genuinely painless change.
10. Ibuprofen and Common Cold Medications (Store Brand vs. Advil, DayQuil, and Others)
Store-brand ibuprofen sitting next to Advil on the pharmacy shelf is not a lesser version of the drug. It is, by federal law, the same drug. Any generic medicine must perform the same in the body as the brand-name medicine. It must be the same as a brand-name medicine in dosage, form and route of administration, safety, effectiveness, strength, and labeling, with certain limited exceptions.
Generic medicines use the same active ingredients as brand-name medicines and work the same way, so they have the same risks and benefits as the brand-name medicines. Generic medicines and brand-name medicines share the same active ingredient, but other characteristics such as colors and flavorings that do not affect performance, safety, or effectiveness may be different. The similarities between generics and brand-name prescription drugs in quality, safety, and effectiveness also apply to over-the-counter drugs. OTC drugs including pain relievers and cold medications are FDA tested and approved. Paying more for the branded version is essentially paying for the television commercial.
The Real Reason Store Brands Cost Less
The price gap between store brands and name brands has very little to do with quality and almost everything to do with marketing budgets. Shoppers are often willing to pay a premium for a well-known brand, so companies who make those brands are able to charge more. Those same companies also have higher manufacturing, marketing, and distribution costs, which add to the final retail price.
The boost in store brands is attributed to a few critical advantages retailers have over name brands: better margins, lower prices, direct relationships with manufacturers, and ecommerce. Savvy shoppers in the United States save more than $40 billion each year on grocery and household goods by choosing store-brand products over name-brand counterparts. Collectively, that’s a staggering amount of money that stayed in consumers’ wallets simply by reading the label a little more carefully.
How to Shop Smarter Without Sacrificing Quality
One of every four food and non-food grocery products purchased is a store brand supplied by a private label manufacturer, and for a majority of shoppers, store brands represent quality and performance as good as or better than national brands while offering meaningful savings. The key is knowing which categories reward the switch and which might not.
In blind taste tests, more than half of store brands matched or beat the quality of national brands. In fact, some store-brand products are literally the same as name brands, except for the label and the price tag. Start with the ten categories on this list. Compare ingredient labels, check the active ingredients on medications, and let the product speak for itself rather than the packaging. The savings tend to be significant, and the sacrifice is usually nonexistent.
The honest conclusion here is that brand loyalty, in many product categories, is largely a habit built by decades of advertising rather than a reflection of genuine quality differences. The label changed. The product often didn’t.
