• Venutian Spring@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Kirkland signature wine and spirits (and tons of other Kirkland brand stuff). Not necessary better, but it’s so much cheaper and so close to quality that it’s a bit brainer to buy it over more expensive stuff. Plus,on a lot of instances the Kirkland signature is made by big companies and rebranded as Kirkland.

    • Lemm1ng@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I agree. But I can’t upvote your comment because I can’t figure our how to do it in Memmy. Swipe left downvotes it. Swipe right to comment. Touching the up and down arrows does nothing. But Kirkland stuff is great.

      • mephistoffelees@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Swipe a short ways to the right to upvote. Swipe further to the right to downvote. Swiping left will reply. (If it was like Apollo, swiping further left is to save a comment)

        • dixius99@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I just swiped your comment a short way, so please enjoy your upvote (which I can confirm worked).

    • Connoth@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Kirkland diapers, wipes are an immense value for parents too. And good Lord do I love me some Kirkland branded booze.

    • Samwizegamgi42@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I know for spirits, not sure on wine and beer, in many cases it is literally from the same factory that the name brand comes from they get bulk deals and just put their labels on it

    • Shortbus@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Their malbec is so good. Sometimes I’ll spurge on a sometimes MUCH more expensive bottle and 9/10 I regret not just going to Costco and getting theirs.

      • Gatsby@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Fucking forreal I passed through Texas to pick up a friend from DFW and stopped at a few Costco’s looking for some vodka, I thought I was just in shitty counties but nope! Chuck Testa!

        • Dandroid@dandroid.app
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          1 year ago

          There is a law in Texas where a publicly traded company can’t sell their own name brand liquor, so Costco can’t sell Kirkland liquor. Wine is fine, but no spirits.

        • Dandroid@dandroid.app
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          1 year ago

          There is a law in Texas where a publicly traded company can’t sell their own name brand liquor, so Costco can’t sell Kirkland liquor. Wine is fine, but no spirits.

            • Dandroid@dandroid.app
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              1 year ago

              The state of freedom, and we don’t even have the freedom to choose to buy liquor on Sundays. We have such dumb alcohol laws here. We’re not as bad as Utah, but it’s still so bad.

  • TiffyBelle@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    Pretty much any store-brand toothpaste is probably going to be a lot cheaper than “branded” products, and will have the required amount of fluoride within it to keep your teeth healthy which is far and away the most important ingredient in any toothpaste. The entire toothpaste industry is mostly all marketing.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I pay the extra bucks for European Sensodyne because it has Novamin in it.

        Novamin is like magic, and there is no reason it should have been taken off the shelves in the US (I suspect it’s heavy lobbying by the American Dental Association and the Teeth Fae People). Novamin binds and helps remineralize your teeth, very helpful for sensitivity and in conjuction with fluoride can get into the subsurface and helps actually repair the teeth.

      • TiffyBelle@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, there’s definitely exceptions for people with special requirements. Toothpastes for sensitive teeth contain ingredients like potassium nitrate that wouldn’t be in the generic, store-branded ones.

      • TiffyBelle@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        In that case, I’m selling some overclocked toothpaste if you’re interested. Kinda pricy though.

  • WxFisch@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago
    • Almost all paper goods, specifically Kirkland brand.
    • Canned veggies are all the same as well, so whatever’s cheapest
    • most dried herbs and spices
    • staples like flour, butter, sugar, oil, etc. they are basic and as long as you are getting the kind you need (like AP flour or dark brown sugar) there isn’t any room for differences that the average consumer could notice anyways
    • ext23@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      As a fountain pen user and fan of stationery, I can assure you not all paper is created equal. For me it’s 100% worth paying for the good stuff.

      • WxFisch@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Paper goods meaning napkins, paper plates (mostly for food prep), paper towels, etc. agreed 100% on actual paper for writing.

    • jayknight@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      If you make bread you can tell a difference between brands of flour, and the more expensive stuff is usually noticably better.

      • RoquetteQueen@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I have heard that Canadian flour is better than American, so maybe that’s why, but I’ve never noticed a difference in flour brands. I’ve been baking bread for years and did it as a full time job for two years.

      • TwinTurbo@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There’s also a noticeable difference with some beans. Cheap ones are tough and taste almost stale, while nicer ones are creamier and more flavourful.

  • FallopianSphincter@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Aldi’s brand of bagels is better than Thomas for me and are about half the price. There’s something that tastes oddly “sugary” about Thomas bagels in comparison.

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      To be fair, Thomas’ bagels are about as bad as bagels get. It’s not hard to beat one of those.

      Open carrying a Thomas’ bagel is actually a crime in the state of New York.

    • sarcasticsunrise@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Trader Joe’s employee reporting in: (cries in non-unionized) Aldi’s bagels are so much better than ours it ain’t even close to a fair fight

  • Eggs@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Canned and processed food. Store brand os usually much cheaper and tastes the same if not sometimes better than the big brand names.

    • Ghoti@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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      1 year ago

      One of my old coworkers dads worked at a canning plant. He said his dad was in charge of the labeling and claims that almost all canned food is the same.

      He said they’d run x amount of green giant labels, x amount of del monte, x amount of best choice, etc all from the same batch.

  • Wahots@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    Basically anything Kirkland signature branded, including medicines sold over the counter. Compare Kirkland signature ibuprofen count + cost vs brand name in store sometime. The difference is staggering.

  • Great Value Ranch Corn Chips are superior to Cool Ranch Doritos. Actually, quite a bit of GV stuff is as good if not better than the name brand they are knocking off. Not all of it, though.

    Kirkland Hotdogs are superior to Ballpark (but I mean, that’s incredibly easy since ballparks suck) and I think are more comparable to a Nathan’s or Hebrew National; although those last two are still better than Costco’s signature dog.

    Clover Valley (Dollar General brand) has the best fig newtons and cake snacks around. Way more flavorful and moist than the name brands Hostess or Little Debbie. Also their pop tarts.

    • Spuddaccino@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      +1 for Kirkland

      Kirkland Signature products in general are just as good or better than the name brands because they usually are the name brand stuff.

      Their batteries are Duracell, their bagged coffee is roasted by Starbucks, their diapers are Huggies, their canned tuna is Bumblebee, etc.

      Kirkland hot dogs are an oddity, though. They used to be Hebrew National, but they got too expensive to be selling for 1.50 at the food court, so Costco bought an old Hebrew National meat plant in California and makes their own hot dogs now.

  • RoquetteQueen@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    My children will only accept No Name (it’s a store brand here in Canada) ranch dressing. I’ve gotten name brand ones on sale before and they were not impressed.

    • TrainsAreCool@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      No Name has some pretty solid stuff. Not necessarily always the top quality, but generally decent value.

      Hate to praise them too much because Galen Weston can go f* himself, but you kind of have to pick one billionaire or another when talking about store brands up here.

    • AThing4String@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      The No Name ice cream wafers are also the best around, and the cheapest to boot!

      We were actually surprised that not only were they just as good at like ⅓ the price, they were WAY better.

      You can get a giant pack of them for literally the price of a checkout line candy bar.

  • Meow.tar.gz@lemmy.goblackcat.com
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    1 year ago

    I really like Food Lion’s Dr. Perky over Dr. Pepper. I know it’s like really strange but the Dr. Perky is quite good. Also, Food Lion’s version of Mountain Dew, Mountain Lion, is a lot better.

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I mainly shop at Giant and their store-brand sodas are almost all undrinkable (“Mr. Bob” is their version of Dr. Pepper), all with this bizarre medicine-y aftertaste. The only good one is their diet grape soda - it’s possible that I like this only because there’s no brand name version to compare it to.

  • voodooseason@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Kroger Nutter Butters. Aside from just tasting better, the packaging is also way less flimsy. (Plus, resealable!)

  • TrainsAreCool@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    There’s this white cheddar flavour mac and cheese and the store brand where I am is much better than the Kraft version.

    There might be a bit of nostalgia though for me as it was one of the go-to “quick and easy” meals my mom would make for us as a kid.

    • oʍʇǝuoǝnu@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      In Canada, Loblaws has a no name brand kd called deluxe white cheddar that is hands down the best Mac and cheese, Kraft white cheese always comes out bland and watery no matter how little milk I add.

      • RoquetteQueen@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        It’s as expensive as Kraft though, I think? Or barely any cheaper. President’s Choice stuff is sometimes more expensive than name brands, too.

        • oʍʇǝuoǝnu@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          I honestly couldn’t tell you my girlfriend does all the superstore shopping, I think shoppers has it slightly cheaper if you can find it. I also don’t mind paying 20 extra cents for superior Mac and cheese.

      • TrainsAreCool@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        That’s literally the brand I was referring to, haha. I haven’t actually bought it in a while though, since for several years the closest Loblaws store was too far away.

        I’m now closer to one, but still haven’t picked any up. Haven’t timed any of my visits with when it’s on discount, and otherwise it’s around the same price as KD. Haven’t been eating much of that sort of food anyways.

        • oʍʇǝuoǝnu@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          Check out shoppers of its closer, the one near my house doesn’t have it in stock ever but they do stock it.

          Yeah I really only eat it like once a month when I feel like being lazy and I don’t have to cook for anyone but myself. Lived off this stuff through uni though.