Crispy Rice vs Rice Crispies, Captain Crunch vs Berry Treats

[NFS4]

Is there really any difference between the store brand and national brand cereal? Are they made in the same factories, because I'll be damned if I can't tell the difference.

A few weeks ago, Food Lion had "Crispy Rice" and "Frosty Flakes" on sale for $1 a box instead of the usual $2.80 to $3.30 for Rice Crispies and Frosted Flakes. With the exception of the outer cardboard being a bit thinner, and the obvious difference in branding, they both tasted exactly the same -- same taste, same texture, same consistency.

I picked up a box of Berry Treats (aka, Captain Crunch) recently after having a successful run with the other store brands and they taste exactly the same as well.

So what's the deal here? Do the national brands just bank on "sheep mentality" to get us to buy the name brands or is there really a quantifiable difference to justify the price?

 

[BrokenVisage]

Rice Krispies are so absolutely perfect that I wouldn't even want to try the alternative.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Rice Krispies are so absolutely perfect that I wouldn't even want to try the alternative.

Heh, these things looked exactly the same -- they even snap, crackle, and pop

 

[Fenixgoon]

captain crunch - peanut butter crunch FTMFW

 

[herm0016]

choco dino bites >>> coco pebbles

 

[Baked]

I don't buy store brand when it comes to my cereal. I buy the 2 pack box from costco. Yeah I know, you don't get as many variety as supermarket, but they do have cheerios, corn flakes, honey bunches of oats, and a children flavor variety pack w/ 3 different cereals.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Baked
I don't buy store brand when it comes to my cereal. I buy the 2 pack box from costco. Yeah I know, you don't get as many variety as supermarket, but they do have cheerios, corn flakes, honey bunches of oats, and a children flavor variety pack w/ 3 different cereals.

I don't shop at club stores, so I but the cheap bagged stuff. Tastes just fine. My mom used to get the bulk boxes though, and you only paid a buck or two more for a bigger box with two bags of cereal inside instead of the smaller box with one bag inside that you get at the regular grocer. Pretty good deal on most cereals.

But as I said, I'm content with my "2lbs for $3" bags of cereal. I just wish they had some of the more "healthy", "not-loaded-with-sugar-and-artificial-colors" cereals. I can only stand oatmeal a few days in a row before I need some regular cereal.

 

[darkswordsman17]

When it comes to food, the store brand and "national" brand are pretty much never the same. You can argue, and they might even have the same ingredients, but in my experience there is always a difference in taste (oftentimes it can be fairly subtle, but there is a difference). It might even be made in the same factory and look the same, but it does not taste the same. This is not placebo either, nor am I complaining about it, as it's a two way thing, where with some things the store brand tastes better and costs less money. There are some products that I will not buy the store brand off, because the specific taste of the national brand is what I'm after. For instance, if I feel like a Dr. Pepper, then neither Mr. Pibb, Dr. Thunder, or whatever knockoff will do.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Store brands always taste worse. Crispy Rice aren't as good as real Rice Crispies, although IMO, they are the closest "off-brand" cereal to the real thing. Still not quite the same, though.

Toasty O's suck compared to Cheerios.
Generic Pop Tarts suck compared the real ones.

So does everything else compared to the real thing.......except Food Lion potato chips. Food Lion potato chips are better than any other brand I've eaten.

 

[SonicIce]

The only differance I've seen is the off brand's bag rips to shreads and cereal goes everywhere and it never pours right. And then it gets all inside between the bag and the box. But the off-brand Cheerios suck.

I like the 99 cent box of pop tarts, the brown sugar flavor. Valu-time fruit in a can is good. Off-brand chips are usually pretty good.

 

[ObiDon]

sometimes the knock-off brands do taste different or they have less marshmallows or flavored pieces.
unless the taste is grossly different (like some alternate rice krispies that i once tried) i tend to just buy the bagged cereals. it really depends on what it is though.
does anyone else here eat cereal out of a big mixing bowl? sometimes i fill it twice

 

[thedarkwolf]

Most of the food I buy is the store brand and for most of it I can't tell any difference. BTW Kroger's brand rising crust pizza OMG its awesome.

 

[episodic]

I've used nothing but knock off brands for years.

 

[LtPage1]

Safeway raisin bran is just as good.

 

[ViRGE]

I find that off-brand Crunch Berries doesn't taste much like the real thing, but then again I haven't tasted every off-brand. This is making me hungry for a bowl of cereal right now though...

 

[DrPizza]

Yooohoooooo! News flash! Kelloggs & Post make a lot of the different store brands. Stores dictate the quality that they want. In some cases, the store brand is absolutely identical to the name brand. (Not always, but sometimes.) Some of you guys sound like my kids when they were little - from a store brand box, "these don't taste as good." Pour the store brand box into the name brand box, "thanks for getting the name brand. These are much better than the store brand."

Is there really any difference between the store brand and national brand cereal? Are they made in the same factories, because I'll be damned if I can't tell the difference.

Depends on the store. But, do you guys think that every store brand has its own manufacturing facility for making nearly identical (if not identical) cereal?

 

[BladeVenom]

Sometimes they are the same, sometimes they're not. Do a blind taste test.

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Some of you guys sound like my kids when they were little - from a store brand box, "these don't taste as good." Pour the store brand box into the name brand box, "thanks for getting the name brand. These are much better than the store brand."

My mother did this w/ our ketchup because I refused to eat anything but Heinz. She finally told be about it after I got out of college.

Is there really any difference between the store brand and national brand cereal? Are they made in the same factories, because I'll be damned if I can't tell the difference.
Depends on the store. But, do you guys think that every store brand has its own manufacturing facility for making nearly identical (if not identical) cereal?

While I was in college I worked for Chef Boyardee in the summers. We would make store brands all the time. The only difference I could tell is there would be less "meat" added for the store brands. A lot of times we would just re-label the over runs as store bands.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Rice Krispies are so absolutely perfect that I wouldn't even want to try the alternative.

if you like soggy cerial with no taste i guess they are perfect


and FWIW the generic cheerios taste better then the real ones

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Rice Krispies are so absolutely perfect that I wouldn't even want to try the alternative.

if you like soggy cerial with no taste i guess they are perfect


and FWIW the generic cheerios taste better then the real ones

I like many different cereals of varying tastes and textures, but yeah, for me nothing beats a bowl of soggy Rice Krispies in 1% each morning.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
captain crunch - peanut butter crunch FTMFW

Captain Crunch Berry is also FTMFW. The Captain knows what he's doing.

 

[alkemyst]

Some store brands are equal, some are not and some may even be better. Sodas are an easy one most can relate too.

I don't buy store cereals, but some store products we definitely like better than their name-brand counterparts.

Our Publix chain down here has increased the quality of their products over the years. Their breads esp. are great values...we like their sauces too. There pasta is no different than any of the others. They have great vegetables as well.

 

[nakedfrog]

Some of the Malt-o-Meal bagged cereals seem a little crunchier than the name brands.

 

[Foxery]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Yooohoooooo! News flash! Kelloggs & Post make a lot of the different store brands. Stores dictate the quality that they want. In some cases, the store brand is absolutely identical to the name brand.

Is there really any difference between the store brand and national brand cereal? Are they made in the same factories, because I'll be damned if I can't tell the difference.

Depends on the store. But, do you guys think that every store brand has its own manufacturing facility for making nearly identical (if not identical) cereal?

Thanks for clarifying - I figured it had to be something like this, but hadn't thought it through very well. Of course grocery stores aren't openning their own production facilities...

Only a few cereal knock-offs that I've tried have worked for me, though. Store brands of any of the sugary kids' ones tend to be on the low end of that quality meter. Cheerios work because they're simpler.

 

[Saint Nick]

I'm sure they are all manufactured in the same facility, just marketed under different names.