Canned Organic Diced Tomatoes - Store Brand or Name Brand?

Product #20: Canned Organic Diced Tomatoes:

Today I am comparing Muir Glen's Organic Diced Tomatoes to Whole Foods' Store Brand 365 Organic Diced Tomatoes. I purchased both in the 14.5oz size. Both are made from California Tomatoes. Both have the same ingredients with the only exception being that the Whole Foods brand uses sea salt instead of regular salt. As far as taste, I would say that they taste almost identical and it is really hard to find any difference. The only thing I will mention is that there is a slight difference in consistency of size of the dice in the 365 brand, if that matters to you. To me, it does not.

The Cost Comparison (as of 5/10/11 at Whole Foods):

365 Organic Diced Tomatoes (14.5oz) - 1.69
Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes (14.5oz) - 1.99

That's a savings of .40! Well worth the switch, in my opinion.

Graham Crackers - Store Brand or Name Brand?

Product #19 - Graham Crackers:

Today I am comparing Target's Market Pantry Brand Graham Crackers to the old standby, Honey Maid. Both come in 14.4 oz boxes. The ingredients are pretty much the same with a few small exceptions. The crackers look the same as well. There is a bit of a difference now when it comes to taste. The Target brand is fine, it's just that the name brand tastes better, more "grahamy" if you will. I'm going to have to stick with the good 'ol Honey Maid for my S'Mores this time.

The Cost Comparison (as of 5/12/11 at Target):

Target's Market Pantry Graham Crackers (14.4 oz) - 2.54
Honey Maid Honey Grahams (14.4 oz) - 3.39

There is quite a price difference on this one. Almost a dollar. The Market Pantry brand is good and if you didn't do a side by side comparison like I did, you might not even notice a difference. Even still, I'm going to have stick with the brand name myself.

Canola Oil - Store Brand or Name Brand?

Product #17 - Canola Oil:

Today I am comparing Crisco Canola Oil to Target's Store Brand, Market Pantry, Canola Oil. Both come in 48 Fl oz bottles. Both have only one ingredient. Yep, you guessed it - Canola Oil. Both are also made in Canada. The bottles are the same shape and size. They both taste the same and I can tell no difference at all between the two. There is quite a large price difference and therefore, I would say this is a great buy and I would definitely recommend switching to the Market Pantry brand.

The Cost Comparison (as of 5/12/11 at Target):

Crisco Canola Oil (48 fl oz) - 4.14
Target's Market Pantry Canola Oil (48 fl oz) - 2.94

That is a savings of 1.20!! Well worth the switch, in my opinion.

Plastic Wrap - Store Brand or Name Brand?

Product #16 - Plastic Wrap:

Today I am comparing Glad's Cling Wrap to Target's Up and Up brand Plastic Wrap. Both come in 300 sq ft rolls and are in approximately the same size box. They look the same, however, the Target brand appears thicker than the Glad brand and the Glad brand seems to tear off easier than the Target brand. The most important test, I believe, is how they stick. This is where there seems to be the main difference. The Glad brand wins in this test. It just seems stickier. This is an age old battle and can be particularly annoying. While neither is perfect, I would choose the name brand as it is less annoying when attempting to stick to a container of food.

The Cost Comparison - Glad vs Target's Up and Up (as of 5/1/11 at Target):

Glad Cling Wrap (300 sq ft) - 2.84
Target's Up and Up Plastic Wrap (300 sq ft) - 2.44

The savings are just not worth the hassle of wrestling with the store brand plastic wrap, in my opinion.