Best of the best. What brands will you not compromise on?

[pianogirl73]

Coke. I'm the person that when the waitstaff asks if Pepsi is okay when I ask for Coke orders water.

 

[tguz]

Milk?! How can milk be different?

Here in the Midwest, I can tell milk brands apart. I'm not saying one brand is great and the other is terrible....I can just tell the difference.

 

[tvguy]

Here in the Midwest, I can tell milk brands apart. I'm not saying one brand is great and the other is terrible....I can just tell the difference.

Well I know as a kid when we visited family in Canada the milk tasted a lot better. But my comments are based on the situation here where various brands are processed by the same dairy, only the label is different.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

CHEEZ ITs
Heintz Ketchup
Dean's Cottage cheese
Robert Rothchild Farm brand anything but **** for Roasted Pineapple & Habenero glaze and finishing sauce (I add it to salsa)
Colgate toothpaste

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Here in the Midwest, I can tell milk brands apart. I'm not saying one brand is great and the other is terrible....I can just tell the difference.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!

 

[SL6827]

Coke. I'm the person that when the waitstaff asks if Pepsi is okay when I ask for Coke orders water.

I try not to drink too many sodas now, but when we go out I will still drink a Coke. I hate Pepsi too. Love my Coke. Will usually go with a Dr. Pepper instead of a Pepsi.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Diet Coke- never Diet Pepsi!
Peanut butter- JIF
Ketchup- Heinz
Mayo- Hellmans
Detergent- Tide
Soap- Dove

 

[firefly_ris]

I'm not brand conditioned to anything except Heinz ketchup.

 

[tvguy]

I'm not brand conditioned to anything except Heinz ketchup.

LOL. Sacramento used to be the tomato capital of the world. Multiple tomato canneries, all gone now. My dad worked at Bercut Richards cannery in the 1950's and early 1960's.
Their brand was Sacramento Brand. My dad was always amused by brand loyalty in ketchup (or catsup). He took me to see them bottle ketchup. 1,000 cases of Sacramento Brand, then 1,000 cases of Del Monte, then 1,000 cases of Hunts, then 1,000 cases of some grocery store brand, then 1,000 cases of Heinz. All the ketchup came out of the same HUGE vat, only the bottle and labels were different. So I grew up with, and still buy what ever ketchup is cheapest.

 

[firefly_ris]

LOL. Sacramento used to be the tomato capital of the world. Multiple tomato canneries, all gone now. My dad worked at Bercut Richards cannery in the 1950's and early 1960's.
Their brand was Sacramento Brand. My dad was always amused by brand loyalty in ketchup (or catsup). He took me to see them bottle ketchup. 1,000 cases of Sacramento Brand, then 1,000 cases of Del Monte, then 1,000 cases of Hunts, then 1,000 cases of some grocery store brand, then 1,000 cases of Heinz. All the ketchup came out of the same HUGE vat, only the bottle and labels were different. So I grew up with, and still buy what ever ketchup is cheapest.

That's why I used the word conditioned. That's the only one I'm conditioned to and my brain tells me doesn't taste the same as Hunts which my grandfather always bought. Ultimately I'm sure in reality there is little or no difference but brain conditioning says otherwise.

However I'm pretty sure Heinz in the US was produced in Pittsburgh originally and then it looks like Ohio and Iowa so not real sure about the Cali thing.

 

[tvguy]

That's why I used the word conditioned. That's the only one I'm conditioned to and my brain tells me doesn't taste the same as Hunts which my grandfather always bought. Ultimately I'm sure in reality there is little or no difference but brain conditioning says otherwise.

However I'm pretty sure Heinz in the US was produced in Pittsburgh originally and then it looks like Ohio and Iowa so not real sure about the Cali thing.

All industrial production has shifted in my life time. Local production has shifted to centralized production because doing everything in one place is so much cheaper, that it even offsets shipping costs. So Heinz ketchup could all be coming from one plant now. Problem is, if there is a problem at that one plant, you have no other place to produce that product.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Kellogg's Pop Tarts!

not Toastems, or Pop Ups, or any another brand........it has to be Kellogg's Pop Tarts!

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

Oh I don't think I have tasted raw milk, interesting, lol. But even though thier ice cream and other products are just as awesome, I will eat other brands of such, but the milk, I will not wavier.

Raw milk is straight from the cow, nothing added or removed. So, with the cream still included. And not pasteurized, so you have to be very confident that the dairy is sanitary or you could get very sick. My boyfriend would go to the dairy and pour some out from the cooling tank - IIRC there was a spigot near the bottom of the tank. I grew up in what used to be "dairy country" in GA so it wasn't uncommon for dairy farmer families to drink raw milk.

There used to be a dairy near Atlanta, Mathis Dairy, that was allowed to sell unpasteurized milk to the public.

 

[tvguy]

Kellogg's Pop Tarts!

not Toastems, or Pop Ups, or any another brand........it has to be Kellogg's Pop Tarts!

LOL. I'm old enough to remember when the jam inside used to ooze out of the Pop Tarts. Now there is so little jam in them, nothing oozes out.

 

[Maine_Belle]

• Q-Tips (no generic "cotton swabs")
• Crest toothpaste
• Hellman's Mayo
• Not brand loyal, but I can't buy generic frozen chicken patties any more
• DH prefers name-brand Saltines
• Heinz ketchup (the kind with no artificial sugar or something)
• King Arthur Flour
• Johnsonville Brats (though I shudder to think of the conditions for the animals - but I really love their taste best)

I literally walked through the grocery store in my mind and can't come up with much else that I wouldn't sub in the store brand if I could find it!

 

[Boopuff]

ohnsonville Brats (though I shudder to think of the conditions for the animals - but I really love their taste best)

Yes! My DH is a Wisconsin boy and those are the only brats he’ll eat!

 

[SL6827]

I also will not buy toothpaste that doesn't have the lid attached to the bottle.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Brand name cereal ALWAYS

Okay, I forgot cereal. Not just name brand, but only Kelloggs Raisin Bran, and original Cheerios.

I almost spit out my drink.

What brand?

Kellogg's Pop Tarts!

not Toastems, or Pop Ups, or any another brand........it has to be Kellogg's Pop Tarts!

Oh, yeah. Not just PopTarts, but only chocolate chip cookie dough, and untrusted (original, basic) fruit fillings.

And BandAids.

 

[MrsPete]

Beef- has to be at least 85-90% lean -- Gotta be 93% (no matter the name brand) and I try to minimize my use of ground beef altogether. It's kinda icky if you think about what it really means. It means they put in 93% meat scraps (which includes a decent amount of fat naturally) and then they toss in 7% pure fat. So 85% ground beef means the fat that occurs naturally in the beef PLUS 15% pure fat ground in.
American cheese - Land o Lakes -- I don't care about the brand, but I don't buy the wrapped cheese slices, which are more vegetable oil than dairy product. (Notice that wrapped cheese is sold as "Singles"? They can't legally call it cheese because it's mostly oil.)
I do buy the deluxe American slices because my husband likes them -- but I'd rather buy a block of cheese and slice it.
I also avoid shredded cheese because of the coating that keeps it "shredded".
I do prefer White Lily flour - If you look at it side-by-side (even with other "good brands"), White Lily looks "lighter and fluffier". Additionally, White Lily flour made from wheat grown south of the Mason-Dixon line, where we have a longer growing season. I sell cakes, and it's one of the things that makes a difference in quality. On the other hand, I buy any brand of sugar and butter.
Milk?! How can milk be different? -- We aren't big milk drinkers (and don't even eat cereal), but we keep milk in the house for cooking, and occasionally I want half a glass along with a fresh chocolate chip cookie. We don't care about brand, but we always buy Ultra-Pasturized because it lasts a month or more. This isn't about taste; it's about not throwing away spoiled milk.
soap - Ivory bar -- I like Olay soap, and I stick to about three brands of shampoo and conditioner. One thing I avoid like the plague: Degree deodorant. It gave me a terrible rash -- you don't want to know how bad a rash in your armpit hurts.
I think ketchup is one of the only things I never waver on the brand. It's got to be Heinz. -- I buy low-sugar ketchup, but the brand doesn't matter.
I make quite a few of my other condiments homemade to avoid excess sugars ... but, having tried homemade ketchup, it's not worth the effort.
I can only wear certain footwear with excellent arch support. -- I also need arch support, but name brands aren't so important. Rather, I've developed (through trial and error) a set of "rules" for shoes that work for me.
Oh I don't think I have tasted raw milk -- I thought raw milk was quite dangerous.
I'm old enough to remember when the jam inside used to ooze out of the Pop Tarts. Now there is so little jam in them, nothing oozes out -- I thought I imagined that!

Other things I can add:

- I only use Dawn dish detergent. I broke down and bought Walmart brand recently, and it's noticeably "thinner". Watered down liquid is no bargain.
- Being diabetic, I usually (but not always) buy the super-super-thin Pepperidge Farm bread. The carbs are so much lower, largely because it makes for a small sandwich. I also like Aldi's sourdough bread, but I only eat one piece and only if I haven't had other carbs.
- Diet Dr. Pepper or Diet Coke. If I can't have those, I'd just as soon have a glass of water. But as for powdered lemonade, which is a staple in our house, we actually prefer store brand.

 

[tasha99]

Some people here really like lean beef! I won't buy ground beef that isn't 80/20 for most applications--I actually like the fat in burgers, and I drain it for things like tacos or spaghetti sauce. I do often buy grassfed from a farm that's a couple miles from my house.