I went to the grocery store the other day and saw a buy one get one free deal on store brand “Doritos” snack chips so I picked some up dreaded that I would find the chips an inferior tasteless generic but much to my surprise I couldn’t tell the difference between “real” Doritos and store branded version of the snack.

Curious, I went back and purchased the store branded version of corn chips “Fritos” makes and the generic tasted almost identical to the original!  I began to think that Frito Lay was perhaps just selling their goods through generic brands to make some extra money but I’ve discovered that the grocery store is manufacturing their own generics.

The tasteless difference between original and generic has set a dangerous precedent in our household:  why by the original when the generic tastes exactly the same?

I’m still not sold on all store brand generics as breakfast cereal is still noticeably different in flavor, texture and taste but if the grocery store chain can “break the code” on chips why not cereal and other items?

The one other items I have noticed to be nearly identical is laundry detergent.  Why buy Gain when generic store brand is identical as far as I can tell?   By purchasing store brand generics, I’ve effectively cut my grocery bill by at least thirty percent and I may never go back to name brand items if they don’t lower their prices!