Store Brands Rank High In Consumer Reports Product Comparison
The growth of private label product sales in recent years has been driven by a combination of factors, with price and value topping the list.
As more consumers have turned to store brands in an effort to save money, many have also discovered products that are equal to or exceed the quality of national brand products that are often sold at higher prices.
With this in mind, Consumer Reports in its March 2025 issue highlighted the results of a blind taste test of products across 10 key grocery categories, and store brand products from a cross-section of retailers received high marks.
“There was a time when buying a supermarket version of a food or drink meant you’d save money—and possibly sacrifice flavor,” Trisha Calvo and Amy Keating, the article’s authors, wrote. “But in our recent tests, we found that sore brands can taste just as good as or better than iconic names like Dannon yogurt, Starbucks coffee, and Tropicana orange juice—and many are half the price or even less.”
(The video above features Consumer Reports Deputy Editor Brian Vines discussing the test's results on CBS Mornings.)
Results across the categories were separated by “Best-Tasting,” “Good,” and “Skip It.”
Below is a list of the private label products by category and how they ranked in the blind taste test.
- White Cheddar Popcorn: Best-Tasting—Walmart Great Value; Good—365 Whole Foods, Aldi’s Clancy, Target Good & Gather, Trader Joe’s; Skip It— Sam’s Club Members Mark. Walmart’s Great Value is priced at $0.30 per ounce compared to $0.84 and $0.71 per house for the two national brands that also ranked Best-Tasting.
- Honey Roasted Peanuts: Best-Tasting—Trader Joe’s; Good—Aldi Southern Grove, BJ’s Wellsley Farms, Walmart Great Value; Skip It—Amazon Happy Belly, Target Good & Gather. Trader Joe’s was the only product ranked as Best-Tasting.
- Orange Juice: Best Tasting—Costco Kirkland Signature; Good—Aldi Nature’s Nectar, Sam’s Club Member’s Mark, Target Good & Gather; Skip It—365 Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s. Costco’s orange juice was the most expensive at $0.93 per cup.
- Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt: Best-Tasting: Trader Joe’s; Good— 365 Whole Foods Market; Skip It—Walmart Great Value. The Trader Joe’s yogurt was priced the same ($0.75 per ounce) as its Best-Tasting national brand counterpart.
- Caesar Salad Dressing: Good—365 Whole Foods Market, Aldi Tuscan Garden, Amazon Happy Belly, Walmart Great Value.
- Mayonnaise: Good—365 Whole Foods Market, Aldi Burman’s, Amazon Happy Belly, Target Market Pantry, Trader Joe’s, Walmart Great Value.
- Colombian Coffee—Best-Tasting: Trader Joe’s Supremo Whole Bean Medium Roast, Walmart Great Value Ground Medium Dark; Good—Amazon Fresh Ground Medium Roast, BJ’s Wellsley Farms Ground Medium Dark Roast, Costco Kirkland Signature Ground Dark Roast, Sam’s Club Member’s Mark Classic Roast Ground Medium Dark; Skip It—Aldi Beaumont Ground Coffee Medium Dark Roast. The Trader Joe’s coffee ($0.54 per ounce) and Walmart coffee ($0.44 per ounce) were priced well below its Best-Tasting national brand counterpart ($0.83 per ounce).
- Honey-Oat Granola: Best-Tasting—Target Good & Gather; Good—365 Whole Foods Market, Aldi Simply Nature, Sam’s Club Member’s Market, Walmart Great Value. Target’s Good & Gather granola is priced $0.17 per ounce less than its Best-Tasting national brand competitor.
- Hummus: Best-Tasting—Target Good & Gather; Good—365 Whole Foods Market, Aldi Park Street Deli, BJ’s Wellsley Farms, Costco Kirkland Signature, Sam’s Club Member’s Mark, Trader Joe’s, Walmart Marketside. Target’s Good & Gather was the only product in the category ranked as Best-Tasting.
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese: Best-Tasting—Sam’s Club Member’s Mark; Good—365 Whole Foods Market, BJ’s Wellsley Farms, Target Good & Gather, Walmart Great Value; Skip It—Aldi Happy Farms. The Sam’s Club cheddar cheese was one of two products ranked as Best-Tasting but costs $0.23 per ounce as compared to $0.58 per ounce for the Best-Tasting national brand.
