How much attention do you pay to prices when doing your grocery shopping? In September 2023, UK consumer watchdog Which published research showing just how much cheaper budget brands can be.

One striking example was the price of rice at Asda. Shoppers could get 1kg of Asda Just Essentials rice for 52 pence, while the store’s standard own-brand Easy Cook Long Grain White Rice was £1.80 for the same quantity. That’s 246% more. And if no Asda store brand products were available, shoppers would be faced with spending £4.85 on a kilo of Ben’s Original Long Grain Rice - a whopping 833% more than the Just Essentials product. Similar cases were found at supermarkets like Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrison’s, on staple foods like baked beans, spaghetti and tea bags. The cost of living crisis has seen a lot of people switch to budget food brands in order to save. And an early 2023 survey by Attest found that 70.2% of Brits plan to stick with own-label brands, rather than reverting to premium options.

What counts as a budget food brand? Are the products of good enough quality? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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