Heinz, Hellmann’s, Häagen-Dazs… big-name food and drink brands have poured many millions into making sure their products are household names. But as grocery costs soar, we’re ditching brand loyalty and putting our trust in supermarket food and drink products.
Own-brand is of course a brand in itself, but we expect more from these labels than ever. The big retailers have all been working hard to ensure their premium lines, from Tesco Finest and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference to Waitrose No 1 and Aldi Specially Selected, become known to us as aspirational brands in their own right.
But buying own-brand doesn’t always mean saving money. Because of the expansion of those premium supermarket products, they might actually cost more than a recognisable brand. Waitrose No 1 Greek yoghurt is £5/kg while The Collective is £3.75 for 900g, for example. Taste the Difference feta is £20/kg while Odysea is £17.50/kg.
Yet these examples are hard to find, because supermarkets have the upper hand in pricing their own products as a better value proposition to a comparable brand. And sales have soared as a result.
In April, The Grocer reported that supermarket own-label products accounted for 52 per cent of all sales, the first time it’s passed the halfway mark. The resurgence began with food price inflation and looks set to stay. UK food prices are on track to be 50 per cent higher by the end of 2026 than mid-2021 prices, according to recent analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
I’ve never had any shame in using an own-brand product in my kitchen, but in recent years the supermarkets are really doing the work for me, creating hundreds of new lines that deliver on quality, taste and value.
The premium lines are seeing by far the biggest growth, but there’s the odd gem to be found among the cheaper ranges, too.
Here are some of my favourites.
Sainsbury’s
Best for: eggs, veg, chocolate and cheddar
Sainsbury’s interim results reveal a growth in grocery sales of 2.9 per cent (to £13.2bn) but Taste the Difference sales are growing at twice this rate, up 6 per cent.
I have a lot of love for Sainsbury’s products across the Taste the Difference line, from fresh to store cupboard to the ever-expanding ready-meal range, which last year launched its premium Taste the Difference “Discovery” products, offering a meal deal for two people for £15 (Nectar price).
I always pick up the Free Range Golden Yolk eggs (£2.75 for six), Vittoria cherry vine tomatoes (£2.45/250g) and Barber’s mature cheddar (£11.29/kg). The jarred pesto is a really decent buy, too (£2.20/190g).
If you think spuds are all the same, please give the Anya potatoes a try. These are thin, somewhat nobbly, nutty-tasting superior spuds. Give them a quick scrub and roast in oil and sea salt.
I’ve long been a fan of the Taste the Difference vanilla and chocolate ice creams, but my recent find is the new range of Discovery chocolate bars, a steal at £2.85/100g, with a 70% bar from the Dominican Republic, 80% from Bolivia and a 90% bar from Uganda.
I don’t buy much from its cheaper Stamford Street range, but if you are looking for tinned goods to cook with, such as tomatoes (43p) or frozen mixed veg (99p/kg), these are handy staples to bring down the cost of your total shop.
If you’ve any change, for £12.50, Taste the Difference Crémant de Loire is a really indulgent-feeling fizz.
Waitrose
Best for: meat, ready meals, cheese and croissants
Waitrose is also leaning hard on the popularity of its own-brand products to drive business. Last month it announced a £20m investment in cutting prices, dropping the cost of over 370 products by an average of 11 per cent. Meanwhile, it continues to launch scores of new own-brand lines, 570 in the first half of the 2026/27 financial year, alongside a sales increase of 15 per cent for its premium No 1 range.
This is supposed to lure shoppers like me, once a die-hard Waitrose consumer but now counting my pennies in Aldi, back in store. Is it working? Yes and no. The problem is that once I find myself among Waitrose’s calm and clean aisles, I also find myself filling my trolley with its many delicious premium lines, which are too hard to leave behind.
The No 1 croissants (£2.50 for two) are my top pick across all supermarket packaged (not fresh bakery) croissants and I really love the pains aux raisins, too (£2.75 for two). These are the pastries I’m serving to guests when no one can be bothered to leave the house on a weekend morning.
The sausages are exemplary. Such bangers! There’s a strong range to choose from, including Cumberland, Lincolnshire and wild garlic, but I most often buy the plain pork sausages, so versatile and tasty (£5.30/400g).
The No 1 pizzas are my absolute favourites on supermarket shelves. My top picks are mushroom and truffle or smoky five cheese at £6.75 full price, but down to £5.40 until 27 October.
Waitrose is also the supermarket I turn to if I want to cook a weekend joint at the last minute. The other week, I picked up its free-range pork boneless leg crackling joint (£11.88/kg) and had a full roast on the table with 10 minutes prep. While it cooked, I enjoyed my first fire of the season. I also tend to trust its Essential range more than I would some other big names, from frozen chicken goujons (£4/625g) to the slower-reared, higher welfare chicken thighs (£10/kg).
Lastly, while I usually cook from scratch, I’m bowled over by the new ready-meal line from Rick Stein. From the monkfish and whiting curry to fish pie and hake en papillote, as well as sardines and mussels, these are beautifully prepared dishes with no unexpected additives. They have 20 per cent off at the moment but will cost from £6.50 to £16.
M&S
Best for: freezer aisle, high-end meat, crisps and snacks
M&S is coming for us from all sides, reducing prices on everyday items at pace, dreaming up trending sweet products and expanding its fresh range.
This year alone it has doubled its freezer range, dropped the price of organic products and added over 80 meat and fish products in a bid to help families think of it as the best choice for a weekly shop rather than dropping in for this and that.
This is borne out by the own-brand products I tend to buy, from frozen salmon fillets (£9.50 for 4) to chicken nuggets (£8/kg) and ketchup, a steal at 95p for 495g, which is under £2 a kilo compared to Heinz, regularly over £5.
While M&S is of course predominantly “own brand”, it also has standalone food lines under the M&S umbrella, such as M&S Collection. From this line, I highly recommend the giant butter beans and chickpeas (£2.50/490g), Aberdeen Angus Gold steaks (£16.78/329g for the sirloin), the dried pasta and the ready-to-eat pasta bowls for one.
It feels criminal to only have the space to mention a few products, but my favourite crisps, the Spanish-made extra-virgin olive oil crisps, £3.90, are now available in a lobster flavour for Christmas. Run, don’t walk, to bag your packet.
Aldi
Best for: Extra-virgin olive oil, cheese, wine
When you’re looking for great value, Aldi’s Specially Selected range delivers time and again. I pick up the extra-virgin olive oil whenever I spy it in store (£5.19/500ml) as well as the British rapeseed oil (£2.49/500ml), a great value oil for roasting veg. I also regularly buy the Parmigiano Reggiano (£3.29/170g), a PDO product like the olive oil, which shows it is authentic.
Other Specially Selected regulars in my trolley are Camembert (£2.55), maple syrup (£3.99/250ml), piccolato tomatoes (£1.69/220g) and the wholemeal seeded loaf (99p/800g).
It also continues to innovate on the wine front. At the moment, I’m still sticking with summery Rosorange (£9.99) and the £6.49 chicken wine dupe.
Tesco
Best for: Choice
While I’m not a weekly Tesco shopper, Britain’s biggest supermarket definitely doesn’t need my business. In fact, if Tesco Finest were considered a brand in its own right, and included in The Grocer’s annual Britain’s Biggest Brands report, it would knock Cadbury’s off the top spot.
All the big retailers are constantly innovating but Tesco seems to surprise me the most. New to its Finest range recently, for example, are fish products including king scallops (£10/220g), halibut (£12.50/220g) and sea bass (£12.50/220g). The Marine Conservation Society’s latest Good Fish Guide ratings recommend cutting back on overfished species and suggest sea bass as a good swap for cod.
The food editor’s verdict:
If I had to choose which supermarket I like best for its own-brand products, I’d find myself torn between Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. Waitrose is the more expensive supermarket overall, but I am most reassured by the quality of its budget line, Essential Waitrose, from bananas to eggs to the plain salted tortilla chips, a firm favourite of mine at just £1.10/200g.
But while Waitrose is my favourite, you’re more likely to find me in Aldi.