Generic groceries are not so generic any more

Soon, the days when you could justify buying that big 2-liter bottle just marked “SODA” that was like $2 cheaper than Pepsi will be gone. Yes, even the lowly generic brands many of us rely on to squeak through under budget at the grocery store are getting pricier. Consumerist points us to this WSJ story that shows stores have caught on to us crafty consumers and are raising the prices of private-label goods: 5.3 percent on nonperishables and a huge 12 percent for perishables. Meanwhile, name-brand prices have only gone up 1.9 percent and 8 percent respectively. They still cost 29 percent more than the store-brand stuff on average, but the gap is closing in many areas: Target’s Archer Farms almonds cost  37 cents per ounce, a penny more than Planter’s version, for instance.

The nut (sorry) of the issue here is that you, the consumer, have become loyal to your Archer Farms,  365 Everyday Value or Key Food brand mustard, and the stores think you should pay for your loyalty. So tell us: do you have a favorite generic brand? And will rising prices make you go back to the big boys?

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