No Name vs brand name: How much do you actually save?

With Loblaws freezing prices on 1,500 of its No Name products until the end of January, CTV News Ottawa wanted to see if it actually saves you money shopping No Name over brand name.

So we headed to the store to see if we can save money buying No Name versus brand name with a grocery list with 10 generic foods that most families buy each week, including things like butter, pasta and waffles.

After purchasing and loading the 10 No Name items into the trunk, we went back into the store to buy the exact same items, but brand name versions.

Keeping things on separate bills will make it easier to calculate the savings later. 

First things first: there was a significant difference in the two grocery bills. But we're going to take it home to calculate everything down to the penny. We are going to tell you how much you could save by going No Name.

Let's compare some prices. 

Some of the 10 items CTV News Ottawa's Dave Charbonneau purchased in the no name vs. brand name challenge.

A look at the no name vs. brand name comparison when CTV News Ottawa's Dave Charbonneau went grocery shopping.

The final two items on the list of 10 items were bacon and pasta.

Bacon

• No Name: $6.99
• Brand name: $8.79

Pasta

• No Name: $2.49
• Brand name: $3.49

So now that we know the prices for each individual item before tax, let's calculate some totals. 

For the brand name products, the bill came to $53.72 for the 10 items. For the No Name products, the bill came to $37.34 for the 10 items. That is a savings of $16.38.

So switching from brand name to No Name was definitely easier on the wallet. It cost 30 per cent less to buy No Name products over brand name in this particular situation. 

CTV News Ottawa's Dave Charbonneau saved $16.38 by purchasing 10 no name items instead of 10 brand name items.