Dutch grocery store brands now cost 50% less than name brands

Supermarkets’ store brand or budget brand products are now, on average, 50 percent cheaper than name-brand alternatives, the Consumentenbond reported. Four years ago, the price difference was still 40 percent. Basic groceries' prices increased by 21 percent on average over the past year.

The consumers’ association compared the price of over 100 basic products at the largest supermarket chains, comparing the name brands with the cheapest comparable store- or budget brand alternatives. These are products most people have in their homes, including sugar, milk, and coffee. On average, consumers who buy store- or budget brands only pay between 48 percent (Spar) and 53 percent (Jan Linders) less than consumers that buy name brands only.

The differences can be more significant per product. With coffee, soft drinks, detergents and cleaning products, and personal care products, consumers can easily save over 70 percent by avoiding the name brands. For example, at Dirk, the 500 ml ‘Everyday’ shampoo by budget brand Derlon costs 0.99 euros, and the 300 ml Andrelon shampoo costs 3.59 euros - a difference of 85 percent.

Supermarket Dirk is the cheapest. Its basic house brand products are 11 percent cheaper than average. Spar is the most expensive at 26 percent above average. Remarkably, house brand prices are around average at Lidl and Aldi, known as the “budget” supermarket chains. Aldi and Albert Heijn’s house brand products cost about the same, Consumentenbond said.

Dirk and Vomar recently announced that they would freeze the prices of over 100 products until the end of the year. But both supermarket chains raised the prices of many products just before announcing the promotions and then lowered them slightly as part of the promotion, the consumer association pointed out.

For example, at Dirk, the price for a can of Unox Knaks increased from 2.35 euros to 2.69 euros and then dropped to 2.49 euros. At Vomar, a pack of G’woon basmati rice increased from 1.95 euros to 2.14 euros and then fell to 1.99 euros.

Consumentenbond director Sandra Molenaar called this “sham promotions.” “It remains important to keep a close eye on the prices yourself and not be led too much by slogans claiming “reduced in price.”