6 On Your Side: Consumer Confidence, Save money by buying these store brand groceries

(ABC 6 News) – Looking to save money at the grocery store? Consumer Reports says leaving store brands on the shelf is a big mistake!

“Store brands are almost always cheaper, sometimes as much as 70% cheaper than name brand products,” Amy Keating of Consumer Reports said.

But saving money might not be worth it if the foods don’t taste good. Consumer Reports expert tasters blind-sampled pantry staples, comparing the name brand and popular store-brands!

So can you fill your morning cereal bowl with a Honey Nut Cheerios knockoff that tastes close enough to the real thing but costs a lot less?

Yes, if you reach for the box of Honey Nut Os from Walmart’s Great Value brand, you’ll save 67% per serving!

What about the maple syrup on your pancakes?

“We found that all of the syrups we tasted were delicious, but some were actually more expensive than the name-brand syrup by Butternut Mountain Farm,” Keating said.

The store brand organic maple syrup at Costco won’t disappoint your tastebuds or your wallet with a savings of 25%!

And for you peanut butter lovers spread on a PB&J brands from Aldi or Walmart will taste like sweet, sweet savings, about 50% less than Skippy.

But CR’s tasters say if you’re a Skippy-fan, skip store brand PB from Target and Dollar General, both had a less roasted peanut flavor!

And speaking of nuts, for the price, testers said it’s “NUTS” how good these Costco Extra Fancy Salted Mixed Nuts were! They were fresh tasting and had a good variety of nuts —and you’ll save a lot of money over the name-brand, Planters.

And while Heinz Tomato Ketchup is beloved by kids and kids-at-heart everywhere, tasters found that ketchup by Aldi and Target was very good, and you’ll save about 70% percent per serving!

And both had 20mg less sodium per serving than Heinz!