Stepping into a grocery store today feels like an exercise in budget defense these days.
With food costs remaining a primary concern for most households, many shoppers have performed a quiet revolution in their carts, swapping out expensive name brands for generic or store-brand alternatives.
For staples like salt, sugar, or flour, the savings provided by a store brand often outweigh any loyalty to a logo. Yet, despite this massive shift toward generics, some brand names have managed to keep their grip on the American psyche.
There is a specific threshold where the risk of a dud product outweighs the few cents saved at the register. Whether it is the specific tang of a preferred ketchup or the reliability of a certain baking yeast, certain products have earned a safe bet status that generic competitors struggle to replicate.
To find out which brands still command this level of loyalty, the 13th annual Newsweek and BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards surveyed more than 32,000 of American shoppers.
The survey focused on unaided mentions, meaning participants had to name the brands they trusted most from memory, rather than picking from a list. This approach reveals which names are truly top of mind for consumers when quality and consistency are on the line.
The results show that in categories where flavor and performance are non-negotiable, Americans still have a gold standard.
Food and beverage winners
These brands have successfully defended their titles against the rising tide of generic alternatives.
- Almond Plant-Based Beverage: Silk
- Bacon Topping: Hormel
- Baked Beans: Bush’s Best
- Baking Yeast: Fleischmann’s
- Better-for-You Pasta: Barilla
- Bottled Water: Dasani
- Canned Chili: Hormel
- Canned Fruit: Dole
- Canned Luncheon Meat: SPAM
- Canned Seafood: StarKist
- Canned Vegetables: Del Monte
- Cereal: Kellogg’s
- Cooking Oil: Crisco
- Cooking Stock / Broth: Swanson
- Corn Starch: Argo
- Corn Syrup: Karo
- Dairy Free Cheese: Daiya
- Eggs: Eggland’s Best
- Flavored Water Enhancer: Mio
- Fresh Fruits: Dole
- Frozen Breaded Chicken Products: Tyson
- Frozen Fish: Gorton’s
- Frozen Individual Meals: Stouffer’s
- Frozen Pizza: DiGiorno
- Frozen Pizza Snacks: Totino’s
- Frozen Potato Products: Ore-lda
- Fruit Juice: Minute Maid / Tropicana / Welch’s (TIE)
- Gluten-Free Bread: Canyon Bakehouse / Udi’s (TIE)
- Granola: Nature Valley
- Granola Bar: Nature Valley
- Hazelnut Spread: Nutella
- Hot Sauce: Frank’s RedHot
- Hummus: Sabra
- Jerky: Jack Link’s
- Ketchup: Heinz
- Lunch Kits: Lunchables
- Macaroni & Cheese: Kraft
- Mayonnaise: Hellmann’s
- Mexican Food Products: Old El Paso
- Mustard: French’s
- Non-Alcoholic Beer: Heineken 0.0
- Oat Plant-Based Beverage: Oatly
- Oatmeal: Quaker
- Olive Oil: Bertolli
- Pasta: Barilla
- Peanut Butter: Jif
- Plant-Based Meat Alternatives: Beyond Meat / MorningStar Farms (TIE)
- Plant-Based Yogurt: Silk
- Pork: Smithfield
- Premade Garlic Bread: Furlani
- Protein Bars: Kind
- Protein Shake: Premier Protein
- Ready-to-Eat Popcorn: Smartfood
- Salad Dressing: Hidden Valley
- Salad Kit: Dole
- Seasoning & Spices: McCormick
- Sparkling Water: La Croix / Perrier (TIE)
- Tea: Lipton
- Tea Concentrate: Lipton
- Tortilla Wraps: Mission
- White Bread: Wonder
- Whole Grain Bread: Dave’s Killer Bread / Sara Lee / Nature’s Own (TIE)
Dairy winners
The dairy section is notoriously competitive, yet a handful of names continue to dominate the consumer trust index, although this list includes two ties:
- Brie Cheese: President
- Butter: Land O’Lakes
- Cheddar Cheese: Sargento
- Cold Foam Creamer: Coffee Mate
- Cottage Cheese: Daisy
- Cream Cheese: Philadelphia
- Greek Yogurt: Chobani
- High Protein Milk: Fairlife
- High Protein Yogurt: Chobani
- Kids’ Cheese: Kraft
- Kids’ Drinkable Yogurt: Dannon
- Lactose Free Cheese: Cabot
- Milk: Great Value
- Mozzarella: Kraft
- Organic Yogurt: Stonyfield
- Parmesan Cheese: Kraft
- Plain Yogurt (Non-Greek): Yoplait
- Processed Cheese Slices: Kraft
- Sour Cream: Daisy
Trust in these brands is rarely about fancy marketing; it is about the peace of mind that comes from knowing exactly what to expect when you open the package. While the move toward store brands is a smart way to fight inflation, these winners prove that for many of us, some names are still worth the price.
As for the most trusted store-brand groceries, check out “10 Store-Brand Products We Buy Over and Over Again.”
Read the full article here
