[Northern Light]

I was in Metro tonight and noticed that Metro has got several new 'Irresistible Organics' products on the shelf.

No press release yet, in fact, most of the products don't have prices on the shelf yet; my guess is they're soft-launching in advance of Earth Day.

Products spotted:

Organic Ketchup
Organic Olive Oil
Organic Toasted Sesame Seed Oil
Organic Honey
Organic Peanut Butter

I take for granted a a bunch more are coming.

 

[afransen]

I'll bet that they're piggybacking on the larger supply base for private label organics that Loblaws has developed over the last few years. Does Sobeys have much an organics line?

 

[khris]

I am so sick and tired of these store brands. They're horrible quality, and the price is still too high for the product. I'd rather pay slightly more and get brand name quality than pick this crap. Metro is also really crappy. I've seen a huge decrease in customer service at my store since it changed from Dominion. Which is weird, because it's the same owners.

 

[Mustapha]

I am so sick and tired of these store brands. They're horrible quality, and the price is still too high for the product. I'd rather pay slightly more and get brand name quality than pick this crap. Metro is also really crappy. I've seen a huge decrease in customer service at my store since it changed from Dominion. Which is weird, because it's the same owners.

Quite true, all this. Soon as my Dominion changed names to Metro they ended the 24 hour opening.

Also, during the day the fulltime people are in the store. After 4 pm it's only students, supervised by students. Funny thing is, the fulltimers are middle aged long term employees but less inclined to give you service. And all the stocking is done at nite by students again.

 

[nfitz]

I am so sick and tired of these store brands. They're horrible quality, and the price is still too high for the product.

Loblaws white-label products have always seemed to be equal quality to other products. And always cheaper - given the low profit margins on food sales, how do you claim that it is too high?

And the more recently introduced President's Choice line, which has only been around for about 25-years, has always been very good quality as far as I can tell. Perhaps not quite as good as when it was first introduced ..., but still very good - and perhaps better in the last 5-years, than the 5 preceding years.

I'm quite surprised that one would use the word "horrible" to describe the quality! I've been less impressed with the other major stores premium lines.

 

[ShonTron]

I'd rather have a No Frills than a Metro across the street from me. I concur with the above assessment of the Dominon/Metro brands, as well as Sobey's brands. I also dislike all those green labels all over the stores telling you to save with their brands, because they are garbage. Loblaws has the only ones I'd buy.

 

[nfitz]

No Thrills are privately run, and extremely variable. The one near me used to be pretty decent; but a new owner came in, replaced most of the staff, and since then the line-ups are much longer, the shelves are emptier, the floor is dirtier, more of the stuff on the shelf is past it's expiry date - and I shop there much much less than I used too. So while the presence of the Loblaws no-name and President's Choice products is a benefit (and perhaps the only one they have), I tend to walk slighly further to a Value Mart, as whatever extra distance I walk, is less than the time I spend standing in line (and much less than the time having to go elsewhere to get what was not in stock). And I buy a lot more in smaller grocery stores.

 

[Urban Shocker]

The Loblaws stores often have lower prices for the same items than the No Thrills - especially the frozen dinners and desserts, which they've been reducing by $2 or $2.50 for several months now.

Horrors! I can't find their Sticky Toffee Pudding any more! Perhaps they were seasonal? When heated, they're great doused in a shot of Courvoisier and a big dollop of vanilla ice cream. The Bread Pudding has also gone AWOL.

 

[nfitz]

The Loblaws stores often have lower prices for the same items than the No Thrills - especially the frozen dinners and desserts, which they've been reducing by $2 or $2.50 for several months now.

This also likely varies from store-to-store ... in my area the Loblaws is generally more expensive than the Value-Mart which is more expensive than the No Thrills.

 

[khris]

Presidents Choice does make pretty good stuff.

It's this crap at Metro I don't like... Selections, Irresistibles, Equality.

 

[Observer Walt]

The ValuMart near me, supplied by Loblaw (no "s" any longer!) has a great selection of President's Choice, which I find to be consistently pretty good quality, although not necessarily much lower priced than "brand name" goods. Their generic no-name stuff, with plain yellow packaging, is mostly OK as well. It's possibly lower quality, but lower priced.

Metro, formerly Dominion, located near me is still open 24 hours. I think most of them are. The selection seems to be strangely limited in some areas, in spite of being a fairly large store. Their big attraction is a good range of fresh baked goods, baked on site.

 

[Towered]

The Equality brand is indeed the worst crap imaginable.

 

[ganjavih]

The ValuMart near me, supplied by Loblaw (no "s" any longer!) has a great selection of President's Choice, which I find to be consistently pretty good quality, although not necessarily much lower priced than "brand name" goods.

It may not be much cheaper, but PC products are often better than their name brand couterparts.

 

[Therion]

PC is generally cheaper than name brand stuff. A jar of PC hazelnut chocolate spread is something like a $1.50 cheaper than Nutella. Tastes the same, as far as I can tell. We have a Metro and a Loblaws about the same distance from where we live, and by default we go to Loblaw. The only time we go to Metro is if we're next door picking up a movie from Blockbuster, and even then only snacks, or if there's meat on sale.

Metro is way overdue on the private label organics stuff. PC Organics has a huge selection of products, many of which are not significantly more expensive than the regular stuff. The PC Organics oatmeal is actually cheaper than Quaker. Loblaw recently sorted out a lot of their logistics problems, so their food is much fresher than it used to be. Definitely my vote, hands down.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Equality is downright awful - I can't think of anything good to say about that brand at all. Second the general opinion on PC products.

No Frills is great for staple items - their lack of a bakery is a big drawback, unfortunately. Speaking of Metro - did anyone notice that their bagels have changed? They used to be loaded with poppy and sesame seeds - they so skimpy now, you can almost count them.

AoD