Sticking with MARTIN’S Own Brands can save you 10% – 35% on your trips to the grocery store.
Earlier this month we tried tide, pretzels, peanuts, barbecue sauce, and suntan lotion find out what we thought here.
Week 1: July 27 – August 3
Velveeta Shells & Cheese
Juicy Juice
Gold Fish Crackers
Kleenex
Here’s what we tried:
Kleenex
Side by side
They look pretty similar side by side. MARTIN’S Own Brand is slightly larger and just a little bit thinner but both are soft and strong.
Performance
We happened to get hit with a summer cold so it was a perfect time to test out our tissues. I set them both out and at the end of the week the MARTIN’S brand was actually used more than the Kleenex brand.
Verdict
It’s a win for MARTIN’S.
(Don’t forget, you’ll probably need a few boxes to send to school – Teachers are always in need of tissues)
Goldfish crackers
Side by side
Well this one was pretty obvious when it came to shape, certainly couldn’t pull the wool over anyones eyes here.
Taste Test
I suppose I should share the disclaimer that my family is staunchly loyal to Goldfish crackers — as you can tell by my 6 year old son’s hand trying to sneak the Goldfish right out of the picture. We all agreed that Goldfish had a lighter, fluffier taste than the penguins.
Verdict
A definitive win for Goldfish.
Velveeta Mac & Cheese
(aka my guilty pleasure)
Side by Side
MARTIN’S shells are slightly bigger and the cheese sauce is a little less glow-in-the-dark which I appreciated.
Taste test
MARTIN’S was slightly sweeter than its Velveeta counterpart but when I gave it to my 8 year old he really found little difference -he ate both and asked for more of “whichever”.
Verdict
A tie is always a win for MARTIN’S for the simple price factor. If you love Velveeta like I love Goldfish you’ll notice a difference but chances are, the kids will eat them both.
Week 2: August 3 – 9
Perdue Fully Cooked Chicken Nuggets
Cheez-its
Kelloggs Corn Flakes
Listerine Mouthwash
Here is what we tested:
Cheeze-itz
Side by side
Not much difference here. Both are slightly toasty and crisp with Cheez-its having more visible salt.
Taste test
Side by side you might notice a slight difference but on their own you wont notice much.
Verdict
Another win for MARTIN’S. Pop these in your kids lunch or for an after school snack and they’ll never know the difference.
Corn Flakes
Side by side
No difference.
Taste test
No difference yet again.
Verdict
MARTIN’S for the win!
Don’t think you’ll be able to make it through all your challenge items? Boring corn flakes got you down? Want to try something new? Get a little pinspiration from our MARTIN’S Challenge Recipe board. We’ve pinned great recipes with MARTIN’S Challenge ingredients right here.
Click here to enter to win $25 to MARTIN’S
and take the challenge for yourself!
Check your weekly ad for more great savings from MARTIN’S
All food and gift cards provided by MARTIN’S.
All opinions are my own.
But too many experiences with cardboard crackers and bad generic brands has me shy away from store brands and going for the old faithful national brands most of the time.
I love the idea of the MARTIN’S Buy Theirs, Get Ours Free Challenge.
This week you can buy your favorite brand and get the MARTIN’S brand free (that’s double the groceries!).
I ran a little test in my own house with MARTIN’S products vs. the national brand:
Item 1: 8 pack of Quaker Chewy Bars vs. 10 pack MARTIN’s Own Brands Chewy Bars:
Look: The MARTIN’S brand is slightly bigger than it’s Quaker counter part but they are mostly identical. You do get 2 more in the package so boom, you saved money right there.
Taste test: In a regular taste test my 7 year old preferred the Quaker version to the MARTIN’S brand. But then when I started replacing the Quaker with the MARTIN’S there were no complaints. The MARTIN’S bars just a little bit chewier than the Quaker.
Verdict: Close enough. If you start replacing the Quaker with MARTIN’S there won’t be any complaints. Side by side Quaker has the edge.
Item 2: Campbell’s Chunky Soup vs. MARTIN’S Own Brand Chunky Soup
Chicken Corn Chowder
Look: MARTIN’S is slightly yellower but they are pretty similar in look
Taste test: While pretty similar, MARTIN’S has more corn in the soup and slightly less other stuff. What it lacks in chunks it makes up for in bacon-y flavor. Campbells lists bacon as an ingredient but the flavor isn’t prominent and has larger chunks of carrots and celery in the soup. In my small sample bowl I had 2 pieces of chicken in the Campbells bowl vs. 1 in the MARTIN’S bowl.
Nutritional Value: MARTIN’S brand has 10 more calories per serving than it’s national counter part, but 1 less gram of saturated fat, 2 more grams of protein and 100mg less sodium. Nutritionally, MARTIN’S wins out.
Verdict: MARTIN’S Chunky Soup is a definite winner when it comes to a bacon flavor and Campbells when it comes to veggies.
Item 3 : Charmin Bath Tissue Vs. MARTIN’S Own Brand Bath Tissue
This is, ahem, a sensitive subject. There were a few people in house that said “no way no how” to testing a store brand of TP.
Look: MARTIN’S once again is slightly larger than the national brand. Not enough in this case to make a difference.
Softness: In a blind test my snobbiest family member actually chose the MARTIN’S brand. After leaving both rolls in the bathroom for a week, the MARTIN’S roll was used more often than the national counterpart.
Verdict: If you normally purchase Charmin, make the switch. MARTIN’S wins this round.
Item 4: Bounty Paper Towels vs MARTIN’S Own Brand Paper towels.
Look: Not much difference in either roll. The Bounty roll was a little bit messier where the MARTIN’s brand was more tightly rolled.
Performance: Identical.
Verdict: Make the switch. The fact that these are identical is a clear winner for MARTIN’S. This is an easy way to save a little money without making any notable changes.
Item 5: Ball Park Hotdogs vs. MARTIN’S Own Beef Hotdogs
(Sorry, no photos due to lower light)
I’m not a big hotdog eater, and 16 hotdogs seemed like a lot for one family, so I thought I’d enlist a little help from my friends with a hot dog tasting party.
Appearance: Uncooked, both looked about the same. Ball Park did plump up a little more than MARTIN’S when cooked.
Nutritional Value: I know corn syrup is in everything, but this one surprised me. Ball Park hotdogs listed corn syrup as the third ingredient (which must have accounted for the 1 gram of sugar which Ball Park had but MARTIN’S did not)! Ball Park also had 20 more calories per frank, 10 more of which were from fat.
Taste: Our taste test results pulled a perfect Tie, three people liked both the same one person preferred Ball Park and one preferred MARTIN’S.
Verdict: There will be no complaints if you pick up the MARTIN’S hotdogs for the next time you grill out.
Item 6: Coke vs MARTIN’S Own Cola
(Sorry, no photos due to lower light)
According to a GALLUP poll in 2012, nearly half of Americans drink soda daily. At $1.99 a pop (pun intended) if you purchase one two liter soda each week that’s just over $103 yearly switching to MARTIN’S could save you about $57 a year. I had my hot dog party friends give this one a test too.
In the interest of full disclosure none of us actually drink Coke, so we didn’t have a strong preference to the brand to begin with.
Look: Not much difference here.
Taste: Coke was sweeter than the MARTIN’S cola ( Coke also had that sugary coating after taste which bothers me so much)
Verdict: MARTIN’S Wins!! Two people picked the MARTIN’S brand over Coke and the rest found no difference. Not one person preferred Coke.
You can try the Buy Theirs, Get Ours Free Challenge yourself!
This contest has ended. Check back for more great contests!
March 16 – 22, 2014
Buy Ball Park Franks, Coke, Charmin, and Claritin get the MARTIN’S brand free!
March 23 – 29
Buy Bounty Paper Towels, Quaker Chewy Bars, Campbells Chunky Soup, and Ben & Jerry’s Pints get the MARTIN’S brand free!
Disclosure: No compensation was received for this article. MARTIN’S did supply me with the products tested.
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I found a great deal and I thought Richmondmom.com readers would want to know about it, but it expires January 31, 2014.
BJ’s is running a promotion for 50% off a year long membership (normally $50). In order to access the deal you will be asked to sign up for a free membership to Zulily, but you can unsubscribe to the emails if you are too bombarded.
I like that BJ’s allows you to use any major form of payment and sends out monthly coupons and with three kids running around I seem in the constant need for bulk toilet paper, laundry detergent, coffee… you know the drill.
From the website:
BJ’s Members enjoy wholesale club prices. You’ll save big on leading name brands, from groceries to health and beauty to home goods. PLUS, BJ’s Services save you money on vacations, home improvements and much more.
FREE Household Card — BJ’s Members receive a second card for a household member at no extra charge. You can also add up to three (3) Supplemental Memberships for just $25* each.
BJ’s Wholesale is located at 1320 Starling Dr. Richmond, VA 23229
This is not a paid advertisement, just a great deal we wanted to pass along to you!
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