Generic versus brand-name

Let it be said once and for all that when it comes to ketchup, no restaurant should mess around with anything but Heinz. Sure, it’s all well and good to have premium house-made ketchup but if some people don’t want that (and they won’t) you better have that classic awkward-pouring glass bottle ready just in case.

There are only a few other food basics that merit such loyalty. Hershey’s chocolate syrup, Oreo cookies, Tabasco, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and Sriracha, for instance. Yet in categories where there’s no one correct product people still buy name brands over store brands. Is it worth it to spend the extra 50 cents on Jolly Green Giant spinach versus the grocery store’s brand?
 
The financial Web site The Street looked into the question and came up with a surprising conclusion: As the difference in quality between name brands and store brands has declined, the social stigma of buying the cheaper store brand has all but disappeared.