With more than 57 million Americans now living in three-generation households, private brands offer a new way to take the edge off financial pressures. A new price comparison study by trade association PLMA (Private Label Manufacturers Association) demonstrates the savings.

PLMA drew up a shopping list of 50 products for a three-generation family. The result was store brands provided savings over 40%. Senior health care products in particular saved up to 50% or more when compared to national brand products in each category surveyed.

The survey revealed when shopping for 28 food products and 22 non-food products shoppers who purchased the national brands rang up a bill that came to $265.40, while buying only store brands would cost them $158.79 – an impressive 40.2% savings and $106.61 in total savings. Overall, 25 of the food products surveyed had price differentials of 20% or more while 16 of the 22 non-food products saved consumers over 30%. Only 5 products in the entire survey were less than 20% the price of the national brand equivalent.

The highest price differential was 77% for the store brand version of Colace, an important product for many seniors, while products needed for the entire family were also found among the top 10 in savings, including detergent (66%), dental floss (65%) and whole wheat bread (51%).

Senior health care products and OTC products overall provided some of the biggest savings. 81 mg aspirin (53% less), naproxen (48%) and senior vitamins (29%) stood out while regular aspirin (53%) and acetaminophen (36%) also showed large savings. Basic food products for the whole family – perhaps the biggest need for the multi-generational household – showed big savings. Cereal and orange juice (39% less), rice (37%) and ice cream (36%) were the main savers for the family. Canned tuna fish (34%), instant oatmeal (32%) as well as coffee (25%) were popular products with excellent savings from store brands.

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