Homebrand

I always buy homebrand if the quality's going to be okay (so no asparagus or tuna). I've gathered that there are reasons not to, but preferred to wallow in my ignorance than take the confused path to knowledge. Happily The Weekend Australian explained it to me (they've gone digital, so no reading this article unless you pay).

The problem with homebrand is that anyone could be behind it. This means that the supermarkets can switch suppliers at whim (does it really? don't they have contracts or something?), which isn't very nice. It also means that it has the potential to reduce competition over time, as the supermarkets reduce the number of other brands - which means that the price of homebrand products could actually rise over time. While there may be truth to this, it does seem a little silly to buy a more expensive product in the hope of keeping prices down longterm. Then there's the argument about how homebrand undermines 'buying Australian', but I've always been just as much a fan of supporting producers overseas as I am of supporting locals - though then you get into the craziness of transporting food hundreds of miles when it could be locally produced or you could just do without until something's in season . . . yet I still care about supporting those overseas guys.

So I think I'll keep buying homebrand for now, unless I find out that it really does mean that they stuff round their suppliers.