Why Gen Z is buying more store brands than boomers

HostI was looking through my pantry the other day and I noticed something weird. Almost every box and jar in there was the store brand. My parents would never have done that. They had their one kind of peanut butter and their one kind of soap, and they never changed. It felt like a point of pride for them to stick with those big names. But for me, I just want the stuff that works. It feels like this shift is happening everywhere lately. Why is the younger crowd so much more likely to ditch the big names for the store brand?

GuestIt's a massive shift, and you're right on the money. For a long time, store brands were seen as the sad, cheap choice. They were the plain white boxes at the bottom of the shelf that you only bought if you were really struggling. But for younger shoppers, like Gen Z, that stigma is just gone. They're on track to spend way more of their money on store brands than their parents or grandparents ever did. Part of it's the price, of course. Everything costs a lot more now, from rent to eggs. But there's a deeper change in how people think about what they buy. Young people don't see a name brand as a promise of being better. They see it as a tax. They feel like they're paying extra just for a fancy logo and a TV ad, and they're tired of it.

HostBut isn't it just about the price tag? If you have less money, you buy the cheap stuff. That doesn't feel like a new trend, it just sounds like being broke.

GuestWell, that's the thing. Even when they have the money, they're still choosing the store brand. It has become a kind of game. There's this whole culture online now built around finding what they call dupes. It's short for duplicates. Instead of being embarrassed that you bought the knock-off version of a fancy face cream or a snack, you brag about it. You post a video saying, hey, this five dollar jar at the grocery store is the exact same thing as the thirty dollar one at the mall. It's a flex to show how smart you're with your cash. The big brands used to be a way to show you had made it. Now, showing that you didn't get ripped off is the way to look cool.

HostWait, so you're saying it's a badge of honor to buy the generic stuff? That's the opposite of how it used to work. But are these store brands actually as good? I always worry that if I buy the cheap dish soap, I'll have to use twice as much to get the grease off.

GuestThat's where the secret of how things are made comes in. In many cases, it actually is the same stuff. There are only so many big factories out there. A factory that makes a famous brand of crackers might also have a deal with a big grocery chain. They just run the same machine, use almost the same ingredients, and put a different wrapper on the box at the end. The store brands have gotten much better at this. They have moved away from being a bad copy to being a real rival. They hire chefs to make sure the frozen pizza tastes great and designers to make the bags look pretty. Some of these store lines, like the ones you find at high-end grocers or even some big-box stores, have their own fan clubs now. People go to the store specifically for the store brand, not because the big names are missing.

HostHold on, so you're telling me the big brands are making their own competition? That sounds like they're shooting themselves in the foot. Why would they help a store make a cheaper version of their own product?

GuestIt sounds wild, but it makes sense for their bottom line. If a factory isn't running, it's losing money. If a big brand has extra space on their machines, they might as well get paid to fill it, even if it's for a store brand. Plus, if they don't do it, another factory will. But this is where the friction comes in. The big names are starting to panic because they're losing their grip. For decades, they relied on people just buying the same thing out of habit. But Gen Z doesn't have those habits. They grew up with the web, where you can look up a review or a list of ingredients in five seconds. They can see right through the marketing. They know that a lot of the time, the only real difference is the box.

HostI don't know, I still feel a bit weird buying the plain box of crackers when friends come over. It feels a bit, I don't know, stingy. Does that social pressure just not exist for younger people?

GuestNot in the same way. In fact, if you put out a bowl of snacks from a store that's known for being trendy but cheap, your friends might ask where you got them because they want them too. The look of these products has changed. They used to look like medical supplies, very cold and plain. Now they use bright colors, fun fonts, and clean designs. They look like they belong in a modern kitchen. They're also much faster at jumping on trends. If a new kind of hot sauce or a weird spice becomes popular on social media, the store brands can have their own version on the shelf in months. The giant old brands are like big ships that take a long time to turn. By the time they catch up, the trend is over.

HostSo the big brands are slower, they cost more, and the quality is basically a wash. It sounds like they're in real trouble if they can't find a way to make people care about a name again.

GuestThey're trying. You'll see them spend more on ads that try to tug at your heart or make you feel like they're part of your family history. But that's hard to do with a generation that values the truth over a polished story. The real test will be if these store brands can keep the trust they're building. Right now, they have the upper hand because they feel like they're on the side of the shopper who's trying to save a buck. They have turned the act of buying a generic bag of chips into a smart, stylish choice rather than a sign that you're cutting corners.

GuestThe biggest shift is that for young people, the store itself has become the brand they trust, rather than the labels on the items inside.

HostThe peanut butter my dad loved was a way to show who he was, but for me, having the same thing for half the price just shows I know how to read the back of the jar.