Quality difference between milk "brands"?

[PandaBear]

I'm not talking about the typical US Fat Free, 1%, 2%, Whole Milk, etc. I'm talking about store brands vs other store brands (i.e. Safeway Lucerne vs Value Corner, Kirkland vs Crystal) or other name brand like Horizon and StoneField, Clovers, etc. I know most of our food especially milk are produced by the big dairy but I just wonder if quality and prices mean anything between brands. I am not a big milk drinker so I cannot tell about milk, but I can tell Minute Maid taste bad and Simply Orange and Tropicana taste better, with Florida Natural in the middle.

What bout you guys?

Reason for asking is to see why some cost $3.50 vs $5 for regular and $4 vs $8 for organic.

 

[stevejones]

I get our milk from the local Farm Dairy. Never batted an eye at the price.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

I generally purchase private label milk. The majority of it is produced locally by Hiland-Roberts Dairy. Some retailers bring in milk from St Louis area, Des Moines and Ohio.

Specialy products like egg nog is also a different story and I purchase based on taste.
I also agree with you on your ranking of orange juices.

whereismymilkfrom.com shows you how to identify where your milk is being processed.

 

[Oillover]

For animal dairy products, We've switched to low temp pasteurized goat milk from WholeFoods.
It's from local farmers who take pride in their finished product.

 

[javacontour]

Home - Where Is My Milk From?

Where Is My Milk From? From cow’s udder to kitchen table, your milk has completed a fascinating journey to reach you. Some dairy is produced and processed locally, while other dairy products travel long distances, even crossing state lines. Secret Code Did you know there’s a secret code hiding...

www.whereismymilkfrom.com

Find the code on the carton and paste in into this website and you will see who processes for various brands.

Like oil, I cannot imagine they have different processes for different stores.

 

[TmanP]

You'll most likely find that both the store brand (Great Value, Kroger, HyVee, Our Family, etc.) milk and the regional branded milk (Kemps, Land O'Lakes, Hiland, etc) at any given store share the same 5-digit code (look on top of the jug) which tells you the plant at which it was produced. For example, our HyVee's milk always was coded as 27-353 meaning that it came from the Rochester MN Kemps plant. Smart money is on that dairy producing identical product for both their private label milks and the regional brand (I'd be very surprised if they were not identical); store brand milk seems to me to be a good way to save a few bucks; I've never been able to discern any quality difference whatsoever. (There is also not much competition between brands in most markets. Most markets have one, maybe two dairy brands who manufacture the store brands in that region. That is, you will usually not see more than a couple "brand-name" milks in any given store.)

http://whereismymilkfrom.com/dairy/kemps-llc-353

 

[The Critic]

My wife swears that there is a significant taste difference between Great Value Whole Milk and Safeway's Lucerne brand. There is a difference IMO, but not enough to warrant the price difference.

 

[oldhp]

Prairie Farms milk tastes better and lasts longer versus Kroger / DG milk.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I buy the cheapest brand the store sells. Usually HEB Park Manor.

 

[aquariuscsm]

but I can tell Minute Maid taste bad and Simply Orange and Tropicana taste better, with Florida Natural in the middle.

I can definitely tell the difference between OJ's. Bottled OJ always has a "wang" to it (weird aftertaste). I always buy HEB Country Style Lots of Pulp frozen concentrate that you thaw out and mix 3 cans of water with. BEST sweetest tasting OJ ever!!

 

[ripcord]

I'm no dairy farmer, but there has to be at least some difference in taste based on what the cows are eating. Corn husk silage (cows love this stuff so I hear) vs hay vs alfalfa vs pasture grass.

 

[PandaBear]

Home - Where Is My Milk From?

Where Is My Milk From? From cow’s udder to kitchen table, your milk has completed a fascinating journey to reach you. Some dairy is produced and processed locally, while other dairy products travel long distances, even crossing state lines. Secret Code Did you know there’s a secret code hiding...

www.whereismymilkfrom.com

Find the code on the carton and paste in into this website and you will see who processes for various brands.

Like oil, I cannot imagine they have different processes for different stores.

I can see marketer would definitely try to price things differently but in Safeway there got to be at least 3-4 different grade of the same milk. Just when you think about whether it make sense you have different prices for the same stuff, it has to be some differences.

Thanks to your link I now know Trader Joe has Crystal / Foster for regular Fat Free and Clover for organic 2%, as of today, in my area.

 

[BurrWinder]

I am "spoiled" as I come from Wisconsin. Milk and any dairy here is usually amazing in quality. Most of the fluid milk in an area is often the same, just different labels and the dairy processing hub. Although some stores sources take quite a ride from farm to store, which doesn't help freshness or taste. There are differences somewhat in the taste of the milk with different kinds of cows, such as Brown Swiss, Jersey, Guernsey, etc vs regular black and white Holsteins - the typical cows seen by most city folks - but that variety is not available typically nationwide either. The biggest difference other than cattle variety in milk is from what I always noted was basically two things - The kind of turnover the milk sees on the shelf - freshness... Number two - the kind / quality of the container. I always note some kinds of milk have a funky aftertaste from a certain carton, or jug, etc. We have a chain of great convenience stores here called Kwik Trip that actually sell it in 1/2 gallon bags as well as jugs. No tastes come about from getting the milk in the bags - easy to store, too.

 

[fsdork]

My wife and I both agree that Lucerne milk seems to have an undesirable taste when compared to some other brands. Of course that is personal preference, and doesn't necessarily equate to a quality difference.

 

[benjamming]

The biggest(?) difference is in pastuerization techniques. I strongly prefer milk that is batch pasteurized.

 

[benjamming]

For animal dairy products, We've switched to low temp pasteurized goat milk from WholeFoods.
It's from local farmers who take pride in their finished product.

Which milk brand offers batch pasteurization of goat milk? I don't remember seeing it before & may be regional.

 

[SZR48207]

When I used to drink cow milk, I noticed easier digestion with more premium brands. Great Value often gave me bad stomach issues.

 

[vavavroom]

I'm picky when it comes to cow's milk. I don't drink milk other than in the form of hot chocolate or a splash in my tea or coffee. I use milk for cooking and baking. I buy Strauss organic cream-top milk which is a bit pricey but high quality and I do like its taste.

 

[javacontour]

I can see marketer would definitely try to price things differently but in Safeway there got to be at least 3-4 different grade of the same milk. Just when you think about whether it make sense you have different prices for the same stuff, it has to be some differences.

Thanks to your link I now know Trader Joe has Crystal / Foster for regular Fat Free and Clover for organic 2%, as of today, in my area.

We have two dairies in my town of 30k people. You will see the same code on Wal*Mart, Aldi, all the local stores Schnucks and Dierbergs as well as the dairy's own brand.

I seriously doubt they are doing different runs of milk for their own brand vs Great Value or Aldi.

But people swear they can taste a difference.

If there is, it's likely in the handling of the milk after it leaves the plant as it's unlikely they are running different formulations for different labels.

 

[PandaBear]

We have two dairies in my town of 30k people. You will see the same code on Wal*Mart, Aldi, all the local stores Schnucks and Dierbergs as well as the dairy's own brand.

I seriously doubt they are doing different runs of milk for their own brand vs Great Value or Aldi.

But people swear they can taste a difference.

If there is, it's likely in the handling of the milk after it leaves the plant as it's unlikely they are running different formulations for different labels.

I am not 100% sure if they won't run different formulations for different labels. At least in my line of work they do things by using different components or configurations to save some money here or more performance there, like 15% more will double the life or 20% more will double the performance.

One thing I do see is they do not deliver every day or consistent to the day. The expiration date is not always predictable, and they run discounts here and there in Safeway based on demand and supply in other produce. Organic strawberries and blueberries especially, you can really see the difference in price and quality based on local weather. Also you see the same farm put different labels on the box based on the quality, like Driscolli or some other unheard of brands based on the rating, etc.

Also in school lunches (free) they frequently try to stuff in extra milk or juice depends on which one they need to get rid off asap. I've had milk boxes that are 3 days from Best By date from school and then a few days with fruit punches and no milk, etc.

I don't know, I can see if one store having 1 store brand being consistent quality, but multiple store brands, that's kind of odd (Lucerne and Value Corner).