An After Breakup Shopping Trip

Difficulties in No Brand Shopping 

Consumption Diary

Breakfast: President’s Choice Peanut Butter Granola Bar

Lunch: No name chicken noodle soup (In my opinion tasted better than the comparable Campbell’s brand)

Snack: President’s choice butter popcorn

Dinner: President’s choice tortilla chips, Farmer’s Pick extra lean ground beef, no name cheese, President’s choice salsa.

Clothes: Sorel Boots (label covered), short sleeve button-up shirt and jeans both without visible branding

Other:

·      OCTranspo bus (could have walked)

·      Google scholar and Carleton Library catalogues (could not find a source on Carleton that was needed for an assignment therefore forced to use the Google search engine)

·      Secret deodorant, different branded cosmetics, branded hair shampoo and conditioner (If I had available funds and time could find alternatives)

·      Room decorations

·      Ikea furniture

·      Dish soap (a shoppers store brand)  

·      Charmin Toilet Paper (could be Costco store brand but my roommate is in charge of buying this and has his own preferences)

Reflecting on my Breakup with Brands

            So similar to how most of my relationships end, the first thing I did when I broke up with branded products this week was to go shopping. I bought a bunch of new unbranded products that I could eat or otherwise consume this week. I was hoping that these products would give me something branded products could not, that they could be used as a form of activism against big brands.

            First stop on my shopping spree? The Independent store owned by McDonough but affiliated with the Loblaws Corporation. Here I picked up a ton of products that were either no name or president’s choice so that I would not starve for the next week. I found that it was quite easy to find Loblaw’s store brands in the dry goods departments. Almost all soups, crackers, cereals and other dry or canned foods had a generic or store brand alternative to the bigger corporate brands, such as Campbell’s and General Mills. One area, however, where store brands or non-branded foods were hard to find was the produce department. Most fruits and vegetables, rather than coming directly from local farms, come from big corporations that brand these foods; for instance, Sunkist oranges or Dole bananas. Furthermore, the meat department presented a more difficult problem than all of the others. Having worked in a grocery store for many years I know that the meat products that these stores bring in are often from large corporations, such as Schneider’s. Yet, while the products are marketed or “branded” towards the store, the meat is repackaged so that customers are often unaware of what brands their meat products are. It is, as a result, more difficult for customers to understand how and if these products are branded. Having no clue which brands these produces were, whether generic or non-generic, I chose not to buy meat from this store. A final thing I noticed on this shopping trip is that my bill was cheaper than usual. Perhaps this is because I was not buying higher priced items, mainly produce and meat, or maybe it is because the generic brands are cheaper than the brand-name products I usually buy.

            So I went to a second store in an attempt to get produce and meats that did not come from a big brand-name corporation. I went to Farmers Pick, which is supposed to get more of their produce locally and their meat straight from the farmers, hence the stores name. When I got their, however, I realized that most of their produce was from the United States or even another continent. The only two products that were from Canada, and did not say specifically where in Canada, were tomatoes and cucumbers. This is very different from how I remember it the last time I went to the store but perhaps the fact that it is winter makes it more difficult to find local or farm bought produce. Furthermore, had it been summer I would also have had the option to go to Byward market and purchase my produce directly from local farmers themselves. It seems that in buying produce I met my first challenge in committing to this anti-brand/ consumer activism. Not intending to go without fruits and vegetables this week I was forced to buy produce that was not generic or no name. The meats I bought at Farmer’s Pick, however, possibly came directly from farmers. Yet, it is hard to be certain of this because like Independent the store packages the meats in the store and uses a store label.

            Something I also noticed while at Farmer’s Pick is that while the store used to sell bulk items in small packages with the stores name on it they no longer do so. This was very disappointing for me because I wanted to by Gummy Bears but they were now branded (Jardi). This means that in order to meet my gummy bear craving I will have to make another trip to the Bulk Barn later this week.

            What I discovered through this shopping trip is that buying generic or non-branded products, though it seemed as though it would be easy, takes a lot of time and effort. Instead of going to one store to get all the groceries I wanted I had to go to three. I also could not buy certain products, particularly produce, that was not branded. It is day one of my breakup with branding and I am already having trouble leaving brands behind entirely. I think this really speaks to how prevalent brands have become in our society. I am interested to see the ways that I might have to cheat on my non-brand diet.