Sometimes, a knock off is just as good as the (so-called) real deal. Most of Canada’s large grocery retailers have built entire in-house brands on that idea, offering shoppers a lower priced alternative to the name brand when it comes to everything from pantry staples and condiments to paper towels.
At Walmart, this strategy shows up in their private-label Great Value brand, providing cheaper products across nearly every aisle in its grocery and household sections.
I wanted to see how the Great Value brand stacked up to well-known name brands in both cost-saving and quality. So, I purchased pairs of name brand and Great Value grocery items, everything from cream cheese and ketchup, to laundry detergent. Then, I documented the prices, making note of sizes as well to allow cost-per-unit comparisons when the two items weren’t exactly the same size.
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In total, purchasing the Great Value option instead of the name brand counterpart would have saved $19.59 or 34.2%. If none of the name brand items were on sale, the savings on the grocery tab would jump to $31.39 or 45%. That’s a pretty big deal in this economy and era of sky-high grocery prices.
Let’s break down the Great Value products by most money saved:
1) Tide laundry detergent Vs. Great Value laundry detergent
The most impactful swap was found in the laundry aisle. A move away from the name brand (Tide) resulted in a total of $4.99 in savings. That's even with Tide on sale for $9.96 instead of $14.97. Even more note-worthy is the volume discrepancy: The Great Value brand offers 2.03 litres of detergent compared to Tide’s 1.86 litres. When comparing the price per 100ml, the Great Value detergent is 54% cheaper. But, in this case, you may get what you pay for. The Tide brand did have a fresher smell and got clothes (a pair of dirty white socks) slightly cleaner.
2) Kikkoman soy sauce Vs. Great Value soy sauce
Soy sauce represented the highest percentage of cost savings of all 11 pairs on the list. Purchasing the Great Value brand saves $4.54. It appears the Kikkoman brand name carries a prestige tax, costing $1.15 per 100 millilitres compared to just $0.50 for the Great Value equivalent (57% cheaper). The caveat about the soy sauce when it comes to taste comparisons is that I purchased the light version, because the regular version was sold out. For cost comparison purposes, however, I used the price of the regular version.
3) Cool Whip whipped topping Vs. Great Value whipped topping
With a one-to-one volume swap (one litre versus one litre), purchasing the Great Value whipped topping brand over Cool Whip means a savings of $2.40, or 44.7%. The products’ taste and utility is virtually identical, however, the Cool Whip was more pillowy, with a smoother texture. So, at nearly 45% cheaper, the Great Value brand makes a no-fail choice for most of the sweet-toothed set, unless you're a stickler for smoothness.
4) Lays Potato chips Vs. Great Value potato chips
Shrinkflation often occurs in the snack aisle, but even with a smaller 200 gram bag, the Great Value crushed the Lays brand on value, with a savings of $2.04. While the Lays brand costs $1.48 per 100 grams versus $0.71 per 100 gram for Great value, making the generic brand 52% cheaper. There was virtually no difference in taste between the brands. However, these Lays chips did have a crispier crunch.
5) Spam luncheon meat Vs. Great Value luncheon meat
At a direct weight-for-weight match of 340 grams, the price difference between Spam lunch meat and Great Value lunch meat is $1.80 or 40.3%. For a weekly staple, this represents a recurring nearly $100 per year. With that said, the Spam was the more flavourful option, according to my tester (lunch meat isn't my thing), who found the Great Value option rather bland. This could possibly be due to the higher salt content of the Spam brand (560 milligrams of sodium versus 430 milligrams of sodium).
6) Ziploc freezer bags Vs. Great Value freezer bags
At $0.18 per bag versus Ziploc’s $0.28 per bag, Great Value’s large freezer bags offer a discount of 36% per bag, or $1.73 per box. Even though the Ziploc brand was on sale (down from $6.47), it still can’t compete with the baseline value of the generic Great Value box. In terms of functionality, the top closure on the Ziploc freezer bag was thicker (so, there’s potentially less leakage) and easier to grip to open. The size and quality of the bags were very comparable.
7) Heinz ketchup Vs. Great Value ketchup
Despite household name brand Heinz being on sale for $4.97 from $5.77, it still remained $1.49 or 30% pricier than the Great Value ketchup equivalent. Both the taste and consistency were extremely similar between both brands, with virtually zero difference between products. While ketchup is a high-loyalty item, a 30% markup is a high price to pay for a virtually identical product and one that adds up over grocery store visits.
8) Philadelphia cream cheese Vs. Great Value cream cheese
When it comes to cream cheese, even though the Philadelphia brand was marked down to $3.98 from $4.48, the same-sized Great Value brand was $1.00 (25.1%) cheaper, at $2.98. Without that temporary sale, the savings gap would have jumped to $1.50. In terms of taste, the Great Value brand tasted tangier and sharper, and was thicker than the Philadelphia brand, which was smoother and more spreadable, but tasted subpar in quality (understanding that taste is subjective). The Great Value option also comes with packaging that’s easier to reseal, making less of a mess.
9) Arm & Hammer baking soda Vs. Great Value baking soda
Fun fact: Baking soda is a pure chemical compound, so it's tricky to find a difference between the brands. So, I did the reaction strength test for freshness and potency. As it turns out, the Great Value brand had a more immediate fizz, meaning it's more active and fresher (but could be newer). There was a $0.76 price gap between the 500 gram Arm & Hammer brand and the 454 gram Great Value brand. When comparing on a per 100g basis, the savings with Great Value amounted to 30%, which is not bad considering both items are objectively the same thing in a different package.
10) Clorox bleach Vs. Great Value bleach
Bleach offered the smallest dollar difference between the name brand (Clorox) and the Great Value brand, at just $0.30. While the Great Value brand is still cheaper, the 9% price gap suggests that the premium for the Clorox name is lower here than any other category. As for function, after comparing a pair of dirty white socks in both, there was no difference in smell nor how clean it got the sock.
11) Royale Tiger towel Vs. Great Value paper towels
Paper towels were actually an outlier, with the Great Value brand actually costing $1.46 (or 17.2%) more than the Royale option. This serves as a reminder that the generic option isn’t always cheaper (most of the time, but not always). In terms of function, the two options were identical when put to the test (like they do on commercials) and both are two-ply, with six rolls a package, and 66 sheets per roll.
Overall, the Great Value option was the more affordable choice in 10 out of 11 products. In April 2026, Walmart announced a glow-up of the brand, with a move away from the typical “no frills” design. So, it will soon be easier on the eyes, not just the bank account, to pick the "Great Value" option.
