Store Brand Cereal – Honey Nut Cheerios vs Signature Select Honey Nut Toasted Oats

Companies have historically spent a lot of money on marketing cereal, especially to children. Think of all those goofy cartoons from the 90’s. Remember when everyone use to pretend this sugary and unsubstantial meal was healthy? Regardless, there are some mornings when nothing is more convenient than having a good go to cereal choice. This is even better if you can save money with a store brand cereal.

General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios vs Signature Select Honey Nut Toasted Oats

Considering the lack of nutritional value and ingredients, cereal is expensive. A 19.5 ounce box of the name brand Honey Nut Cheerios is around $6.39 at Safeway. So about 33 cents per ounce. Safeway’s store brand Signature Select Honey Nut Toasted Oats come in at $4.59 for a 28 ounce bag, which puts it at about 16 cents an ounce. I will admit nothing says off brand like the section of the store aisle with the large store brand cereals in plastic bags. After spending years growing up on cool and entertaining cereal commercials, I will acknowledge that no kid is running towards the large bags of non marketed generic cereal. But you and your family can save money with the store brand cereal.

Off Brand Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal Bag

Okay, the packing sucks aesthetically. I get that. But actually the knock off cereal bag is more functional. It has a plastic zip top which keeps the cereal from going stale. With the name brand stuff if you don’t use a rubberband or a bag clap to carefully close it off, it goes stale quickly.

Store Brand Cereal Taste Test

How does the taste compare? Pretty similar. Especially once the milk is in the bowl The off brand cheerios may be a little more dull, lacking an extra kick of that honey nut flavor, but it is hard to tell. It must be because the name brand product is coasted in a shiny glaze. It may be that I am not that picky with cereal, but I would say they are equivalent.

Store Brand Cereal Vs. Name Brand

Taste of Home, has done a similar comparison between the name brand and Walmart’s Great Value Honey Nut O’s reaching the same conclusion. In other words, the differences are slight. I will need to try the Walmart variety in a future post before confirming the outcome of this taste test. Thrillist also pursued an off brand taste test and indicated that the “fake” variety did not hold up. But they did not even reference the specific off brand product being compared! At the Off Brand Guy I feel strongly that all off brands are not created equal, so the specific brand matters.

Cheap Cereal Prices at Walmart

If you must have the name brand General Mills product due to a taste preference or purely nostalgia there is any easy answer. Go to Walmart!

Walmart has good pricing for cereal, much better than some of the neighborhood grocery chains. A 19.5 ounce box of the name brand General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios goes for $3.64, which breaks down to about 19 cents per ounce. Practically the same price as the off brand product. I know in my household we stock up on cereal during Walmart trips!

Buy Cheap Cereal – Name Brand Cereal

• Honey Nut Cheeries Walmart
• Honey Nut Cheerios Amazon
• Honey Nut Cheerios Target

Buy Cheap Cereal – Generic Cereal

• Kroger Brand Cheerios – Kroger Honey Nut Toasted Oats
• Safeway Brand Cheerios – Signature Select Honey Nut Toasted Oats
• Walmart Brand Cheerios – Great Value Honey Nut O’s Oat Cereal

If you really like cereal and saving money, check out my article on store brand Shredded Mini Wheats.