Hotscot

Pleasantly surprised to see Tetley tea bags and Scottish caramel shortcake in the local WalMart yesterday.

Speedwell

I don't trust anything from Walmart if there is a possibility that the product made for Walmart could have been made to "different" standards (she said euphemistically) from the same product not sold to Walmart. Or, in short, Walmart dictates the price they want to pay, and the supplier provides them with a custom low-quality product that they can afford to produce for that price. I've seen this in many departments all over the store. "Made for Walmart", if it appears on the label, seems to be a common passive-aggressive way of informing the customer that they're getting the shoddy product instead of the product the vendor would rather be known for.

tl;dr I don't buy anything at Walmart where the quality matters.

(Husband commented, "It's really not like Asda here, is it." Me: "No, honey, from what I can see it's really not.")

Hotscot

I do agree with you in that respect.
However I often buy staples and veggies when I can get a good deal.

I may try the products I mentioned but I usually do a stocking up run when I'm back in Scotland.

Karrie72

They recently started selling big boxes of pg tips too. And Heinz vegetarian beans for a buck.
I really don't shop there at all but when I was a stay at home Mum with three children their prices on things were a lifesaver to us.

Hotscot

Vegetarian beans? Fancy that

Karrie72

To my taste they're the closest to the UK version. My kids love them on toast

Hotscot

Yup!
Beans on toast. One of the perfect foods from my student days.

Bob

Wegmans own brand are slightly closer, certainly a lot cheaper, but yes, the Heinz Veg, in the green can isn't bad.

The Tetley tea bags aren't bad in a pinch, but they don't seem the same, but you can't beat the price.

Karrie72

Tetleys are way to weak for me. I love the pg tips 'builder' strength which you can only get back home. Failing that just pg tips. Whats Wegmans? Is that a store?

Bob

Yes, massive grocery store. They're slowly moving up the coast, opening two more in MA and maybe moving up to NH/ME later.

taffie77

With Tetley you need to check whether they are import, or the 'British Style' manufactured in NJ.

Hotscot

Will it say on the box/bag?

Sally Redux

Wamart 'Great Value' black tea is really cheap and doesn't taste that bad. They also have some decent oven chips that taste more British than most.

robin1234

Some "made for Walmart" stuff is good. For instance, Ben & Jerrys ice cream is great but most of their varieties are just too rich and have to much stuff in them. (For my taste.) Their Walmart flavors seem to be simpler but still have the basic good Ben & Jerrys quality.

I wouldn't buy fruit and veg or meat at Walmart, though. The few times I tried the quality was horrible.

WEBlue

Yes, absolutely! Any brand of teabags manufactured here in the US--no matter how 'respectable' or how 'British' the brand name--has less actual tea inside the bag than the same brand across the Pond. I don't understand why Americans put up with such weak wimpy teabags!

Pathetic that you can't trust the brand name.