For those of you in the New England area of the United States, the Hannaford grocery chain, otherwise known as Shop and Save, will likely already be on your shopping radar. For those planning on relocating here, or looking to save some bucks while traveling, here is a breakdown of some of the awesome deals to be found there.

In addition to having killer loss leader items on a regular basis for things like meats and vegetables, this chain has one of the best store brand line of products I’ve ever seen. Bar none. Growing up, their generic items were always of good quality. But they were limited to the usual things such as soda crackers and milk. Now, they have extensive product collections at all ends of the spectrum. Basics, organics, convenience items, and even high end frozen bistro foods make the cut for their store brand product line, as well as gourmet cooking items. Here are a few of the things I’ve noticed since we’ve been back in the area.

1. Marinades and specialty vinegars such as balsamic from Modena.

Grilling some chicken and can't summon the energy to create a marinade from scratch? Hannaford's inspiration line will hook you up. They also have some killer dipping oil combos for those who like to enjoy dinner bread with relish.

2. Honey. 

I love when I can get a good deal on that stuff. Cooking, making your own cough syrup, baking a yummy ham . . . there are lots of things to try.

3. Slammin’ Snack Crackers.

We’re talking knock offs of nearly every popular kind here, and in a variety of versions for each such as low salt, fat free, etc. I’ve picked up spot on low fat equivalents for things like Wheat Thins, Triscuits, Ritz and Cheese Nips with absolutely no difference in quality.

4. Dark Chocolate.

The bar versions of this for shaving were at least half the cost of the Hershey equivalent.

5. Pure Maple Syrup.

Another item it sure is great to find a great generic version of. Woohoo!

6. Bulk Spices.

OK, not quite as great as the warehouse stores, but some seriously great deals for when you can’t drive that far, or for things you don’t necessarily find at the warehouse stores, like curry powder.

7. Frozen Convenience Foods.

I don’t buy a great deal of frozen premade items.  While it’s true that this is largely for nutritional reasons and the fact that we prefer food in its actual form, we do still enjoy a convenience item on occasion for busy days or something out of the humdrum if it’s been a while since we’ve been out into civilization. It’s sort of the same thing as “grabbing a burger” only it’s from our freezer. Hannaford has expanded its generic line to include such things as brick oven and rise and bake specialty pizzas, chicken patties and nuggets, frozen garlic bread, fish sticks, seasoned potato chunks for the oven and more. 

8. Organic Peanut Butter.

I just picked up jars of the chunky and creamy for less than the name brand, not so good for you kinds. They don’t have it available in the giant sizes yet, so I still buy their generic regular of that item for dog kong stuffing. The organic stuff, though? Really yummy. It can seriously hold its own against the big brands.

9. Their Bistro on the Go Line.

These are also frozen items, but of the variety you would pick up for a party. Toasted portabella ravioli, cranberry and brie pastry puffs, coconut shrimp skewers and more are included with this line. Again, not something we buy every day, but it certainly puts things that are out of the realm of regular possibility from the warehouse stores back into consideration for us to pick up a few times a month.  The bag of toasted mushroom ravioli was six bucks, and gets us through two rounds as an appetizer for spaghetti night.

These are my favorites, but I know there are other items out there I just haven’t noticed yet. Please chime in with yours. I’m sure we’d all love to save any extra bucks we can.