HOUSE brands are flying off the shelves at record speed as the recession bites deep, and even better-off households are increasingly turning to them.

Though the most popular items include staples and necessities such as rice, bread, cooking oil and toilet paper, supermarkets are catering to increasing demand by packaging everything from wine to olive oil under their brand names.

The Straits Times' checks with major supermarkets here found that sales of house-brand items such as rice had as much as trebled in the June-December period last year, compared to the same time in 2007. Overall, they said, sales of house-brand goods rose 50 per cent during the same period.

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