produce and meats to dairy and deli items.
“As we build brand loyalty in our stores’ own brand,
we’re seeing a very good following and a very good takeaway from customers as we expand these items into our
fresh departments,” says John Colgrove, president of
Albertsons’ Intermountain Division. The Boise-based
retailer also offers private label packaged meats and seafood, as well as 150 to 175 different fresh-cut fruits and
vegetables in an assortment of packages and containers.
“Customers have known those [store] brands and
trusted them over the years, and … people continue to
want to migrate to fresh ingredients,” says Colgrove.
“When they see those brands in fresh departments that
they’ve come to trust in packaged, it’s just a natural
opportunity for them to pick those up. It forms a trust.”
Indeed, high-quality private label offerings build
trust between the consumer and the brand, and help
to eliminate guesswork from the shopping experience
across all departments. Differentiating between brands
on store shelves requires time and effort. By offering a
reliable private label, retailers can set themselves apart
from national brands and ensure a returning customer. A
national brand can be purchased anywhere, but a house
brand can be found only at a particular store.
“As different industries begin to realize the cost bene-
fits of this go-to market strategy, adoption of private label-
ing will continue to grow,” says Tony Uphoff, president
and CEO of data company Thomas, based in New York
City. “We don’t expect the trend to end anytime soon.”
In January, Kroger announced its Simple Truth brand
had reached $2 billion in annual sales following the line’s
product expansion and its largest private label sales pro-
motion to date. Since its launch in 2012, Kroger’s Simple
Truth line now offers 1,400 products across multiple
categories including meat, produce, deli and bakery.
Utilizing insights from its data analytics unit 84. 51 to
tap into consumer trends, the retailer also offers more
Fair Trade Certified products than any other private label
grocery brand in the U. S., which are free from more than
101 artificial preservatives and ingredients.
Produce
81%
Amount of U.S.
consumers who buy
private brands on
every or almost every
shopping trip.
Source: Private Brand
Intelligence Report, Daymon
Fresh Business
Private label allows
retailers to offer consistent
quality at less expensive
price tags, even within the
fresh department.” —Matt Lally, Nielsen
Raise a Glass to Store Brand Wine
As the “lesser-quality” affiliation of private
label products continues to wane, shoppers
are increasingly turning to supermarkets to
stock up their wine racks at home. Wine sales
in supermarkets have climbed to more than
$10 billion, according to PLMA. In California, for
instance, this number amounts to a whopping 85%
of all wines purchased.
Though profit is contingent on state laws allowing
the sale of wines in supermarkets, retailers located
in the permitted states have an opportunity to
capitalize on consumers’ growing taste for store
brand wines while also cross-merchandising in
the fresh department. Shoppers acquainted with
a retailer’s private brand fresh products may be
more inclined to purchase additional private brand
products across the store perimeter. Through
promotions and in-store samplings, retailers can
expose shoppers to the growing diversity and
sophistication of their affordable private brand
wines, paired with familiar meats, cheeses and
produce, and vice versa.
Following the success of Trader Joe’s infamous
Two Buck Chuck line, consumers’ preference for
private label wines has evolved as retailers invest
in offering an assortment of reds, whites, roses and
sparkling wines—with some even winning awards at
major wine competitions.
“The trend toward private label wines is extremely
strong,” PLMA President Brian Sharoff said in a
statement. “Retailers like Costco, Trader Joe’s, Kroger,
Aldi and Lidl have set a high standard by offering
award-winning quality and reasonable prices.”
Lidl serves as a trailblazer in the category, with
its private label wines recently earning 42 medals—
including “double golds”—in January’s San Francisco
Chronicle Wine Competition for its 2015 Free Rain
Gewurztraminer and Gold & Grape Moscato. The
San Francisco Wine Competition bills itself as the
largest competition for U.S.-made wines, with nearly
7,000 entries. Lidl also won five gold, 26 silver and
nine bronze medals during the event.
In 2017, the discounter also earned 101 medals at
the International Wine Competition in Los Angeles.
Between this and prior competitions, every bottle in
Lidl’s listed private label American wine range has
been awarded by judges in blind competitions in the
U.S., according to a Lidl spokesman.
Lidl isn’t the only retailer making inroads in private
label wine. Nearly 400 private label supermarket
wines received medals at London’s International
Wine Challenge, and more will be put to the taste
test this year at PLMA’s International Salute to
Excellence Wine Awards in Amsterdam.
