Makers of name brand products beware: Store brands continue to be accepted and embraced by consumers.

Last July, we reported on a study by Accenture indicating that 64 percent of shoppers' grocery carts were at least half full of store brand products -- and 39 percent said they had bought more store brands in recent years.

Now a new study by marketing agency The Integer Group, in association with the market research firm M/A/R/C Research, shows that consumers increasingly believe store brands can match brand names in quality. In fact, in the 2012 study, 64 percent of shoppers said brand names are not better quality products, versus 57 percent in 2010. Only 51 percent of shoppers say they continue to buy brand name products over store-brand alternatives because they trust the brand name, according to the study. Only 20 percent of shoppers agree that they go right for their brand name choice and get what they want.

Just as important, there seems to be a broad change in the perception of store brand or private label products. As store brands have grown in popularity, groceries and retail chains have created their own branded lines. Target, for example, sells its own Archer Farms brand, and Whole Foods pitches its 365 Everyday Value line.

In recent years, such retailers have paid more attention to packaging so their products can be competitive on store shelves. It must be paying off. Only a year ago, 68 percent of shoppers agreed that brand name packaging was more attractive than store brand packaging, according to the study. This year, the percentage dropped to just over half — 52 percent of shoppers.Continue reading...

We've reported numerous times about the rise of the private label or store brand throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Fueled by economic conditions, store brands have increased in popularity, offering shoppers lower priced alternatives and causing concern for name brand marketers. More and more, private labels are taking on global appeal as stores grab a larger share of shelf space for their own brands.

Now the Land Down Under may become overwhelmed with private labels, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. Already a hotbed of store brands, Australia could well be inundated by its two largest supermarket chains, Coles and Woolworths, who have both applied for hundreds of trademarks with the country's IP Australia, the government agency administering intellectual property rights.Continue reading...

It used to be that Sears’ in-house brands – Craftsman, Kenmore, and DieHard – could only be found at Sears-owned stores and acted as magnets to consumers, bringing them in so they’d check out other products.

But those days are over. Following in the footsteps of a deal to sell Craftsman at Costco and agreement to DieHard products at Meijer, Sears is reportedly prepping to sell its Kenmore goods elsewhere as well, marking the first time that Kenmore goods would be sold elsewhere in the brand's 98-year history.Continue reading...

The Standard Operating Procedure with an in-house brand is that it’s sold, well, in-house, but Sears Holdings Corp. is about to break a new barrier for the company. According to the Chicago Tribune, Sears “has agreed to sell its Craftsman tool line through Costco clubs nationwide.”

And the two retailers aren’t wasting any time. The “hand tools, power tools and tool storage units will start appearing on Costco shelves as early as Saturday” over Labor Day weekend. Since Costco members don’t tend to shop at Sears or Kmart, the company has its hopes pinned on gaining new customers for the Craftsman brand via Costco's wholesale store.Continue reading...

Walgreens has launched Nice!, its new private label brand, as part of the CPG giant’s retail strategy to claim more real estate and mindframe in the increasingly competitive category. The label uses the tagline “smart. quality. everyday.”

Nice! is a... nice companion to the Good & Delish private label, developed earlier for Duane Reade (which Walgreens owns). Its initial sku’s include dried fruit, white rice, baking soda, canned soup, tomato sauce, tea bags and macaroni & cheese.

“You will see a lot of transition within Walgreens brand portfolio over the next 12 to 18 months,” said Maurice Alkemade, divisional vice president, general merchandise manager for private brands in an article for the trade publication Private Label magazine.Continue reading...

Grape Nuts, Honeycomb, Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran, and plenty of other cereals have been starting Americans' days for a long time, no matter who has owned them. 

Since 2008, it has been St. Louis-based Ralcorp Holdings. Inc., a manufacturer of private-label goods for US grocery stores including Stop & Shop, IGA and Hannaford, which produces cereals in its Ralston Foods division.

Ralcorp bought the organization from Kraft Foods for $2.7 billion. Now, Ralcorp finds itself the target of an unwanted takeover attempt by ConAgra Foods, which has offered $4.9 billion, according to FoodProcessing.com.Continue reading...

It’s a long-running conundrum for better-for-you food and beverage marketers: How do you leverage a “natural” positioning for new, healthful products compared with marketing new “organic” items?

USDA standards have defined and regulated organic labeling for several years now, but the meaning of “natural” is something that still remains unaddressed by regulators and, consequently, by marketers.

American consumers remain vastly confused by the two terms, with studies showing that they tend to credit many more important nutrition and health attributes to products labeled “natural” than they do to those labeled “organic” – even though the latter are the only ones consumers really can count on.Continue reading...

SuperValu, the third-largest food-retailing chain in the U.S., may own a number of grocery chains, but it would like shoppers to start noticing something that is the same about its businesses: the store brand for all of them is the same. 

Owner of such grocery store chains as Albertson’s, Jewel-Osco, and Cub Foods, the Minnesota-based SuperValu is consolidating all of its private-label in-store brands under the name Everyday Essentials and hopes to have the project completed by February, according to the Chicago Tribune.Continue reading...