{"id":768,"date":"2025-04-14T20:17:05","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T20:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/?p=768"},"modified":"2025-04-14T20:21:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T20:21:02","slug":"private-label-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/private-label-foods\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of Private-Label Foods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Private-label foods, also known as store brands, have a fascinating past dating back to the 19th century. The history of private-label foods has evolved from basic generic products to sophisticated brand alternatives that generate a significant percentage of sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept of private-label emerged in the mid-1800s when A&P (Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company) introduced its brand of basic commodities, including coffee, tea, and flour. Eight O\u2019Clock Coffee, which is still available today, was one of the first private-label products introduced by A&P (Fig 1<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"exterior
Fig 1<\/strong>: Exterior of A&P grocery store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the Great Depression, grocery stores recognized they could offer lower-priced alternatives to national brands and maintain better profit margins by providing consumers a line of private-label foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward to the 1970s, when the transformation of private-label foods began in earnest, particularly with retailers like Sainsbury, based in the UK, and Carrefour, based in France. Loblaw\u2019s, a Canadian supermarket chain, introduced a premium line of private-label products named President\u2019s Choice<\/a>, which still exists today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1990s, several major retailers, including Trader Joe\u2019s, Costco (Kirkland), Whole Foods (365 by Whole Foods Market), and Wegmans (Food You Feel Good About), developed their private-label products, many of which outperformed competing national brands in taste tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, many retailers offer tiered private-label programs ranging from economy options to premium and specialty products, with some stores deriving 75% or more of their sales from their brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top private-label retailers\u2014private-label foods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n \n \n \n \n
Grocer<\/th>\n Private label volume share<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n <\/thead>\n
Aldi<\/td>80%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Trader Joe\u2019s<\/td>75%<\/td><\/tr>\n
H-E-B<\/td>32%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Sam\u2019s Club<\/td>31%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Costco<\/td>30%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Walmart<\/td>26%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Kroger<\/td>24%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Target<\/td>18%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Publix<\/td>17%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Albertsons<\/td>16%<\/td><\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n <\/table>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

Source: Numerator Insights<\/a> | 12M ending 12\/31\/24<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when companies created inferior private-label products for strategic reasons. Some retailers deliberately created lower-quality private-label options to serve price-sensitive customer segments. These products allowed retailers to capture customers who prioritize price above all else. Lower quality ingredients and eliminating marketing costs associated with premium brands generated attractive profit margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, today\u2019s private-label strategy has shifted toward parity or superiority over national brands because retailers recognize that poor-quality products can damage brand perception. These products can still offer price advantages to the retailer over national brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of private labels reflects changing consumer attitudes, technological advancements in manufacturing, and retailers\u2019 strategic shift from being mere distributors to becoming brand developers with direct consumer relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Evolution of Private-Label Spices in Grocery Stores<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Private-label spices began appearing in the 1950s and 1960s. These products mainly consisted of common spices, including salt, pepper, cinnamon, and garlic powder. The packaging was basic, and the spices were marketed solely on price advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the 1970s and 1980s, as the public\u2019s perception of private-label spices improved, retailers expanded their offerings to include more exotic spices and seasoning blends. Retailers realized private-label spice products offered a significant profit margin compared to spices manufactured by leading national brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most significant transformation in private-label spices happened toward the end of the last century and into the 2000s. Retailers realized they could offer tiered spice products, such as exotic imported sea salts, tellicherry peppercorns, smoked paprika, and organic spices. These products allowed a retailer to charge a premium when combined with unique features such as grinder tops, transparent labels, glass bottles, and embossed lids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, private-label spices represent a significant portion of the spice market. The category has become particularly important for specialty retailers who use their spice offerings to reinforce their brand identity and quality positioning. Trader Joe\u2019s, for example, has developed a line of unique spice blends that are affordable and highlight its strategy of providing quality and affordable products. Wegmans offers an extensive private-label product selection emphasizing quality and value, including basic pantry spices, seasoning blends, and organic spice products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most significant advantages of private-label spices, especially innovative spice products, is their exclusivity to a particular supermarket. <\/span>Retailers have shifted away from generic or copycat brands and instead created premium store brands unavailable elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, customers who enjoy\u00a0Everything but the Elote<\/em>\u00a0seasoning blend by Trader Joe\u2019s (Fig 2<\/strong>) won\u2019t find it available at any other store.\u00a0<\/span>Products such as the elote seasoning can help drive consumer loyalty to a particular private-label seasoning and create repeat visits by customers who may not return as often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Trader
Fig 2<\/strong>: Trader Joe\u2019s, Everything but the Elote Seasoning Blend<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Private-label spices offer a significant price advantage over national brands and, in some cases, can help a retailer earn as much as a 25-30% higher gross profit than a manufacturer brand. Retailers can position these products at eye level (middle shelf), creating maximum visibility and the likelihood that a shopper will impulse buy or purchase their products over others (national brands) with less strategic shelf positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private-Label Spices with Vanns Spices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Vanns Spices maintains a decades-old supplier network with farms worldwide, most <\/span>of which are multigenerational, family-owned operations. Our rigorous\u00a0supplier approval program<\/strong>,<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>part of the SQF program, holds all our suppliers to the highest standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike many competitors, who import ground spices, our spices are milled from whole spices at our supplier-partners\u2019 facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon arrival, we evaluate samples of each spice product for visual compliance, taste, and sensory experience. In addition, we assess all spice products we receive for microbial issues and the presence of pathogens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Vanns\u2019s packaging materials (bottles, caps, labels, and cartons) are produced in the United States and supplied by domestic suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanns Spices is an SQF-certified facility<\/a> (Food Manufacturing, Edition 9). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to explore private-labeling<\/strong>? \u00a0Start a conversation with Vanns<\/a>, the fastest time in the industry from discovery to production!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Private-label foods, also known as store brands, have a fascinating past dating back to the 19th century. The history of private-label foods has evolved from basic generic products to sophisticated brand alternatives that generate a significant percentage of sales. The concept of private-label emerged in the mid-1800s when A&P (Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-private-label","category-qa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":815,"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions\/815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vannsspices.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}