Do they have food scientists just guessing and checking with taste testers? Or do they know the exact recipe somehow and just tweak it to avoid lawsuits? Or do big box stores require name brands to hand over their recipes as part of a contract to shelf their brand along with their own store brand? Do the name brands try to keep it a secret but they keep getting bested? I have no idea how this works.
In: 45
There isn’t a “plain label or store brand factory”.
I used to work for a chip company. Not only did they make “their brand” they also made EVERY OTHER plain label or store brand too.
They used “cheaper potatoes” don’t know how that worked. Cheaper flavourings and cheaper packaging. The potatoes went through the exact same machines and processes as the “premium” brand.
Fact of the Matter:
Name brands don’t really differ from the store, or no-name brands. In some cases, they might even be produced by the same factory, with only the box being different. Other times, they just change something minor.
Producers know what works. They just wanna be different enough as to not be forgotten.
There isn’t a “plain label or store brand factory”.
I used to work for a chip company. Not only did they make “their brand” they also made EVERY OTHER plain label or store brand too.
They used “cheaper potatoes” don’t know how that worked. Cheaper flavourings and cheaper packaging. The potatoes went through the exact same machines and processes as the “premium” brand.
To add to what @nusensei said about patents on recipes:
Recipes for food products are indeed trade secrets, but manufacturers do not have the option to patent them. For whatever reason patent law does not include recipes.
Printed recipes, like in a cookbook, are covered under copyright and trademark law. The most famous example is the Nestle Tollhouse Cookie recipe printed on their chocolate chip bags. You can make the exact recipe and sell it in your store, but you can’t call them Tollhouse Cookies. You also cannot publish the identical recipe, but you can get around that with a small tweak to the ingredients or method.
Fact of the Matter:
Name brands don’t really differ from the store, or no-name brands. In some cases, they might even be produced by the same factory, with only the box being different. Other times, they just change something minor.
Producers know what works. They just wanna be different enough as to not be forgotten.
Sometimes they are literally the name brands, but sold under a private label. That is actually a huge part of Trader Joe’s business model. Their goods are Private label, and it’s an industry secret who their suppliers are, protected by NDAs. For example, Trader Joe’s Mac & Cheese is made by Annie’s, I do believe. But, they sell it was almost half the price.
To add to what @nusensei said about patents on recipes:
Recipes for food products are indeed trade secrets, but manufacturers do not have the option to patent them. For whatever reason patent law does not include recipes.
Printed recipes, like in a cookbook, are covered under copyright and trademark law. The most famous example is the Nestle Tollhouse Cookie recipe printed on their chocolate chip bags. You can make the exact recipe and sell it in your store, but you can’t call them Tollhouse Cookies. You also cannot publish the identical recipe, but you can get around that with a small tweak to the ingredients or method.
Sometimes they are literally the name brands, but sold under a private label. That is actually a huge part of Trader Joe’s business model. Their goods are Private label, and it’s an industry secret who their suppliers are, protected by NDAs. For example, Trader Joe’s Mac & Cheese is made by Annie’s, I do believe. But, they sell it was almost half the price.
Large retailers have a lot of power and force the name brands to produce their private label products under threat of being delisted in their stores.
As someone who used to work in food manufacturing I can tell you that a lot of store brand and name brand products are made by a third party probably back to back with little to no difference between them. We had 1 type that we packaged in 10 different bags with no difference between the finished product beyond the bag. We’d make them back to back to back. Now each company provided us with the specs for their product when they signed on with us 90% of the time it lined up with something we already were making
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