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.
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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
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.
It’s called private labeling. The same company that makes Reynolds’s Wrap brand foil, for example, also manufactures foil that is sold by stores as their store brand foil. In some cases the quality is a little lesser than the name brand, in others it is the same. Same with food products.
The manufacturer sells a brand-name product at brand-name prices, and pays extra to advertise the brand name. Customers are swayed by the advertising and pay extra for a product they can count on. Manufacturer and vendor both get a cut of the higher profit.
The same manufacturer sells the same stuff as a store-brand product at store-brand prices, with no advertising costs. Customers looking for a deal buy this, and accept that it might not be consistent, since the store brand could switch manufacturers or recipes. Manufacturer saves on advertising, vendor earns a good profit.
It’s called private labeling. The same company that makes Reynolds’s Wrap brand foil, for example, also manufactures foil that is sold by stores as their store brand foil. In some cases the quality is a little lesser than the name brand, in others it is the same. Same with food products.
The manufacturer sells a brand-name product at brand-name prices, and pays extra to advertise the brand name. Customers are swayed by the advertising and pay extra for a product they can count on. Manufacturer and vendor both get a cut of the higher profit.
The same manufacturer sells the same stuff as a store-brand product at store-brand prices, with no advertising costs. Customers looking for a deal buy this, and accept that it might not be consistent, since the store brand could switch manufacturers or recipes. Manufacturer saves on advertising, vendor earns a good profit.
Worked a cannery in Oregon during the summers in high school and college. The cannery produced frozen and canned green beans, corn and frozen strawberries. There was no difference in quality or process among the various labels we packaged. When I was operating a labelling machine, a foreman would come by to tell me when to switch from one label to another. The line never shut down.
FYI it’s not only store brand vs name brand…two name brands can be the same company at different price points. I work for Michelin, which is intentionally expensive, but Uniroyal and BF Goodrich are also made in the same factories to target different segments of the market at a lower price point. The strategy is called multi-segment marketing, most large companies do this in some way.
Worked a cannery in Oregon during the summers in high school and college. The cannery produced frozen and canned green beans, corn and frozen strawberries. There was no difference in quality or process among the various labels we packaged. When I was operating a labelling machine, a foreman would come by to tell me when to switch from one label to another. The line never shut down.
FYI it’s not only store brand vs name brand…two name brands can be the same company at different price points. I work for Michelin, which is intentionally expensive, but Uniroyal and BF Goodrich are also made in the same factories to target different segments of the market at a lower price point. The strategy is called multi-segment marketing, most large companies do this in some way.
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