Why does every major grocery chain have their brand next to the national brands? Are the factories making these the same but putting a different label on it? Or does Target and Kroger have factories that produce all the products? Where do these store brands come from?

Question

Why does every major grocery chain have their brand next to the national brands? Are the factories making these the same but putting a different label on it? Or does Target and Kroger have factories that produce all the products? Where do these store brands come from?

In: Economics

Answer 1

I represent a large staple manufacturer. Behind our brand, our second biggest client is Walmart. We basically do a run of our product, stop the machines, and load the Great Value packaging and restart the machine. If you bought the last of our product and the first of theirs, you’re getting the exact same thing.

That being said, I once picked up a can of Jif and an identical store brand that *seemed* to be the same thing. Same ingredient list, nutritional info, etc. but when I got it home it was *NOT* the same thing. The store brand tasted like peanut flavored paste. I learned not to buy that anymore.