Thursday, March 22, 2012

Private Label Brand Managers Trump Legacy CPG Brands.

The real opportunity is in fresh, packaged foods that are ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat and private label brand manager know it.  They are focused on it and winning the hearts and minds of the grocerant niche consumer.  Those private label brand managers are now extending their product reach into Convenience Stores, Restaurants, Dollar Stores and Drug Stores. Legacy CPG manufactures are simply failing to keep pace with the today’s consumer.   

Private label products are no longer in black and white packaging, no longer is there a stigma of cheap or poor quality, no longer are private label products restricted to simply the basics.  Private label is simply put, winning the branding game.

SymphonyIRI reported “unit sales in 14 of the top 20 packaged food categories (bread, soup, baby formula, canned/bottled fruit, shortening, etc.) declined 3% or more in the past 52 weeks at mid-market FDM (Food, Drug, Mass) retailers”.  In fact  store brands now account for 28 percent of all food and drink consumed in the United States, up from 20 percent about a decade ago, according to The NPD Group.

Regular readers of this blog know we have been reporting on this for many years.  Nielsen recently announced via a webinar on the rise of the perishables sector. “that perishables and fresh food in general are gaining share of grocery dollars—and have been for years.”  The grocerant niche is booming.  We last reported how Technomic had confirmed that Grocerant ready-2-eat fresh and heat-N-eat prepared food is driving top line growth and bottom line profits in all sectors of retail foodservice. Success does leave clues and it’s going to be fun watching legacy foodservice operators play catch up.  If you want to know who is our pick for best foodservice retailer of ready-2-eat fresh prepared product Email:Grocerant@q.com and we will let you know.

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and bottom line profits.  Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioning assistance.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Steven,

    I think that consumer brands all over America are undervaluing the possibilities the PLB has.

    In some parts of South-West EU, retailers will not list branded NPD's just because they can copy the products in under a month.

    The biggest Spanish retailer (Mercadona) has grown a PLB (Hacendado) that stands in the TOP 5 in overall awareness and confidence from consumers and nowadays marketers around the country struggle to develop innovations (safeguarded by patents) and try to launch them in record time to build awareness.

    PS: In most food-related categories and several other, PLB is about 50% of the market.

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