Consumers Embrace Signature Retail Brands

As America suffers through a recession that has eroded faith and confidence in our markets, our local retail supermarkets perceive the downturn in the economy as an opportunity to accelerate the transfer of traditional consumer brand loyalty to a new range of premium signature retail brands.

The evolution of retail brands in the food industry, has evolved from black and white generic labels, through more traditional store identified brands, to a host of emerging signature brands.

Americans, who have lagged behind European and Canadian consumer trends, with respect to embracing private labels, are catching up quickly, as attractively packaged products that are equal to or at times better than iconic brand offerings, are attracting new consumers to retailers brands. Nearly one in four purchases in supermarkets today are private or signature labeled items.

Clearly, Loblaw's began the trend toward retail signature brands in North America, with their President's brand launched in the Canadian market a decade ago and subsequently adopted by several retailers in the U.S. market. Since then Retailers have created their own signature brands and placed them in categories throughout their stores.

In many cases, retailers are partnering with suppliers to identify products that are highly differentiated from competitive national brands as they seek to enhance their relationship with consumers.

Premium products that are packaged well, taste great and provide a lower priced alternative to traditional national brands are right for today's consumer and over time will gain market share at the expense of traditional brands.