How do grocery stores rebottle, recan, repackage i... - Page 3

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

@puttypiesmom wrote:
@KingstonsMom wrote:
Some companies manufacture their brand named products for wholesale to other companies to sell with their own company labels for less, since they aren't using the trademarked 'brand' name.

What you "got from the horse's mouth" is that Crystal Geyser bottles and sells their same water to Whole Foods, at a cheaper, wholesale price using Whole Foods' 365 label, but it is the same water, bottled at the same plant.

In other cases, a similar product (like soup for example) is simply packaged in a similar label design/color as the name brand item, to mimic it.

@KingstonsMom So you are saying that they don't care if those other companies undercut them in price.

@puttypiesmom

When you consider the huge volume of products sold to the other companies, the original company is not being undercut, they still have a healthy profit margin.

Just like QVC says they can offer lower prices on brand name products, because they buy in such bulk.

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

The store brand label is done at the production site....just like the name brand.

puttypiesmom · ‎10-11-2017

I appreciate everyone's response, I just would like to see full disclosure as to who is manufacturing what under which label.

novamc1 · ‎07-02-2015

@puttypiesmom

This isn't much help to the consumer, but if a real problem occurs with a particular food, the packaging has numerical codes indicating where it was produced or in which plant it was processed.

We won't ever always know where our food comes from. I bought some gorgeous blueberries this past week, and all I could determine was that they were distributed by a U.S. company. Doesn't give a clue as to where those blueberries were grown, and probably not locally, because our state's blueberry crop was devastated by a hurricane.

They probably came from Mexico or another place further south.

Scorpio1971 · ‎03-10-2010

It is called "private labeling". Regional stores contract with big companies to produce & label the same or slightly similar products and put their own private store label on them. Because the store does not need to advertise the 'big name company' brand, does not have the overhead, plant & equipment costs, employee costs, etc., they save on all those costs and can sell for less.

Take butter, milk, or cheese for instance, kitchen staples in most homes. Regional store chains do not own or operate farms or dairies, processing plants, or trucks to bring that specific product line to all their markets. They contract with big name brand companies to process & package that product, or slightly changed product, with their store brand name and packaging labels. So you could have for example a well known company, such as Land O Lakes, packaging butter or cheeses for many various regional store corporations that in turn sell at reduced costs as compared to the major brand label.

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

@puttypiesmom wrote:
@Desertdi wrote:
I worked for a big manufacturing company. We produced many items under different trade names. The labeling is the last thing on the assembly line.
I am still curious though after seeing the lookalike water that Kroger is selling to mimic Fiji Water which of course is bottled in Fiji. Would you guess that they too have other trade names at the bottling plant in Fiji so Kroger and other grocery stores can charge less money for the same product? @Desertdi

@puttypiesmom

It sounds like you don't do much label reading ... or shopping in B&M stores.

Kroger has an extensive line of generic house brand products ... and they are of rather high quality for a house brand. If you've ever shopped in a Walmart, you must have seen their Equate brand.

Selling a house brand, like Kroger, accomplishes a few things .... it has a very competitive pricing structure, it increases bottom line profits, and it attracts shoppers by offerring them a variety of options. (Example --- They can buy a can of Del Monte corn for $1.29 or a can of Kroger corn for $.79 ... same type of product, different labeling)

BTW .... a significant portion of profits goes to advertising those specific brand names. You can buy Dole pineapple for a premium price, or pineapple canned in Hawaii with a generic label, for a lesser price.

As for bottled water, much of it is bottled in the U.S., not in Fiji or the Swiss Alps. You can learn a lot by reading labels and comparing the wording. In most cases, there is also a website and 800 number for customers to call for more information. HTH

Jaspersmom · ‎06-08-2011

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
@puttypiesmom wrote:
@Desertdi wrote:
I worked for a big manufacturing company. We produced many items under different trade names. The labeling is the last thing on the assembly line.
I am still curious though after seeing the lookalike water that Kroger is selling to mimic Fiji Water which of course is bottled in Fiji. Would you guess that they too have other trade names at the bottling plant in Fiji so Kroger and other grocery stores can charge less money for the same product? @Desertdi

@puttypiesmom

It sounds like you don't do much label reading ... or shopping in B&M stores.

Kroger has an extensive line of generic house brand products ... and they are of rather high quality for a house brand. If you've ever shopped in a Walmart, you must have seen their Equate brand.

Selling a house brand, like Kroger, accomplishes a few things .... it has a very competitive pricing structure, it increases bottom line profits, and it attracts shoppers by offerring them a variety of options. (Example --- They can buy a can of Del Monte corn for $1.29 or a can of Kroger corn fpr $.79 ... same type of product, different labeling)

BTW .... a significant portion of profits goes to advertising those specific brand names. You can buy Dole pineapple for a premium price, or pineapple canned in Hawaii with a generic label, for a lesser price.

As for bottled water, much of it is bottled in the U.S., not in Fiji or the Swiss Alps. You can learn a lot by reading labels and comparing the wording. In most cases, there is also a website and 800 number for customers to call for more information. HTH

Excellent explanation.

Jaspersmom · ‎06-08-2011

Nearly every major retailer has generic brands - Walmart, Stop and Shop, Walgreen's just to name a few. It's all about competition. Others have explained where and how packaging takes place, but be assured we are not getting "ripped off" or put in danger. Companies would never chance that liability. Now it may be true that one distribution factory fills the name brand company's items and the generic brands with the same or nearly identical product ingredients. Only difference? The labels and cost. I buy many, many generic brands and have found them to be just as good as the premium brands. They've come a long, long way since the early days when we first were offered generic brands. As another person posted, you can find all this information on product labels or by doing a little company research.

Scorpio1971 · ‎03-10-2010

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
@puttypiesmom wrote:
@Desertdi wrote:
I worked for a big manufacturing company. We produced many items under different trade names. The labeling is the last thing on the assembly line.
I am still curious though after seeing the lookalike water that Kroger is selling to mimic Fiji Water which of course is bottled in Fiji. Would you guess that they too have other trade names at the bottling plant in Fiji so Kroger and other grocery stores can charge less money for the same product? @Desertdi

@puttypiesmom

It sounds like you don't do much label reading ... or shopping in B&M stores.

Kroger has an extensive line of generic house brand products ... and they are of rather high quality for a house brand. If you've ever shopped in a Walmart, you must have seen their Equate brand.

Selling a house brand, like Kroger, accomplishes a few things .... it has a very competitive pricing structure, it increases bottom line profits, and it attracts shoppers by offerring them a variety of options. (Example --- They can buy a can of Del Monte corn for $1.29 or a can of Kroger corn fpr $.79 ... same type of product, different labeling)

BTW .... a significant portion of profits goes to advertising those specific brand names. You can buy Dole pineapple for a premium price, or pineapple canned in Hawaii with a generic label, for a lesser price.

As for bottled water, much of it is bottled in the U.S., not in Fiji or the Swiss Alps. You can learn a lot by reading labels and comparing the wording. In most cases, there is also a website and 800 number for customers to call for more information. HTH

@Tinkrbl44

Since you mentioned bottled water, did you ever notice on bottles that claim they are "purified" the letters "PWS" and then the name of a city? Well, most people are unaware that "PWS" means "public water system" of whatever particular city is indicated. I remember picking up a bottle of a well known brand from a big company, and reading "PWS of Detroit". That's right....it was purified water from the Detroit public water system! Needless to say...I make sure bottled water I purchase indicates 'pure spring water' and 'bottled at the source' and it should also give the name or various names of their bottling water sources.

GCR18 · ‎07-03-2013

In a past life, I worked at a trucking company. We backhanded plastic bottles to an oil company. I toured the plant and saw the process. They bottled oil for the name brands and the grocery store private label brand. There was a room that had shelves holding labels for every brand you could think of. They put the same oil in the bottles, but changed the labels.

Manufacturers don't worry people will buy the store brands. They account for a certain percent of their sales to be private label, but they count on shoppers loyalty to the name brand. Don't be afraid to buy private label, in most cases you are actually getting a better price for the name brand.