Inflation may have cooled, but private-label brands ‘having their moment’

globalnews.ca:

Over the past few years, consumers have been buying more private-label products at the grocery store to save money — and the trend may be here to stay.

Amid renewed investment by grocers in their store-branded offerings, studies show many shoppers no longer see store brands as lower quality than name brands.

“For customers, the private brand is becoming not just a knockoff,” said Annie St-Laurent, senior director for Metro’s private-label portfolio.

“The growth is really good in private label.”

Grocers’ in-house brands — like Metro’s Irresistible and Selection, Loblaw’s No Name and President’s Choice, and Sobeys’ Compliments and Panache — tend to be priced lower than their name-brand competitors.

Private-label brands are “having their moment,” according to a report by agriculture-focused co-operative bank CoBank. Shoppers are choosing store brands more often as the recent bout of inflation pushed prices up by double digits in just a few years, and interest-rate hikes added to the pressure.

Retailers are responding to the uptick in interest by introducing new products and allotting more shelf space to their brands, said Peter Chapman, founder of consulting firm SKUFood.

“We’re seeing more depth within categories for private label as retailers see it as an opportunity,” he said.

Retailers have also been investing not just in new products, but also in branding and marketing, according to market research firm NielsenIQ.

That’s the case for Metro, which in the coming weeks is launching a refresh of its core private label, Irresistible.

With a new logo, products, packaging and flavours, St-Laurent said Metro is looking to make the brand more visible throughout the store.

“We’re reviewing completely that branding to make sure