Walmart launches its largest private grocery brand in decades

Walmart launched a new private food brand with hundreds of items across a variety of categories. This comes as private brands continue to gain market share.

Walmart announced Tuesday that it is launching its largest private food brand in decades to lure in more cost-conscious shoppers.

The brand, Bettergoods, will encompass 300 items including frozen, dairy, snacks, beverages, pasta, soups, coffee and chocolate, the Arkansas-based retailer said. 

All the items will cost between $2 and $15; "most products" will be priced under $5, Walmart said.

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To set itself apart, Walmart touted that Bettergoods isn't a direct alternative to national brand offerings but rather "unique" to Walmart, including specialty salts and seasonings, like Hot Honey Seasoning, or jar soups, including our Creamy Corn Jalapeno Chowder. 

The company already has two private labels, Great Value and Equate, which are lower-cost alternatives to national brand products. 

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told analysts on an earnings call in February that "private brand penetration is up in many of the countries where we operate, including the United States."

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Mary Ellen Lynch, principal of Center Store Solutions at Circana, reported that private brands are increasingly capturing market share from name brands.

"This trend is driven by consumers, particularly those with children, as well as millennial and Gen X households without children, who are strategically employing a variety of methods to stretch their dollars amid high inflation," Lynch said in a March report. 

To underscore this, private brands gained share over name brands, rising from 24.7% in 2022 to 25.5% last year, according to Circana data.

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Walmart's move comes shortly after Target launched its cheapest brand to date. It's called "dealworthy," and it comes as households continue to feel constrained by the high cost of goods.  

Target Executive Vice President Rick Gomez said the brand "will not only appeal to our current guests but position us to attract even more new shoppers to Target."