The grocery association positions itself as a conduit to facilitate collaboration between retailers and suppliers, a pillar of store-brand program success.

Grocers’ premium and organic brands experience aggressive growth as store-brand appeal spreads to more affluent households as well.

Wegmans Food Markets\' CEO said his grocery chain strives for higher store-brand quality than price-pressured national brands can offer.

Steadily losing market share to store brands has national branded manufacturers ready to battle retailers who are both customers and competitors, according to a former PepsiCo executive.

In less than 18 months, Doug Palmer and his team revamped A&P\'s entire store brands portfolio and developed more than a half dozen new product lines to address the unique needs of various customer segments.

This is the first of an exclusive four-part series by Store Brands Decisions on A&P\'s revamped store brands\' program. Subsequent weekly articles in the series will focus on the grocer\'s new and redesigned brands including premium lines such as Via Roma, Hartford Reserve and AC Gold; Green Way, its natural and organic brand; as well as its health care, beauty care and pet brands -- Live Better, Market Spa and Preferred Pet.

Trade relations with store-brand suppliers often are more trusting than those with national brands because goals are more aligned and the focus is on mutual success, Hy-Vee and Wegmans executives say.

Harris Teeter and Wegmans are two examples of how retailers need to master consumer insights if they want to develop relevant store brands positioned to become products of choice, according to Andres Siefken, a marketing executive at Daymon Worldwide.

Growth is less about store brands versus national brands, and more about delivering high quality products that smart consumers need, according to a panel of experts at a recent industry event.

Future growth hinges on success in four key areas if retailers want to continue taking share from top national brands, according to John J. Lewis, of  The Nielsen Co.

European retailers such as Tesco, Migros, DM and Sainsbury lead the way with first-of-their kind innovative products and packaging that U.S. retailers can learn from and, in some cases, adopt where it makes market sense, according to Mintel.

Super Dollar Discount Foods, which predominantly features store brands, enables KVAT to more effectively compete against Wal-Mart Super Centers and Aldi\'s limited assortment stores.

Thousands of Great Value store brand products across more than 100 categories have been reformulated and their packaging streamlined to be more visible, less costly and environmentally friendlier.

Blind tests at Consumer Reports endorse the quality and value of store brands, declaring most products sampled taste just as good, if not better, than national brands.

A&P created Via Roma, a first-class brand of Italian specialty foods, and launched top-shelf Hartford Reserve and AC Gold, two \'better-than\' programs that will be used selectively.

Editor\'s Note: This is the second of an exclusive four-part series on A&P\'s revamped store brand\'s program. Last week\'s article, \"A&P\'s Store Brands Transformation,\" focused on the grocer\'s overall strategy and plan. Subsequent weekly articles in the series will feature Green Way, A&P\'s natural and organic brand, as well as its health care, beauty care and pet brands -- Live Better, Market Spa and Preferred Pet.

The world\'s largest retailer leverages social media and the “Elevenmoms” blogger network to develop a direct consumer opinion poll for its growing Great Value  store brand.

Rolling up organic, natural foods and earth-friendly products and packaging under one storewide brand, A&P launched Green Way, which includes everything from food and beverages to household cleaners.

  This is the third in an exclusive four-part series on A&P\'s revamped store brands\' program. Part I, \"A&P\'s Store Brands Transformation,\" focused on the grocer\'s overall strategy and plan. Last week\'s Part II, \"A&P\'s High Hopes for Premium Store Brands,\" focused on Via Roma, Hartford Reserve and AC Gold. The final part of the series next week will spotlight the grocer\'s health care, beauty care and pet brands -- Live Better, Market Spa and Preferred Pet.

The grocer’s Preferred Pet line is one of its most developed brands in the non-foods category, but a new health and remedies brand and a separate beauty care brand are set to expand quickly.

Editor’s Note: This is the last article in an exclusive four-part series on A&P’s revamped store brand’s program. The first part, “A&P’s Store Brands Transformation,” focused on the grocer’s overall strategy and plan. Part II, “A&P’s High Hopes for Premium,” highlighted Via Roma, Hartford Reserve and AC Gold. Last week’s Part III, “A&P’s ‘Green Way’ to Sustainability,” featured the new natural and organic brand.

Thought Leadership: Andres Siefken, Daymon Worldwide

As CPG companies wrestle to minimize profit erosion caused by store brands -- and try to distract retailers with even heftier promotional allowances -- retailers must recommit to their store brand strategies for long-term and sustainable growth.

Whether its Wal-Mart\'s product lifecycle system to support its sustainability initiative or Supervalu\'s shelf management technology to optimize profits, one thing is clear -- retailers are using better and more sophisticated tools to manage store brands.

Editor\'s Note: This is the first part of a series on store brands innovation, leading up to the PLMA Private Label Trade Show Nov. 15-17 in Chicago. Subsequent articles will feature case studies and focus on topics such as consumer insights, product testing and certification, packaging design, strategy and branding, product lifecycle management and supply chain logistics.

The mass merchandiser devoted the entire cover, plus a significant share of page two and page three in its weekly circular to promote Market Pantry and Archer Farms store brands.

With the benefits of store brands growth come increasing business challenges. How do retailers use consumer insights to reduce the risk of new product development? What\'s the optimal shelf space for store brands? How can new products and packaging get on shelves faster? These questions and more are being answered with new innovative tools that can simplify processes and increase profits.

More store brand retailers are requiring manufacturer testing and certification, but forward thinking operators also use quality assurance services for other innovative applications such as brand marketing, resource allocation and vendor evaluations.

Consumer research shows that shoppers want grocers to offer more store brand products imported from Italy, but most retailers are missing the opportunity to build customer loyalty and drive new profits in this segment.

Whether through product and packaging innovation or raising the bar on food safety standards, retailers are focused on creating competitive differentiation, and increasing brand loyalty and trust.

Retailers, branding strategists and design experts at a Store Brands Decisions’ roundtable identified how to elevate the store brand game through savvy branding and creativity in premium packaging and design.

Tier expansion, product and packaging innovation and a focus on categories that are not heavily marketed by national brand manufacturers yield the highest returns for retailer store brands.

Most retailers have definitive GFSI compliance plans for their store brands, but vary widely in their approach, according to the industry’s first food safety study conducted by Store Brands Decisions.

Best practices identified by Agentrics all hinge on developing a unified and integrated database and communications system to maximize customer loyalty, sales acceleration and speed to shelf.

The chain enters the category with an ultra-premium wheat-based vodka produced in the Cognac region of France, which received a score of 91 from the independent Beverage Testing Institute.

With the CVS loyalty card, shoppers can mix and match a variety of store brands across multiple categories for a buy-one-get-one free storewide sale until Jan 9.

As retailers move beyond national brand equivalents into new product innovation, strong design and packaging helps build shopper loyalty, according to a panel of experts who participated in a recent Store Brands Decisions' roundtable.

As retailers move into the branding domain of consumer packaged goods companies, managing the risk of new product development now falls squarely on their shoulders and requires a shift in strategic mindset.

With a focus on store brands and fresh foods, Supervalu promotes Andrew Abraham to lead the store brands group and tapped Ed Hanson to focus on fresh initiatives.

Taking a page from the CPG playbook -- as well as from limited assortment retailers and discounters -- two large North American grocers adopt RRP to reduce expenses, but store brand suppliers claim their costs will rise.

The $2,000 annual flat fee per store brand SKU is viewed by some suppliers as the equivalent to slotting allowances, charging the same amount for items that have minor label revisions to more complex packaging redesigns.

Both retailers aim to reduce store brand labor costs, improve shelf presence and boost sales based on the five core pillars of their retail-ready packaging execution.

In a presentation to analysts, Walmart executive Bill Simon also admitted the company uses its store brands to “keep some of our supplier partners right there where we need them.”

To execute on the new in-house strategy, Safeway drops third-party store brands broker Daymon and implements a product lifecycle management system.

Although suppliers are free to use brokers, Supervalu’s Andrew Abraham indicates future vendor decisions will be made based on the company’s ability to “communicate directly and efficiently with our suppliers.”

With the internal brokerage relationship at both grocers ending shortly, Daymon leased satellite office space near both grocers’ headquarters to serve supplier customers as a traditional external broker.

The company’s new centralized store brands organization will now be able to fully leverage its resources and economies of scale, as well as streamline execution and accelerate innovation.

Safeway and Supervalu executive management outline the strategic direction of their store brand businesses and new organizational models.

Year-end 2009 figures demonstrate the growing appeal of store brands, but one Nielsen retail expert said the coming year is an opportunity for more strategic pricing and category expansion.

After being named CEO of Daymon just three months ago, Alex Miller, a 30-year veteran of the company, resigned;  board member  Allan Noddle appointed  interim president.

An initiative to sell its store brands and office supplies to other retail channels –– so far including Safeway and Food Lion -- is central to the company’s strategic growth plan.

To alter perceptions and enhance customer loyalty, U.S. retailers must believe -- and evangelize -- that their store brands are as good or better than national brands, according to the author of “Private Label Strategy.”

At every stage of the packaging design process –– from strategy development to prepress management –– retailers are re-evaluating practices and using specialized external resources, according to the industry’s first Store Brands Packaging Design Benchmark Study.

To support increased investment, including the use of more sophisticated software tools, retailers boost package design budgets and diversify design funding practices, according to the industry’s first Store Brands Packaging Design Benchmark Study.

Presenters focus on store brands growth opportunities, quality benchmarks, trading partner collaboration and the “halo affect” of store brands on a retailer\'s store and vice versa.

Frugal consumer spending continues unabated, but national brand competition curtails store brand market share growth, making innovation, in-store marketing, and social media campaign exploration more important than ever.

Shopper panels, loyalty card data and other research tools position Sobeys as a customer-centric organization developing store brands that shoppers not only want and need, but clearly understand.

Aggressive CPG attacks against store brands force industry retailers and suppliers to operate more efficiently, with an eye toward store brands product, packaging and supply chain innovation. (Pictured from left to right  are Jack Kelly of AIPC and Curt Hollmann of Giant Eagle).

How consumers shop for store brands is completely inverse from how they shop for national CPG brands. Retailers should wholeheartedly leverage this dynamic, according to Symphony IRI.

With 67 of consumer decisions about store brands made at the shelf, retailers should upgrade packaging and labeling, and boost in-store marketing activity, according to Symphony IRI.

Using The New Ways of Working Together framework, Wegmans is collaborating with suppliers –– branded and private label – to eliminate business disruptions and improve performance.

Touring stores in Bentonville, Store Brands Decisions encountered Walmart’s new premium private label food brand and a redesign of its OTC store brand Equate.

National brands posted declines in both dollars and units, while private label pulled out a 2.2 percent increase in dollar sales for the recent four-week period.

A guidance document outlining the new global metrics will be released in January and is intended to help retailers and manufacturers reduce costs and accelerate best practices.

Organizational structure, communications, brands consolidation and budget constraints are top challenges for retailers and design firms who participated in the second Store Brands Decisions’ Packaging Design Roundtable.

Engaging vendors, connecting with customers and knowing what national brands are up to are important ingredients of successful store brands packaging design. For some, workflow management technology is also a must.

Initiated at Walmart Canada, retail-ready packaging is gaining momentum companywide as packaging and manufacturing companies offer new and improved solutions.

With more than 627,000 products entered into its Sustainable Packaging Scorecard, the next step is deciding how best to use the information captured to make sound packaging and product improvements.

Innovation is not about “followership” but leadership, and consistently developing high-quality consumer-centric products, according to Safeway’s Joe Ennen.