Loblaw Launches Premium Black Label

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September 20, 2011

Canadian retailer Loblaw will soon debut a new line of premium President’s Choice private label gourmet products under Black Label.

Smokey bacon marmalade, eight-year-old cheddar and the cherry shiraz fruit jelly, are just a few examples of the 213 products soon to hit 140 select stores in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Eventually the brand will be expanded to more locations.

“We’ve always seen a market for premium items even in tough economic times. A number of specialty stores have come into the market in the last couple of years,” Ian Gordon, vice president Loblaw brands told the Toronto Star.

Prices range from $2 to $25 ($1.99 to $24.99 CAD), less than in specialty gourmet stores. The Black Label line will become the premium President’s Choice brand when launched, with items including specialty mustards, condiments, dressings and sauces, biscuits and crackers, nuts and desserts.

Black Label products will be marketed in stores with displays telling the brand’s story, similar to all President’s Choice products. But it will be missing the actual name, Black Label. Boxes will instead feature simple photographs or images and key words on a plain black background. “It goes back to our first successful controlled brand product in a yellow and black package with no name on it. It wasn’t until six years later that we actually put ‘No Name’ on the packaging,” Gordon told the Star.

Black Label joins Loblaw’s more than 2,000 private label products under the No Name and President’s Choice brands. President’s Choice is launching the line with a dinner party on this Thursday prepared by several of Toronto’s top chefs tasked with creating a menu based on Black Label products.

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