Kroger Consolidates Store Brands Under Simple Truth Label

November 1, 2011

The Kroger Company’s natural foods products have found a home under one banner, Simple Truth, as the line gets a new cohesive look.

“Naturally Preferred and Private Selection Organic are switching to Simple Truth,” according to the grocer’s website announcing the maneuver. “So now you can look for one name.” Gone are the Naturally Preferred and Private Selection Organic store brands, as those products now reside under the Simple Truth banner.

Kroger has been revamping its various store brands over the past year. The Kroger brand recently got a facelift with new packaging as the chain converts approximately 5,000 SKUs across 276 categories. The new look includes more food photography and lifestyle imagery with many featuring shoppers enjoying the product.

In June, Kroger expanded its premium Private Selection brand with a variety of frozen pizzas, lasagna and artisan breads, as well as fresh meats and seafood. It also reformulated or rebranded the products in its Home Sense private label household line.

“A highlight of the quarter was the launch of our new homes essentials brand, Kroger Home Sense, with 200 reformulated or rebranded products,” said Rodney McMullen, president and COO about the launch. “The collection of smart simple solutions helps customers get great results everywhere in their home. You'll find our new brand in paper towels, facial tissue, paper housewares and more.”

Store brand market share is growing faster at Kroger than that of national brands. During Kroger’s second quarter of the current fiscal year, private label represented approximately 27 percent of grocery department sales dollars and 34 percent of units sold. This compares to 26 percent and 34 percent, respectively, to the same period last year, McMullen said during a conference call with analysts.

“Our multi-billion dollar corporate brand portfolio is a competitive advantage because it gives our customers more choices, and variety and value to complement the broad assortment of national brand products we offer,” he said. “In addition to assisting customers on their quest for value, we also want our corporate brand products to appeal to a diverse customer base.

Kroger has also recently launched its first bilingual website, comfortsforbaby.com, to support the Comforts private label products for infants and toddlers. The Spanish language version of the site even includes content specifically tailored to Hispanic parents.

SBD Views: Kroger’s move to consolidate two brands under the new Simple Truth brand is consistent with an overall trend of brand consolidation as documented in our recent research report, “The Future of Store Brands Packaging Design.” We see the trend continuing as it will create broader platforms upon which retailers can begin to engage in legitimate consumer marketing for their store brands. -- John Failla for Store Brands Decisions

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Keywords: private label natural food, private label organic food

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