Offering tips on creating value for money on your grocery shopping on any budget.
This blog is designed to help you become an astute shopper.
Tips on how to save money.
Tips on achieving better value for money on your spend.
Tips on buying economically, to use the compound saving to spread your budget further.
Blog 2 - Branded versus Own label
What's the difference between a branded and own label product?. A branded product is researched and developed from inception to launch by the manufacturer. The cost of developing the product from research through to recipe development, to consumer testing to packaging and design development to marketing and product launch is all paid for by the manufacturer. The launch cost as well as future production costs, will be represented in the recommended retail price.
The major supermarkets have their own test kitchens with top chefs who are responsible for product development. The supermarkets also have their own packaging design teams, plus customer focus teams to arrange taste tests, and product preference testing, including product design and packaging opinions, with customer panels. Marketing is also in house, plus their own distribution network. This means when a product is ready to be produced the supermarkets only have to arrange for manufacture. The retailer contracts with a manufacturer to produce exactly the specification given by the retailer. Consequently the product development costs are less to the manufacturer, which is reflected in the cost price to the retailer and from which the retailer can determine their own retail price.
The retailer when developing a new product will decide which segment of the market they are aiming for. Example: in their premium range the 1st priority will be for the new product to match for quality the brand leader. In the mid own label range it's about value but close to the brand leader's quality. The recipe will be very similar but the ingredients might be a slightly different quality. The value range is about price to the best product specification that can be achieved.
The difference between brand versus own label will in the end be a choice between taste, texture and personal preference. However if your budget is tight or you want to improve value for money of your shopping bill, own label does not necessarily mean inferior.
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