The Most Loved Private-Label Brands in Fresh and Perishable Food

Grocers that excel in meat, fresh produce, and dairy have an edge over rivals. These three departments exert the strongest influence on where shoppers buy food, according to our research. But fresh and perishable food is not just crucial to attracting customers. It’s also a core battleground for the private-label brands that can turn onetime customers into repeat visitors. US shoppers who love a grocer’s private-label brand are seven times more loyal to the grocer—as measured by Net Promoter Score^SM—than shoppers who are reluctant to recommend its own-label product range.

In our second list of most loved private-label brands in US grocery, based on joint research with ROI Rocket, we rank grocers across key fresh and perishables categories. Texas-based regional gem H-E-B takes the top spot, reflecting its leadership in fresh chicken and bread, followed by Publix, another regional player prominent in Florida and the Southeast. Like H-E-B, Trader Joe’s and Costco warehouse club favorite Kirkland Signature were also on our first “most loved” leaderboard, ranking private-label brands in shelf-stable and frozen food. Whole Foods Market’s 365 brand rounds out the fresh and perishables top five, aided by its high-quality packaged salads, which came out on top in their private-label category.

It's a great achievement to attain “most loved” status in fresh and perishables, given the strategic focus that grocers have placed on innovating and improving penetration in this area. The quintet’s success reflects not just their high NPS® but also the propensity of consumers to choose them over both leading national brands and rival private-label brands. Unsurprisingly, these most loved private-label brands outperform on value. What’s more striking is shoppers’ feeling that they don’t compromise on quality or taste.

How we define the most loved private-label brands

Bain & Company partnered with ROI Rocket to survey more than 20,000 US consumers across 19 grocery categories spanning center-store food, nonfood, and perishables departments. We then used a proprietary “consumer love score” to identify the most loved private-label brands in each department.

The score uses a weighted calculation of (1) a brand’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) and (2) consumer propensity to select the brand vs. other private and national brands within a category.

The fresh and perishables product categories surveyed in our study were fresh chicken, dairy milk, yogurt, packaged salad, cheese, and bread. Private-label brands must be present in two or more of the categories surveyed to be contenders for “most loved” status.

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The Most Loved Private-Label Brands in Shelf-Stable and Frozen Food

Trader Joe’s tops our first ranking of loyalty-boosting own-label brands in US grocery.