34. Store-Brand Products

The Economics of Everyday Things

Those low-priced staples on grocery-store shelves — where do they come from? Zachary Crockett finds out at a national convention for private-label manufacturers.

• SOURCES:
  • Kusum Ailawadi, professor of marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
  • Eric Beringause, C.E.O. of Winland Foods.
  • Ryan Boyle, vice president of sales at Kitchen Innovations.
  • Samantha Burd, co-owner of Lady Burd Cosmetics.
  • Dean Erstad, senior vice president of sales at Seneca.
  • Harry Overly, president and C.E.O. of Flagstone Foods.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The Backlash to Price Hikes Is Building," by Julia Waldow (Modern Retail, 2024).
  • "For U.S. Consumers, It’s a Matter of ‘And’ — Not ‘Or,'" by Kari Alldredge and Warren Teichner (McKinsey & Company, 2023).
  • "Those Doritos Too Expensive? More Stores Offer Their Own Alternatives," by Julie Creswell (The New York Times, 2023).
  • "Why Private Label Brands Are Having Their Moment," by Errol Schweizer (Forbes, 2022).
  • "The Hidden Makers of Costco’s Kirkland Signature and Trader Joe’s O’s," by Nathaniel Meyersohn (CNN Business, 2022).
  • "Pursuing the Value-Conscious Consumer: Store Brands versus National Brand Promotions," by Kusum Ailawadi, Scott A. Neslin, and Karen Gedenk (Journal of Marketing, 2001).
  • "The Effect of Generic Products on Consumer Perceptions and Brand Choice," by John J. Wheatley (NA - Advances in Consumer Research, 1981).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s?" by Freakonomics Radio (2018).
  • "How to Save $1 Billion Without Even Trying," by Freakonomics Radio (2014).