Private Brand

It’s grocery shopping time and, as usual, we need to stock up on our favorite almost-tasty beverage: sparkling water. As we head down the water aisle with our cart full of frozen pizzas, perusing the various flavors and brands of sparkling water available to us, we’re struck by something: the brand-name sparkling water costs twice as much as the sparkling water carrying the Kroger name. What’s up with that?

Well, what’s up is that the Kroger sparkling water is what’s known as a “private brand.” It’s a product that a major retailer buys directly from a supplier or manufacturer, slaps its own name onto, and sells in its stores.

This is super common in the wide world of food products, but that’s not the only industry where private brands are a thing. Private-label household products are also common, as are private brand clothing lines in major department stores. Since the retailer buys the goods in bulk at a steep discount, those price reductions are often passed along to us the consumer. There’s really no difference in the quality of the product itself, but selling its own brand allows retailers to make additional profits, and it allows us to save money. Or spend more on frozen pizzas.