Dive Brief:

• Albertsons announced Thursday it has expanded its Open Nature brand with 12 new plant-based products, including yogurt alternatives, and that the line now offers 100% domestically raised, grass-fed Angus beef.
• The grocer also noted in the press release it has redesigned its Open Nature brand to include a new font and a leaf logo.
• Albertsons’ recent efforts to refresh and expand its Open Nature brands come at a time when grocers are leveraging their private brands to win over price-sensitive consumers. 

Dive Insight:

Albertsons said its work on Open Nature is aimed at making it more appealing to health-conscious shoppers, emphasizing the brand’s affordability, range of new products and flavors. 

“As we continue to innovate and grow our portfolio, we want to ensure that our customers have diverse options, high-quality products and thoughtfully chosen ingredients at accessible prices,” said Brandon Brown, senior vice president of own brands at Albertsons, said in the announcement. “The expansion of our Open Nature offerings demonstrates an ongoing commitment to support the health and wellbeing of our neighbors and communities.”

Brown said research shows that more people in the U.S. are turning to better-for-you eating to support for long-term health and prevent future health conditions.

The Open Nature expansion includes coconut yogurt alternatives, cheese alternatives, oat frozen desserts, shredded cheese alternatives and almond frozen desserts, with options available in a variety of flavors. The coconuts yogurts, for example, come in vanilla, strawberry, raspberry and mango options. 

Albertsons noted that the plant-based product additions join the line’s existing assortment of plant-based products including non-dairy almond milk, buttery spreads and protein powders.

The grocer claimed that its 100% domestically raised, grass-fed Angus beef offering makes the brand one of the largest private label domestic grass-fed programs in the U.S. Albertsons noted that the Angus cattle are raised on U.S. family farm pastures that are certified humane and free from both antibiotics and added hormones.

After launching Open Nature in 2011, Albertsons introduced a new logo in 2018. Its latest logo does away with the circular seal of previous years and utlizes a white background along with two slender green leaves below the brand’s name.

The grocer said it has continuously listened to customer feedback when evolving Open Nature, which not has more than 500 products across over 100 categories. Open Nature is part of Albertsons’ extensive portfolio of store brands, which includes O Organics, Signature and Lucerne.

Last November, Albertsons launched a collection of private label premium wines. Earlier that year, it unveiled a redesign of its Soleil Sparkling Water brand.