Dive Brief:

• Albertsons announced Wednesday it is bringing its Signature Farms, Signature Care and Signature Cafe private label products under its flagship Signature Select house brand.
• The grocer has also rolled out a new advertising campaign to promote the expanded Signature Select line’s “virtues of quality, taste, value and convenience,” Brandon Brown, Albertsons’ senior vice president of own brands, said in a statement.
• The private label changes come just a few months after Albertsons expanded its Open Nature line and gave that store brand a makeover.

Dive Insight:

Albertsons’ decision to consolidate its Signature product lines under one centralized brand is part of a broader effort by the retailer to build deeper connections with shoppers and encourage them to associate its brands with meaningful experiences in their lives.

In addition to consolidating the Signature lines under a single name, the company has developed a refreshed logo and a unified packaging design to help shoppers spot products sporting the Signature Select name when walking around the store, according to the announcement. 

Signature Select is already the most expansive name in Albertsons’ private label family, encompassing more than 8,000 products including packaged salads, pasta, canned vegetables, paper goods, ground beef and frozen pizza, Albertsons noted. Signature Cafe, meanwhile, incorporates a range of deli items, Signature Farms includes fresh poultry and produce, and Signature Care comprises baby and personal products. 

“We are incredibly proud of our Signature family of brands and by bringing these sub-brands together under one name, we are building greater brand recognition, driving brand loyalty and creating customers for life,” Jennifer Saenz, Albertsons’ executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, said in a statement.

The retailer said it has already started the switch to the unified Signature Select brand across its portfolio of stores and expects to finish the process in early 2024.

The changes Albertsons is making to its private label strategy follow the retailer’s move earlier this year to liven up its O Organics house line with modernized packaging. Albertsons also recently added products to its Open Nature line of natural foods and spiffed up the brand’s logo.

Albertsons said its ongoing efforts to sharpen its private label brands reflects the findings of a survey it commissioned this month that showed that 93% of people in the U.S. are stepping up their interest in and purchase of store brands. This comes as record-high inflation has spurred many shoppers to trade down to lower-priced goods, including those offered by store brands.

Respondents pointed to price, quality and availability as central reasons why they have been turning to store-brand products, and a “large number” indicated they also take taste into account when selecting a private label, according to the announcement.