Spreading Private Label
Reduced sugar black currant jelly with 65% fruit is part of the Fit & Active line at Aldi.
Store brands have come a long way from peanut butter and jelly, baby!
Once upon a time, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich consisted of grape jelly, smooth peanut butter and white bread.
Well, times have changed, and while PB&J purists can rest easy knowing the old standby ingredients are still in abundant supply, they are but two offerings in a sea of choices. Whether it’s an inexpensive grape jelly to pair with your creamy peanut butter or decadent wild berry preserves to compliment a sunflower seed nut butter, it’s available in private labels.
Let’s start with jellies, preserves, fruit butters and fruit spreads. What distinguishes one sweet spread from another? According to the experts at Smuckers.com each category is defined by both its ingredients and the process by which it’s prepared. Jelly, for example, is made from fruit juice and requires the addition of pectin to make it gelatinous. It is usually the thinnest in consistency and costs less than jam or preserves.
An inexpensive jelly can liven up morning toast, and a variety of fruity flavors are available in stores as different as Aldi, Batavia, IL, and Trader Joe’s, Monrovia, CA. Strawberry and grape jellies are widely available with strawberry jelly costing a bit more than its grape counterpart. The lowest prices were found in Target, Minneapolis, MN, Market Pantry line where 18-oz. of grape jelly sold for just $1.37. Kroger, Cincinnati, OH, and Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh, PA, both sell the same size of their own private label jellies for around $2.00, while Smucker’s costs 30-40% more for the same volume.
For busy parents (or kids) making lunches, squeezable jelly is a convenient time saver. Handy 20-oz. bottles range in price from $1.96 for private label strawberry jelly at Walmart, Bentonville, AK, to $2.99 for the same size of Kroger’s brand. Meijer, Grand Rapids, MI, and Giant Eagle also have squeezable store brands available in both grape and strawberry at modest savings over the national brands.
If you’re looking to stretch your taste buds beyond the common berry, Giant Eagle makes both apple cherry and orange currant jellies, while Kroger offers a grape apple variety. Marmalade, jelly whose unique texture comes from the addition of citrus rind, can also be found in private labels at both Kroger and Meijer. Reduced sugar and sugar free jellies are also available in store brands at Walmart, Kroger, Meijer and Aldi in enticing flavors like Fruits of the Forest and Black Currant.
As the fruit content increases, however, so do the prices. Jam, which is thicker than jelly and is made from crushed fruit and fruit puree, had less shelf presence. Preserves, on the other hand, were well represented. Preserves are made by crushing large pieces of fruit.
Kroger’s premium Private Selections label offers California peach preserves and Wild Maine Blueberry preserves in 10-oz jars ranging in price from $4.29-$4.99. Trader Joe’s and Meijer offer additional competition in preserves with both traditional and reduced sugar varieties. Target’s 18-oz. jars of Reduced Sugar Organic Preserves sell for around $3.60 and Meijer Organics’ Raspberry Preserves in 11-oz. jars for $2.99.
Unlike preserves, fruit spreads are typically contain 100% percent fruit and are made without corn syrup. Often shelved alongside Smucker’s Simply Fruit, these spreadable fruits bear names that echo the national brand, such as Meijer’s “Endless Fruit” and Kroger’s “Just Fruit”.
Trader Joe’s offers a line of superfuit spreads. What are the superfruits? They appear to be fruits high in nutritional value and anti-oxidants, such as the Concord grape, but have been both marketed as “super fruits” and possess consumer appeal such as acai berries and pomegranates. Trader Joe’s has packaged these fruits in their own organic preserves line appropriately called, “Superfruit Spread.” with cherries, pomegranates and blueberries.
Lastly, fruit butter, which doesn’t contain butter, is made by cooking fruit pulp and sugar. Less common than the other fruit spreads, apple fruit butter is available in private label from Target and Kroger. A 28-oz. jar of Kroger’s Apple Butter sells for $2.39, while the Archer Farm’s variety sells for $4.29.
So what about the other half of the PB&J sandwich? Not surprisingly, the stores offering the widest variety of fruit spread choices also offer the largest selection of peanut butters in smooth, crunchy and reduced fat varieties. Regular peanut butter was available in 18-oz. jars at most stores for around $1.70. Take out some of the fat, and the same size jar of reduced fat peanut butter costs $2.19 at Giant Eagle and $2.79 at Kroger, alongside comparable national brands for about $3. Target even offers a decadent peanut butter for chocolate lovers: Market Pantry’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread.
Another popular offering is almond butter. Whole Foods, Austin, TX, offers almond butter in both smooth and chunky varieties under their 365 label. And for twice the price, you can get a 16-oz. jar of 365 Organic Smooth Almond Butter for $12.99. Trader Joe’s Almond Butter comes in many different combinations of creamy or crunchy, salted or unsalted, “raw” and regular. Other notable nut spreads include Kroger’s 13-oz. jar of Hazlenut Spread, which sells for $2.79 next to Nutella for $4.19, and Whole Foods’ Smooth Cashew Butter for $5.99 a jar.
But wait, there’s more. Want organic peanut butter? How about natural peanut butter? What’s the difference? Here’s the bottom line: organic products bearing the USDA Organic seal must comply with strict regulations set forth by the FDA regarding growing and processing. “Natural” labels require no such adherence. Many national brand peanut butters, including Jif, Smucker’s and Skippy, all offer “natural” varieties alongside their traditional brands. These spreads are packaged in earth tones and bear labels that look like their organic counterparts and sell for a higher price.
The largest selection of private label certified organic peanut butter was found at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Trader Joe’s offers many choices, in creamy and crunchy, salted and no salt added varieties. They even offer TJ’s Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds (in both creamy and crunchy) for those seeking that extra source of ALA Omega 3’s.
In addition to offering the same packaged choices in their 365 line, Whole Foods offers something unique: freshly ground peanut butter. A large “Grind Your Own” display in the middle of the store offers customers the chance to buy the experience of grinding their own butter in-store. Customers can choose from appetizing bins full of peanuts, almonds, cashews, and honey roasted peanuts. Simply scoop, grind and fill one of the deli containers provided. No mystery ingredients, no processing additives, just freshly ground nuts. Prices range from $3.99/lb. for peanut butter, to $7.99 for fresh ground Almond Butter.
However, if you’re just looking for a PB&J, look no further than Kroger and Giant Eagle. Both grocers have their customers seeing stripes. Stripes of peanut butter and jelly packed in the same jar. With packaging that appeals to children shelved alongside Smucker’s striped variety, 18-oz. of Giant Eagle’s “Fun Stripes” is available in grape for $2.89, while Kroger’s “Yipes! Stripes!” is available in both grape and strawberry for just a dime more.
If PB&J isn’t sweet enough for the young at heart, Walmart offers Great Value marshmallow spread for about the same price as the national brands.
