Private Label Magazine - July/August 2003

Sweet, Salty, Sassy

John J. Pierce

"If you like Baby Ruth(r) candy bars, try Clover Valley(tm)," Dollar General says of its Nutty Nougat bar-one of a dozen targeting America's favorites. Topco, meanwhile, turns its label for a World Classics milk chocolate bar into a birthday greeting.

Retailers aren't taking any lip from the brands. But they are taking tips.

Snack foods used to be pretty much under lock-and-key by the national brands. You had Hershey candy bars, Wise potato chips, Planter's nuts. With brand brokers servicing retail displays, store brands were at a disadvantage if they appeared at all.

Of course, there were always the standard bagged candies like spice drops, and nuts and chips were generic enough that retailers could make headway with them if they only dared to take control of the shelves. But it's taken longer for store brands to crack some categories.

Take candy bars, for example. Once rare in store brands, they're fairly common now, but usually they cover a pretty limited range: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, maybe with almonds, crisp rice or caramel. But a new line at Dollar General, Goodlettsville, TN, is something else.

Under the Clover Valley brand, the dollar store chain offers candy bars positioned against Milky Way, Snickers, Mounds, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Pay Day, Three Musketeers and 100 Grand, not to mention mints and peanut butter patties compared to York Peppermint Patties and Reese's Cups.

"If you like Butterfinger® try Clover Valley™," boasts a call-out on the wrapper for Crispy Butter Bite. There are similar call-outs for Chewy Coconut, Chocoate Nougat Whip, Nutty Nougat, Nutty Caramel Chew, Peanut Caramel and Caramel Rice Crisp bars, and for Peanut Butter Patties and Chocolate Covered Peppermint Crème. They're all four for a dollar.

Another hot idea in candy: greeting card wrappers. Topco Associates, Skokie, IL, has come out with pure milk chocolate bars under its World Classics brand, but the brand itself is hard to find because the wrappers are devoted to messages like "It's Your Birthday, Celebrate!" and "You and me and a little chocolate." The 3.25 oz bars retail for $1.49 at Big Y, Springfield, MA.

When it comes to store brand salty snacks, food retailers again aren't always at the head of the list when it comes to ideas. Target Stores, Minneapolis, MN, for example, offers chili & lemon flavored tortilla chips under its Archer Farms Market brand, along with organic blue corn tortilla chips.

Shaw's, East Bridgewater, MA, may be the first mainstream supermarket chain to have come out with private label Veggie Chips. A "delicious alternative to regular potato chips," they are made from potato flour, hydrogenated soybeans and a puree of tomatoes, spinach and green peppers and retail under the Shaw's Signature brand at $2.99 a 10 oz. bag.

When it comes to nuts, standard packaging for store brands has always been cans, jars or pegboard bags, But Zellers, Brampton, ON, has gone the stand-up resealable pouch route for 700g barbecue blanched peanuts, retailing at C$2.17 (about $1.56 American).

Variations of standard salty snacks are common among U.S. retailers. Wal-Mart, Bentonville, AR, offers a Southwest Snack Mix under its Great Value brand, with hot and spicy peanuts, cajun hot sesame sticks, corn kernels and corn hot sticks. Pub & Club snack mix under the Cleo B.'s brand from Save-a-Lot, Earth City, MO, is a milder blend of breadsticks, rye bagel chips, sesame nuggets and pretzels.