Dr. Herbert V. Shuster

"There is a common denomi-nator that can be looked on as a checklist of pertinent factors... They constitute the technical ABC's of private label. -Dr. Hern Shuster

Pioneer of Quality Assurance

Dr. Herb Shuster earned his PhD in food science and biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he embraced that institution’s world-renowned approach to science and quality. He brought this scientific approach into his business.

“Dr. Shuster consulted with private label manufacturers to raise quality in the industry,” says Ken Schuler, vice president–sales, First Quality Enterprises, Great Neck, NY, in his nomination of Dr Shuster for induction into the 2007 Class of the PL Hall of Fame. “He established the testing protocol for the industry to set quality levels. And he mentored many industry executives in senior level positions.”

Dr Shuster was in the forefront of insisting that success in private label was related to national brand equivalency.
“Dr. Shuster wanted private label to have a reference–a measurable entity,” recalls Phil Katz, senior vice president, Shuster Laboratories. “That’s one of the principles of good scientific approach to quality assurance. In testing you always have a benchmark or reference. One of his guiding principles in the early years was that private label is dependent on the marketability of the national brands.

“The retailer’s ability to say that its private label is equivalent to or can be compared to the national brand gave credibility to the private label product.

If the consumer accepted that promise and the product delivered that, then private label became a success.”

Through his company, Shuster Laboratories–which he founded in 1955–Dr. Shuster worked to develop product specifications for private label product lines. In the early 1960s, Dr. Shuster played a significant role in the development of private label programs for companies like Staff Supermarkets and Pathmark.

PLMA Founding Member

Photo of kids in a test center sampling PL products, which accompanied Dr. Shuster's first article in PL magazine.

In 1979, Dr. Shuster joined with E.W. Williams, founder and publisher of Private Label magazine and 15 other manufacturers and suppliers to found the Private Label Manufacturers Association in New York City.

Indeed, Dr. Shuster was an early contributor of articles to Private Label on the topic technology and quality assurance.

In the inaugural issue of Private Label in April 1979 Dr Shuster wrote: “The Technical ABC’s of Private Label.”

Here is an excerpt from the article:

It is somewhat surprising, in this day of satellite communications, mini-computers, and the like, that aspects of certain industries have lagged woefully behind in the applications of sound technology to the growth of their business in its broadest context.

But the last 10 years have seen some dramatic changes.

Today, technology is a dynamic force and touches every facet of our daily lives–private label is no exception.

Virtually every supermarket chain, drug chain, or mass merchandising chain as well as every manufacturer or supplier of private label product to these chains has a somewhat different concept of what any one particular private label product should be. From formulation to packaging to labeling to pricing to merchandising, each one advocates a personal and rather rigid set of guidelines.

Be that as it may, there is a common denominator that applies to all private label products irrespective of individual philosophies. This common denominator can be looked on as a checklist of pertinent factors, each with the potential of affecting any one product to a lesser or great extent. They constitute the technical ABC’s of private label.

PL Visionary

Dr. Shuster retired from Shuster Laboratories in 1995 at which time he sold the company to Hauser Corporation, based in Boulder, CO. He died in September 1999.

Shuster Laboratories was later sold to the current owner STR-Specialized Technology Resources-which is headquartered in Enfield, CT. Shuster Laboratories moved to its present location in Canton, MA, in 2000 and dedicated the building to Dr. Shuster in 2002.

How would Dr. Shuster react to the current evolution of private label away from national brand equivalency and toward unique store brand products that today is seen in the form of premium private label?

Says Katz: “That evolution was part of his vision for private label. He was way ahead of the retail community in this regard. He envisioned this development but retailers during his lifetime weren’t ready to embrace that strategy. He understood that if you are going to create your own brand identity then you don’t need a national brand reference because you have set your own reference.”