At Supervalu's annual shareholder meeting last month, company CEO and president Craig Herkert said, "We are focused on acting as one company, working toward a common goal of delivering increased value to all of our customers and meeting their needs neighborhood by neighborhood."
That focus has been expanded to the company's private label program where the decision was made to replace individual brands for each chain and replace them with a single label under the Essential Everyday name. The Essential Everyday line is a national brand equivalent.
Supervalu said last month that it planned to expand its Shoppers Value price/value line with 80 new items in the months ahead.
In addition to cohesive branding being done on a national basis, the single line approach also helps Supervalu achieve production savings, as well.
Sam Mayberry, vice president of private brands for Supervalu, told the Chicago Tribune that 94 percent of the company's shoppers buy private label items sometimes, while 20 percent always do. Regular purchasers, said Mr. Mayberry, "rely on private brands to make ends meet."