DISCUSSION
Target looks to expand the reach of its $1B+ Good & Gather grocery brand
Written by George Anderson
Photo: Target
It’s probably safe to say at this point that the Target-owned Good & Gather grocery brand has lived up to the retailer’s expectations. The line, which launched last September with 650 SKUs in the chain’s stores, has helped drive more Target runs to the tune of $1 billion+ in sales. Target is looking to build on the momentum created by the brand during the novel coronavirus pandemic by adding another 600 items to the brand’s lineup.
New Good & Gather additions will bring the total number of SKUs in the line to around 2,000, covering virtually every grocery category. Among the new items are bite-size everything crackers, butternut squash pasta sauce, frozen uncured pepperoni pizza, frozen zucchini spirals, jalapeno avocado hummus and meatless burgers. Each item, like the entire Good & Gather line, is made without artificial flavors and sweeteners, synthetic colors and high fructose corn syrup. Select items from the line will be available on target.com in addition to the chain’s stores.
“Food plays such an important role in our guests’ lives,” Stephanie Lundquist, president, food & beverage, Target, said in a statement. “And now, as guests are eating and cooking at home — and appreciating good value — more than ever, Good & Gather’s delicious, high-quality assortment and affordable price continues to set Target apart, while helping our guests discover the joy of food every day.”
Target has been looking to grow its grocery business as a means to drive more frequent traffic to its locations. Grocery sales, pre-pandemic, represented about 20 percent of the chain’s total. Walmart’s, by contrast, drove about half its revenues from grocery before COVID-19 hit.
CEO Brian Cornell, speaking on the retailer’s earnings call last month, said Good & Gather has helped grow Target’s own-brand food and beverage business more than 30 percent in 2020, “significantly outpacing the market and growing market share.”
CNBC, citing UBS as its source, reports that Target was the seventh-largest grocer by sales in the U.S. with three percent of the market at the end last year. The top two on that list were Walmart with 21 percent of the market and Kroger with a 10 percent share.
- Good & Gather’s About to Get Bigger—and *Even More* Delicious – Target Corporation
- Target revs up its grocery game with hundreds of new products, including gourmet pastas and coffees – CNBC
- Target Corporation (TGT) CEO Brian Cornell on Q2 2020 Results (Earnings Call Transcript) – Seeking Alpha
- Will a new grocery private label spur more Target runs? – RetailWire