Posted on 02/16/2010 10:01:48 AM PST by Star Traveler
Published by diamondpoet
December 4, 2009
What is Walmart really up to.
Walmart is one of the biggest supermarket chains in the world. As of August 31, 2008, Walmart has as many as 100 food categories:
United States 4,227 total units.
International 3,210 total units
This is a time where families needs to make every penny count, Walmart expansion of it’s Great Value brand is replacing many of the name brands, we have used for so many years.
The new improved Great Value products — which has been appearing on shelves and various sections of the store, is slowly being integrated into Walmart stores across the country, within the past few months – will provide families with affordable and possible high quality groceries. This is some sales jargon that Walmart has come up with, but what is really going on?
Walmart is the company, that is famous for their roll-back slogan, and now it would seem that they are also trying to monopolize the food industry. I am all for savings, but I prefer quality products and good taste. I grew up with many of the brand names and it is what I am accustomed to.
There are a few thing that I could settle for, that is not name brand, but when I was shopping during the Thanksgiving holiday, I was looking for McCormick’s vanilla, this is the only brand that I use to make my pies. I discovered that Walmart had completely removed McCormick’s brand and replaced it with their own brand Great Value. I rely on McCormick’s products to prepare many of my meals.
I tried using substitutes, but there is no comparison to McCormick’s Seasonings. I have never shopped anywhere other than Walmart, because I was comfortable and they basically provided most of my needs.
It would now see that I am being forces to shop somewhere else. Walmart no longer stock all the brand names that I desire. Since Walmart is trying to completely eliminate the middle-man, what type of effect will this have on many of the distributors and will this also have a spiraling effect on the economy as well?
Since so many distributors rely on Walmart’s business, will they not suffer and be forced to downsize? I can’t help but wonder is this really going to benefits the consumers or hurt us even more?
They wouldn't need to reconfigure the line. You simply run a slightly lower grade of input (raw product).
Why don't they drop the subterfuge and just call it the Great Wall Value. We already know what it is and where it comes from. And no thanks. My dollars may not buy me as much, but the food I purchase won't have me glowing at night, or with mercury levels higher than a carp taking a water nap, floating on it's side.
LOL... glowing at night huh? I haven't heard that one about Walmart's off-brand stuff... :-)
Even so, they still do have some name-brands there, and that's going to be the same stuff at any store. So, in that case, it's just a matter of whether the same product is cheaper there or somewhere else, I suppose.
But, Walmart is making a stupid marketing move by eliminating name-brands, along-side of their "off-brand" stuff...
It's the same stuff. When the big peanut butter recall happened a few years back - it turned out Peter Pan and Great Value were one and the same. Walmart's not producing food - they're putting their label on it... So keep track of recalls and you'll know what you're buying - and a MUCH cheaper price.
If you look close they have raised prices also...
Boy... have I noticed! The prices seem to go up every couple of months... (or the package gets smaller) ... :-)
It's the same stuff.
Some stuff may be, but that's not true on it all, or even on a majority. There's another factor in this, too -- and it's that the off-brand stuff is sometimes lower quality raw product (that goes into the finished item), while the "name-brand" (from the same manufacturer) is kept higher quality from cherry-picking the better raw product.
So, the product is made the same way, packed in the same container (different label), but the raw product is the lower quality "rejects" that they did not want in their name-brand.
It comes out the same factory door, it has the same basic container (but different label), it looks about the same -- but it's the lower quality product that they produce. That's what a lot of people don't realize...
BUT -- if you (or someone else) can't tell the difference, then I guess it doesn't matter... :-)
Since they are the same products made in the same factories in many cases, what’s the diff?
you said....”store brands and name brands are indeed manufactured by the same company.”.....
Well I’ve found store brands tastes are less than name brands in the items I’ve purchased...butter has less flavor, peanut butter tastes like more lard than peanuts..canned peas are flat...and crackers less flavor. So I gave up on store brands becaause the flavor just wasn’t there...so if all they do is change the label why the differences in flavor?
And the problem here, is that Walmart may get to the point where they end up driving their customers (or a significant portion of them) completely out of the Walmart stores, because Walmart doesn’t have enough of the products that the consumer wants to buy (i.e., those products that they’ve “eliminated” doncha know...).
Well, you’re right, and some people just don’t want to admit it. They simply like to pretend that they are getting the same thing... LOL...
It has worked successfully for Aldi’s.
I stopped buying groceries at WalMart when I started getting 4 fl. oz. of water for every pound of ground beef I cooked. (Yes, we actually measured.) I am now shopping at Costco’s, Sprouts and HEB. We buy lots of HEB and Costco house brand goods. The only thing I have been disappointed in was the Kirkland vanilla I bought at Costco’s.
Since they are the same products made in the same factories in many cases, what’s the diff?
Well, for one thing, that's not necessarily true in all case, or even..., in most cases.
And for another reason... when it does come from the same manufacturer, you may not realize that the way a manufacturer can save on the cost of his name-brand stuff, is by rejecting certain parts of the raw products that they buy for their name-brand stuff -- and turning those "rejects" into the off-brand label. They don't have to throw it away (and they wouldn't), they don't have to resell the raw products to another outfit (which wouldn't get them enough money back) and so they simply make an "off-brand" from their reject stuff for the name-brand stuff.
It's the same manufacturer, using the same equipment (different "runs" though), with the same packaging (different labeling, though) and with "reject raw products".
Heck! That manufacturer can save a lot of money that way, for their name-brand stuff... LOL...
Ever since Consumers Reports had all that business about aflotoxin in peanut-butter, the name brands like Jif where very strict about improving that potential carcinogen. I always had the kids stay away from generic PB, which had not changed after other companies did.
Recently I had bought those individual Planters GoPack NUT-trition. Boy do they sell rotten nuts. Now there is a leading brand that has gone down the tubes.
Then your explanation says why there is a flavor difference. I definately noticed on the few items I purchased, which for that I don’t buy the store brands.
Also in things like scouring SOS pads...they didn’t last as long and fell apart quickly...so though saving money initially you’d have to buy them more often so the savings isn’t there. Dish detergent was weak and suds flat unless you used more of the product. So are you really saving money?
I doubt Walmart - with their process of rather brillant deal making - would fall for shoddy products. Like I said, when there's a recall you get to see which products are identical. A shorthand in Walmart is to look at the namebrand product that has the most shelf-space - that's generally the Great Value product.
It has worked successfully for Aldi’s.
Convenience stores work great, too... but I don't do my grocery shopping for the household in the local convenience store.
However, I do buy the occasional candy bar there, when getting gas, or maybe a soft drink, and some chips, perhaps... :-)
So, Aldi's may be okay for what they do, but I'm not doing my grocery shopping in there... LOL...
It has been confirmed for me that some of WalMart’s plain wrap does indeed come from China. While the glowing and mercury comments were over the top (and I expected most folks to realize that from the get go), I honestly think folks are taking a risk by eating food packaged in China.
The regulations in China are not the same as they are in the U.S. From what we have seen in the past, it’s reasonable to think at some point China will have a serious problem concerning it’s food products. The question is, do you want to risk your family’s health on one of those products?
I won’t be risking the health of mine on them.
“Many cases” is not the same or as much as “all cases” or even “most cases”, which is why I purposely chose that phrase. Thanks for reading.
Where are you getting your information?
From a retail grocery store, where I had to deal with sellers and I was a buyer and also dealt with off-brand stuff, from manufacturers that produced off-label and their label stuff... :-)
It's not that the "rejects" are "bad products" -- it's just that they are "cheaper products" and for the reason that they are rejects and don't pass muster for the name-brand stuff (according to a certain standard that they set). Again, it doesn't mean it's spoiled, or that it's inedible, or that it's bad -- it's just "cheap"...
I haven't been in the business for a long while now, but the business is pretty much the same as far as the manufacturers are concerned. And the retail food business is the same, aside from changing brands and bigger square-footage stores all the time...
“Many cases” is not the same or as much as “all cases” or even “most cases”, which is why I purposely chose that phrase. Thanks for reading.
I read it... and "many", being "plural" (and if we were to talk about 100 products, for example) -- could mean anywhere from 2 off-brand products, to 99 off-brand products... LOL...
I think you've "covered yourself" pretty well... :-)
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