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?
Walmart food products are without much taste. The only exceptions are Walmart’s cheesecakes and their cheese bread. Both are delicious.
I’ve tried their cookies, other breads, etc., and the taste is just not there. They need to improve greatly.
Except that's not what the article says. Unsurprisingly, the article is pretty poorly written, but the line that could come closest to what you're saying is this:
"Walmart expansion of it’s Great Value brand is replacing many of the name brands, we have used for so many years."
Hard to give much credibility to a piece of "news" that can't even properly use the term "its," but leaving that aside, this sentence is, at best, ambiguous. It says that GV is replacing name brand products. May well be true--WM may well be devoting more shelf space to GV at the expense of name brand products; I have no idea whether or not that's true. But even if it were, that doesn't mean that it is discontinuing the sale of name brand products. That's something that you've read into the article based on the ridiculous story that the author, Diamond Poet--don't I remember him from his Pulitzer a few years back?--told about McCormick vanilla. Absurd.
Further, as I noted above, Wal-Mart is unique in that individual stores, in large part, determine their own inventory. Regardless of what Diamond Poet, or Star Traveler, or any other person noticed at their individual store, that doesn't mean boo for Wal-Marts in my town, or the other 50,000 Wal-Marts in America.
But yes, Diamond Poet's Wal-Mart didn't have McCormick's vanilla. Oh, the humanity!
Reported by: WROC-TV
Monday, Feb 15, 2010 @01:30pm EST
Don't be shocked if you can't find your favorite salad dressing or mouthwash on your next trip to Wal-Mart.
Large retailers -- including Wal-Mart, the world's biggest -- are wrestling with having too many types of brand-name products. At the same time, shoppers are buying less and looking for bargains.
So unless a particular brand is a top seller in its category, it's getting knocked off the shelf -- and sometimes getting replaced by a cheaper store brand.
For example, Wal-Mart recently removed Glad and Hefty-branded storage bags from shelves, replacing them with its own lower-priced Great Value brand, according to the parent companies of both products.
In the case of Hefty, parent Pactiv Corp. told CNNMoney.com that Wal-Mart reversed its decision, and will return its products to shelves this spring -- after Pactiv agreed to make the Great Value bags that will sell alongside the competing Hefty product.
There is more at the link...
Hard to give much credibility to a piece of "news" that can't even properly use the term "its,"
Well, never mind that I've seen it, and another Freeper has seen it, and yet another Freepers says that these products disappear for months or longer... LOL..
BUT..., if you want a national news article on it... go to Post #183 ...
And... from this, you can see it's not a local store that is doing it in one place, but a "chain decision" across the board...
Most of “their” brands suck. Cereals, pasta sauces, preserves, and food additives...tried them all, they are the text book definition of “sucky”.
“I hope “Great Value” isn’t code for Made in China.”
We’ll never know. I’ve yet to find a “made in...” label on the food stuffs (one of my per peeves in life), only distributed by wal mart stores.
Why put the mockery quotes around the word "negotiate"?
I'm not sure where you got the idea that they were "mockery quotes"... LOL... I just know that quote marks are used for quoting others, sometimes for emphasis, sometimes for using a word that is similar to what was used, but not the exact same word, sometimes for an allusion to something else...
But I suppose if someone wanted to... they could call them "mockery quotes"... I just call them quote marks...
And in this case, it was a word that was similar, but not the exact word -- "negotiate"... that I was referring to, in regards to that other FReeper.
How do you think businesses do, or should, "negotiate"?
If I were commenting on it from the standpoint of how to engage in business practices for the purposes of negotiating with suppliers, then I might be discussing that very thing.
But, as you'll notice, I'm talking about it from the standpoint of the consumer, and with me being a consumer myself, and also noting that this is a stupid marketing move, on behalf of Walmart, because it ends up driving their customers to other stores who do carry the name-brand product.
In fact, I don't know of other major and big grocery retailers who decide to eliminate any of the name brand products on their shelves and exclusively carry their own "off-brand" product as a replacement. All the big grocery retailers that I've seen always carry the name-brand product -- and -- then they may have an off-brand of theirs, there too... :-)
If Wal-Mart wants to sell only their in-house brand, that's their prerogative.
True, it's their choice ... and .. as I said, an extremely stupid choice, which ends up driving their own customers into the hands of the competitors of Walmart.
You're free to open your own grocery store and compete.
Been there, done that... and I'm not in the business anymore... :-)
I can’t get everything from Aldi’s, but I get alot. My shopping routine looks like this:
Once a month:
Costco- meat, household goods, cheese, cereals, beverages (water, wine, etc)
Once a week:
Aldi’s- breads, yogurt, milk, snack foods, frozen goods, tinned goods, spa treats (Lacura FTW!)
Once every couple days:
Local grocery, ten minute walk: Fresh fruits and veg, occasional milk top-up or quality fresh baked goods
I find this gives me the best combo of price and quality, without having to pore over ads and clip coupons a couple hours a week (which I used to do).
It seems we agree then. :-)
Despite Amplified Ad Spending by Brands Last Year, Ziploc Emerges Clear Winner in Shootout
By Jack Neff
Published: February 04, 2010
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- In the latest of a growing wave of brand consolidations, Walmart has sent Glad and Hefty bags packing from its food-storage shelves. Similar decisions are likely to play out across other categories over the course of the year, as Walmart steps up efforts to streamline brand assortments, often to the benefit of its fast-expanding Great Value brand and national brands that survive the vetting.
Hefty parent Pactiv Corp. confirmed that Walmart has removed the brand's food bags off its shelves.
And there's more of the story at the link, too...
I wonder how long before this practice of dropping some brands becomes more prevalent? Margins are shrinking for everyone and some producers may not be able to continue in this economy.
Personally, I shop several stores, some 45 miles away in a larger city. Sometimes it’s price, sometimes it’s quality, sometimes it is a product no one else carries.
The GV white label line reminds me of commodities distributed to the needy back in the 40s/50s. However, some of these products are just fine. If something isn’t, well, I just don’t buy it again.
Ditto for Aldi’s. Some of their products, like Clancy’s Potato chips ($1.29) are as good as anyone’s. Their instant mixes for potatoes and stuffing are the same price that GV brand _used_ to be ($1.00 box)and are offered in flavors no one else produces. I cannot fault the canned broth or vegetables and if they are inferior product, or irregulars, it doesn’t show. Their butter and cream cheese are always about a dime or more less for the same brand than even the grocery about a mile away that I love for top quality produce and ethnic foods. My local grocery has begun offering full muscle cuts in cryovac at prices close to Sam’s, from local producers, so I wait for their bi-annual sales and stock up. That store has good local produce and meat, but their paper, cleaning and canned items are just too pricey for me.
If I am disappointed in the selection at Walmart, I wait and buy that item elsewhere. But some things seem to disappear or be in short supply at many stores. This is not just food, but things like the strapping tape with fiber strengthening. I think we are seeing a shake out in producers, not some marketing scheme. When I can get to a Trader Joe’s, it is a long enough time between trips that I am amazed at what is no longer available. Whole Foods dropped many independent brands years ago and now only offers some items under their house label. I think they make most of their income from their prepared foods.
This is, as my accounts all repeat:”A challenging environment”, even for industries that thought themselves “recession-proof”. Taxes and utilities increase, but price-points either come down or the item disappears. People from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia have always thought there were too many brands in America. Now that we are also being forced into socialism, that is going to change.
Just bought some Watkins vanilla at Walmart and btw they also have McCormicks. Also, have tried the Great Value low fat milk and have no problem with the flavor.
America still practices free enterprise (despite Obama and govt regulations up the ying yang) and to those that do not want to shop or work at Walmart...go elsewhere. Walmart is union free and provides alot of jobs, taxes, charitable contributions to this country and NO! I am not a Walmart greeter.
“Great Value” = made in China?
Just bought some Watkins vanilla at Walmart and btw they also have McCormicks.
Note that this particular article was over two months ago. And as another FReeper said here on this thread, Walmart will discontinue something for a while and then maybe later bring it back again in a couple of months or longer. He said it was a negotiating practice.
However, my response to that, basically (in so many words) that they can't expect the consumer to "stick around" with the product that they want -- not being on Walmart's shelves. All that does is drive the Walmart customer to a competitor of Walmart to get the product that they want.
And..., I've seen that myself and I've gone to Walmart's competitors, sometimes never having been in some of the other places before, and finding out that they've got some good products there, that I want to come back and get from them, too. That ends up being lost business for Walmart (at least it has from my own experience...).
The fact that Walmart is dropping name-brand products and keeping their own "off-label" product is beyond disputing, as it's been reported on the news, is in the Ad Age publication (and other sources that I haven't brought here, but that I've read).
It is happening. And what that means is that for those customers who want the name-brand product and not the "off-label" brand of Walmart's -- they are going to be driven to the competitor of Walmart -- which is an extremely stupid move on behalf of Walmart... :-)
Believe me... as much as they can... literally so... LOL...
I’m appalled at how much “Made in China” is there... ugh! I didn’t think my apple juice came from China until someone explained to me that it did, also... hoo-boy!
Thanks for your input... :-)
If you able to do it and you have the patience for it, and do things right... yes... you can save money and do a very good job of it.
I prefer they’re Chinese, “Yummy” brand.
You eat, yumyum, tastes good.
Most of “their” brands suck. Cereals, pasta sauces, preserves, and food additives...tried them all, they are the text book definition of “sucky”.
I can't say that I've tried them all, because "I'm scared to..." LOL...
But, really..., I would say for a lot of them, they are lower quality. Sometimes it's not that big of a difference but for some other stuff... it would be a big difference. And I've had some of their bad stuff that I won't have again (perhaps that's why I'm scared to try "all" their "off-brand" stuff... don't want to be miserable for the rest of my life, doncha know...).
Mostly I've stuck to name-brand stuff, with a few items, here and there, being "off-brand".
And that's why Walmart is extremely stupid in their "marketing plan" to eliminate a certain selection of name-brand products, because that means that I'll probably be one of those that they "drive away to their competitor"...
It's not that I would have really wanted that to happen, but that Walmart is making it happen. So, what can one do, other than leave Walmart...
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