Grocery Retailers Upgrade Marketing Of In-House Products To Lure Value-Conscious Shoppers

As budget-conscious grocery shoppers hunt for deals during the economic slump, retailers like Safeway, Kroger and Supervalu are paying more and more attention – and spending more dollars – hyping their own less-expensive product lines. No longer particularly worried about offending big packaged goods brands, retailers are devoting greater shelf space to their private-label offerings. Market researcher packaged Facts says that through mid-November store brands accounted for 31.4 percent of the 14,400 new food and beverage items that debuted this year in the U.S. That’s twice the share logged in 2010. To keep the momentum growing, retailers are plucking experienced marketers from companies like P&G and PepsiCo to revamp and innovate  their product marketing.