Name your favorite commercial grocery retailer. Be it Walmart, Giant, Target or Wegmans, they’ve each got their own line of private label products. And if you’re anything like me, you’re more than happy to add a store brand item to your cart if it means a few dollars off your bill.
And now, DeCA, has expanded its arsenal in the fight to keep our commissaries open by launching a series of new products under its own store brand. Commissary shoppers rejoice! Even more savings? I’ll take it.
While the plan to add commissary private label products to the shelves has been in the works for over a year, the private label program’s 2 easily recognizable and aptly-named brands — Freedom’s Choice and Homebase — were officially announced in February.
Freedom’s Choice branded food products will be sourced from leading manufacturers and undergo a rigorous testing and selection process. Homebase products will be non-food items including things like plastic bags. As a weekly commissary shopper, I for one, can hardly wait to see these new products hit the shelves.
A Year of Creative Initiatives
It’s hard not to be impressed by the series of creative initiatives DeCA has rolled out in the last year in an attempt to revitalize local commissaries and help shrink the nearly billion-dollar taxpayer-funded subsidy required to keep commissaries open. These initiatives have included everything from variable pricing structures to curbside pick-up.
Private labeling seems to be one of the most promising efforts. In fact, according to the DeCA website, nearly 60% of its patrons expressed an openness to buying a private label product.
“Our customers have been asking for private label for a long time,” said DeCA’s director and CEO Joseph H. Jeu.
If commissary shoppers hold true to their word, the planned product line seems destined for success. In fact, if all goes according to plan, the new private label product line could help reduce commissary costs by half a billion dollars in the next 10 years.
The new program promises that nearly 1,000 private label products will be on commissary shelves by the end of 2017, but shoppers will only see a few initial products. The first products were due to hit shelves in May, and a recent visit to the Fort Meade commissary confirmed that the program is indeed underway.
My First Private Label Purchase
I expected to see the products presented with a greater fanfare, but I was able to locate 2 products, bottled water under the Freedom’s Choice label and kitchen garbage bags under the Homebase brand. Both were attractively packaged and both were offered at a substantial savings over the next cheapest brand.
The case of water offered a $0.40 savings over our usual brand. Calculated out, a 40-cent savings on each of 2 cases of water per week would save our family just over $40 per year! I am also happy to report, that as far as taste is concerned, the water was met with the approval of our entire family – including one kid who happens to be very particular about her bottled water!
I will be keeping my eyes open for additional private labels items. My hope is we will see products like pasta, gluten-free items, vitamins and juices. It might also be nice to see it in the freezer section on items like frozen vegetables, ice cream and even pizza.
My hope is that in sourcing items for this product line, DeCA will keep the dietary needs of military families in mind. It would be great to see items offered at a low cost that also make eating healthy a little bit easier.
i have been waiting for this……we may need more space/shelves in the stores but i appreciate this and i think the customer will save even more with these brands. thank you for thinking out us.
I haven’t seen any Private Label products in the DECA Naples, Italy Commissary..
What commissary patrons do not understand is that they’re doing this at the expense of all the major brands that have supported the commissaries for years. All of the major brands that have donated millions of dollars to commissary scholarship funds, food drives and free gift cards to patrons are being kicked off the shelf. DeCA private label will not provide any savings vs. other store’s private label (i.e. Walmart) and will do nothing to help patrons. Also, shelves will be empty of the major brands we love because private label will be taking up all of the space!!!!
There is three items to consider;
1) The big brands are operating at higher margin which provides them the resources to “give back”. While in some cases the charitable contributions may be done by the goodness of their hearts, the money has to come from somewhere. Typically its out of your pocket.
2) DeCA can decide to raise or lower the price and pass those funds along to customers/patrons as they see fit.
3) Walmart Private Label is in many cases offered at just above cost in order to draw in customers. These are the specials they advertise — think of them as door busters. Those private label items are great ways for the customer and DeCA to save money..
Ultimately the customer benefits from private label products as they are not paying extra for the advertising, shelf space or any other “add on” variables when they are at the check-out counter.
Thank you angry shopper or should I say angry grocery sales rep. Commissaries are actually deleting low sales volume products that have no demonstrated customer loyalty. Of course if you would like to keep them on the shelf you can always lower the price. I’m sure a patriotic person like yourself will want to ensure military members get a great price.
I have come to rely upon the *name” brands of food products at the Commissary as I can contact the manufacturer to find out if they are in fact gluten free. I must consume only gluten free products as I have been diagnosed with Celiac disease, which is a serious autoimmune condition. How will I know if the “private label” brands that are now taking over at the Commissary are gluten free? This is a health issue for me & I need to have an answer, please.