Winn-Dixie is launching an overhaul of its old house label “Winn-Dixie” with a new name and new tastes.
Changes will come to about 3,000 of its private label products at the Jacksonville-based supermarket company. Winn-Dixie is reformulating not only labels, but flavors and recipes to cater to increasingly choosier consumers.
The products will be renamed SE Grocers, shorthand for parent company Southeastern Grocers. The SE Grocers brands will also be available at sister supermarkets Bi-Lo, Harvey’s and the newly launched Hispanic market Fresco y Mas.
Winn-Dixie is trying to reinvent itself after it has struggled and retracted in recent years, closing underperforming stores throughout Central Florida and the rest of the chain.
It launched a plan a little over a year ago to cut prices on staple goods, hoping that lower prices would help pull back shoppers that have left for low-priced competitors.
“I’ve been here for almost two years and I tried a few of the products and to be honest I wasn’t that happy,” said Southeastern Grocers CEO and president Ian McCleod. “I didn’t think we did that great of a job.”
Southeastern Grocers is also trying to follow trends and cut out some additives and ingredients that have fallen out of favors with consumers. It’s cut high fructose corn syrup out of many products, as well as artificial colors, flavors, MSG and trans fats.
Winn-Dixie supermarkets won’t give up on its 16-month-old low-price strategy, even with heat from cost-cutting competitors.
The Jacksonville-based grocery chain is trying to reinvent itself since hiring CEO Ian McLeod in 2015, positioning itself as the low-priced supermarket to compete against…
Winn-Dixie supermarkets won’t give up on its 16-month-old low-price strategy, even with heat from cost-cutting competitors.
The Jacksonville-based grocery chain is trying to reinvent itself since hiring CEO Ian McLeod in 2015, positioning itself as the low-priced supermarket to compete against…
Private labels and house brands have emerged from their roots as a low-cost, subpar alternatives to name brands in recent years. Private label products took off in the United States during the Great Recession and reached a 17.5 percent share of all purchases in 2014, according to research firm Nielsen. Nearly 75 percent of consumers say private label brand are a good alternative to name brands, Nielsen surveys show.
Competing supermarkets such as Publix have robust selections of house-branded goods in three tiers. Publix has the standard Publix brand, along with a Publix Premium and Publix Greenwise, geared towards customers that are conscious of how natural their food is.
Winn-Dixie is emulating that model in a way with its new program. The new products, which they started putting in stores this month come under the SE Grocers Essentials, SE Grocers and SE Grocers Prestige labels.
McCleod said the company has been working for the last two years with testers and suppliers to improve the taste and quality in its products. In all, 2,260 of its 3,000 private label products got a recipe change.
Most SE Grocers house brand products are still 20 to 30 percent cheaper than name brand competitors, the company said in a statement.
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Winn-Dixie is throwing out its private label brand for a revamp SE Grocers label, a change in both look and taste.
Winn-Dixie is throwing out its private label brand for a revamp SE Grocers label, a change in both look and taste.
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