CVS Launches Well Market Private Brand
A new private label is now on the shelves at CVS stores across the U.S.
The drug store chain has officially debuted its Well Market brand, a new food and beverage assortment that initially features more than 40 snacks, beverages, and groceries that are available in stores and online.
“Our goal at CVS Health is to be the most consumer-centric health care solutions company. Through this repositioning and expansion of our food and beverage portfolio, we are doing more by providing new nutritious options our customers crave,” said Musab Balbale, chief merchandising officer for CVS Health. “From the easy-to-understand packaging to the delicious snacks, our customers can feel great about consuming Well Market products as part of their wellness goals.”
The launch of the new brand will also see CVS bring its existing Gold Emblem, Gold Emblem abound, and Big Chill products under the Well Market umbrella.
Products in the new private brand offer a fusion of nutrition options and flavors. These range from Turmeric Curry Trail Mix to Sea Salt Rustic Plantain Chips to Dark Chocolate Lightly Dipped Cashews, all part of an effort to cater to diverse taste preferences, company officials said.
Well Market is also part of CVS Health’s strategy to build a world of health around every consumer. The repositioning of its consumables portfolio is said by the retailer to better meet customers’ wants and needs by providing snacks, groceries, and beverages with packaging that highlights the functional benefits of foods to allow shoppers to feel good about their choices.
All products in the Well Market brand come with a 100% money-back guarantee.
Michael Wier, vice president of Merchandising for CVS, spoke with Store Brands about the retailer’s new own brand, its development, and how this line is unique to the drug store chain.
STORE BRANDS: Give us an overview of Well Market.
MICHAEL WIER: The products that are already available are 40 of the newest items and newest flavors that we’ve introduced across snacks, beverages, and grocery. The products will be available in all stores and on CVS.com. Over time, we’ll be transitioning all of our other (store) brands (Gold Emblem, Gold Emblem abound, and Big Chill) in the food and beverage space into this brand. So you will see a lot more coming in September and beyond. We have repositioned our brands to better meet the needs and wants of our customers. I also think the product packaging highlights that this is a modern brand while also showcasing the nutritional content of what they’re buying so our shoppers can better understand the choices they’re making.
STORE BRANDS: What was the inspiration for this new line?
WIER: We knew we had an opportunity in this space to change this category based on trends in our stores and looking at our data. I think the journey takes us back to a few years ago when we conceived of the brand idea and began talking to a longitudinal group of customers in the snacking space who are passionate about CVS and passionate about snacking to understand what their needs are and what they were looking for. As we ideated and developed this brand with them, it was clear that taste and the quality of the product line were most important to them. So everything we did was centered around that. The second was helping them understand the potential nourishment that these products can provide clearly and concisely. Lastly, we wanted to know how we could streamline the experience and navigate the store. We have a lot of products out there but it’s difficult for them to understand what’s what. We simplified the shopping experience with these products to help them make the right decision for them.
STORE BRANDS: How long was Well Market in development?
WIER: We have been working on Well Market for two years.
STORE BRANDS: Why was it important to bring the customer into the product development process?
WIER: I come from a customer-focused mindset and think everything we do must be for our customers. We need to make sure we get it right and we can’t do that by sitting in a room on our own. We did a lot of blind taste tests to validate that what we were putting into the product was what the customers wanted. We’re proud of the products that are launching.
STORE BRANDS: What are some of the unique aspects of products in Well Market?
WIER: One of the ones I like is the salted caramel trail mix bits. I tried salted caramel ice cream about 20 years ago in San Francisco and thought it was a cool, innovative flavor. The idea of bringing that type of flavor mainstream is a new type of trail mix bite that resonated with us. A couple of other examples would be our flavor-infused almond line. We have a sprouted almond product line that is a process that might be able to help your body easily digest the nutrients found in the nuts. Also intriguing about the product is the way the flavor is infused. It's not a coating that sticks to your fingers like you might have with some other covered product lines. It's infused into the nuts. It's got a tangy salt and vinegar flavor, but your hands stay clean.
STORE BRANDS: From a merchandising standpoint, what steps were taken to make these products stand out in stores?
WIER: The merchandising approach right now is to bring the products into the appropriate snacking segment. But as we evolve and bring the Gold Emblem items over, the goal is to make the shopping experience simpler and more intuitive for the customer and have them understand where they are based on the colors of the product lines. For example, the trail mix is a single color and all fruit snacks have a single color. We then allow the imagery of the product and the bold words on the package to help (shoppers) find what they're looking for.
STORE BRANDS: Is the launch of Well Market an indicator that CVS is looking to further expand into a selection of products that are considered traditional grocery items?
WIER: The space we have in the store for grocery is set, but as we think about this brand, let me take it back to our broader strategy. So CVS Health as an organization has a bold ambition to transform health and wellness in America. With our retail strategy, our focus is elevating the assortment from an authority perspective with trusted brands like this one, providing convenience for our customers on how to shop and making it easy and simple for them, whether that is online or in-store. We then want to build product lines that help drive engagement with our stores. The goal of the brand is to meet the broader retail strategy of authority, convenience, and engagement.
