DeCA unveils store brands

“Freedom’s Choice” and “HomeBase” are the names chosen by the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) for its private label product assortment. The store brands will begin appearing on commissary shelves in May. The number of products will grow over the next four to five years.

“Commissary patrons have been telling us for quite some time that they want to take advantage of the value offered by store brands, but commissaries have not had their own brand until now,” said DeCA Director and CEO Joseph H. Jeu. “We are proud of our new brands, and I believe our customers are going to be very pleased with the quality and low prices that Freedom's Choice and HomeBase bring to our shelves.”

Freedom’s Choice will be the commissary brand name for food items, and HomeBase for nonfood items such as paper products and other household items. DeCA announced its partnership with SpartanNash in December to begin developing the commissary brands. SpartanNash, through its military division MDV, is the distributor of grocery products to military commissaries in the United States.

 “Freedom’s Choice and HomeBase will give our patrons another chance to save money without sacrificing quality on brands priced significantly lower than national brands,” Jeu said. “Our private label products will also be equal or lower in price to commercial grocery store brands. These products will give our patrons the quality they expect and the savings they deserve.”

DeCA conducted extensive research into developing the commissary brands, surveying hundreds of military members and their families to obtain their input for names and logos.

“We talked to our customers about a number of package titles and showed them potential artwork for our commissary brands,” said Chris Burns, DeCA’s executive director for business transformation. “The Freedom’s Choice and HomeBase names and logos proved to be overwhelmingly popular.”