Defense Commissary Agency to offer private label products

The Fort Lee, Va.-based Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) said it plans to debut private brand products in April or May 2017, according to an article posted Nov. 27 on Stripes.com, the web site of the daily independent military newspaper Stars and Stripes. The article emphasized that commissary shoppers will not experience a reduction in savings on brand-name items but will notice diminished selection of national brand SKUs to make room for DeCA private brand items.

“We will be maintaining overall savings on branded products, so if patrons choose not to purchase a private label, they will still be at least as well off as they were previously,” said DeCA Director Joseph H. Jeu. “Patrons who do choose to purchase private label will see their cost for the basket of goods they purchase come down further.”

The article does not describe the types of items that will be included in DeCA’s private label line but notes that the decision to foray into private brands is partly a response to pressures to reduce the agency’s operating budget. For more information, read the article at https://www.stripes.com/deca-we-ll-add-private-labels-but-sustain-brand-savings-1.441419.

An article posted Nov. 1 on Stripes.com reported that DeCA earned $5.25 billion in sales in fiscal year 2016, down $258 million (or almost 5 percent) from fiscal year 2015. The agency received approximately $1.3 billion in appropriations for each of the last two years. To learn more, visit http://tinyurl.com/jzjs3zu.