As Good & Gather Turns 5, Target Eyes What’s Next For Its Popular Own Brand
This article first appeared in Store Brands’ sister publication Progressive Grocer.
It’s all good for Target Corp.’s Good & Gather line, which is marking its fifth anniversary this fall. The collection has become a flagship brand for Target and reflects the retailer’s focus on and success in food and beverage over the last few years.
Progressive Grocer got an exclusive opportunity to talk to John Conlin, SVP of merchandising, food, and beverage at Target, about the $4 billion portfolio that has become such a stalwart that more than 40% of all Target grocery runs now include at least one Good & Gather item.
QUESTION: The growth of Good & Gather has been remarkable in only a few years – has the line exceeded your expectations or did you anticipate how it has resonated with Target customers?
JOHN CONLIN: I’m really proud of what the team has accomplished over the last five years. We introduced Good & Gather in September 2019 for consumers who wanted convenient, high-quality food options that tasted great and were also affordable. And since launching, Good & Gather has become Target’s largest-owned food and beverage brands, with over 2,500 products, more than half of which are priced under $5.
The brand is resonating with consumers because we are constantly evaluating our entire assortment to deliver a portfolio of great items our shoppers want. We consistently seek feedback from consumers to make our brands stronger and more preferred.
Our recent addition of Good & Gather Toddler and Good & Gather Baby is a great example of how we’ve adapted the brand into new categories that serve shopper needs, make us more relevant to them, and drive growth. We just hit the one-year mark of the Good & Gather Baby and Good & Gather Toddler, and I can tell you the extension is surpassing original sales projections, and we’ll continue to launch new items throughout the year.
In the summer of 2024, Target launched its new Good & Gather frozen family meal selection, with internationally influenced flavors, such as the best-selling Thai green curry chicken and Indian chicken tikka masala meals.
We are a top 10 grocer having one of the largest digital grocery businesses in America. Digital penetration in food and beverage has accelerated by more than 15% since 2019, fueled in large part by our efforts to expand our fresh/frozen order pickup and drive-up pilot nationwide. Today, we’ve seen an increase in guest engagement when they shop for food and beverage digitally: Guests who’ve tried our pickup services for fresh and frozen groceries increase their F&B spend on average.
Q: How has this particular line contributed to Target's overall food and beverage success and elevation, especially within the past couple of years?
JC: What sets Target apart from other grocers is our assortment. We’re curators who bring together products our guests will love because they are inspiring and a great value. The strength of our portfolio lies in Target’s magic mix – or what we call the three-legged stool – including a distinctive combination of owned brands, like Good & Gather, national household brands, and emerging brands. Together, they help us meet guest needs and bring the joy Target is known for to every visit.
Years ago, we set out on a journey to transform Target from being a retailer that sells food and beverage to one that celebrates food and beverage. Our progress is undeniable.
We have seen tremendous growth in our Food and Beverage business, growing more than $8 billion in annual sales in the last five years, with Good & Gather driving an outsized portion of that growth. Nearly 40% of all grocery trips include one Good & Gather item. Plus, of Target’s Grocery shoppers, those who buy Good & Gather make four times the number of trips and spend eight times the amount.