Q&A: Quality, Value Drives Oliver's Market's Private Brand Product Development

With four locations in Sonoma County, Oliver’s Market has built a strong following in California wine country since opening its doors in 1988.

A part of the grocer’s success over the past 35 years has been its selection of products that includes a variety of private brands. Within that assortment are several products sold under the Oliver’s Own brand, which recently was expanded to include a line of olive oils and vinegars. 

In an interview with Store Brands, Shawn Reilly, corporate grocery specialty buyer for Oliver’s, discussed the launch of the company’s new line of olive oils and vinegars and the overall role private brands play in meeting the needs of the grocer’s shoppers.

STORE BRANDS: What was the motivation behind developing the assortment of olive oils and vinegars?

SHAWN REILLY: It started with a lot of thought and effort into what olive oil is and what most people think it is. Using this as our starting point, we received a great deal of education and realized that much of the olive oil sold can be either old or blended. As a result, you really don’t appreciate the oil for what it is until you try a premium olive oil, which is what we went with on our new private label line. Our goal was to offer a quality product at a value that allows our customers to get something better at a good price.

SB: In making sure you were choosing the right product that met your standards, how long did that process take?

SR: It has been years in the making. The person that was formerly in my position was involved with the California Olive Oil Council and also judged California oils at the state fair. So that's where this passion started. And I've worked with him for a long time. So we partnered on this when I first started this position. Then, about a year ago we started speaking with someone that we were referred to by another person on the California Olive Oil Council, who's also an agricultural consultant. That person knew somebody that was doing olive oils for certain markets, independent markets specifically. That person doesn't work with any large format companies and his passion is the same as our’s with olive oil. 

SB: How do the new oils and vinegars differ from products already on the shelves at Oliver’s?

SR: These oils are from the 2022 harvest and are one of the freshest oils on the shelf. That was our goal with doing this. We wanted to have the freshest product available to our customers. And you can really see it in the flavor of what the customers are getting with the finished product. Most of the (olive oils) people are buying is just average stuff that you can buy anywhere and is from 2020 or 2021.

SB: When you look at Oliver's overall private brand products across the store, how has the selection grown over the past couple of years?

SR: Our original Oliver’s Own product was our apple juice and applesauce. We grew the brand from there into barbecue sauce, pasta, chocolate bars and wine. We’ve also partnered with a local brewery in the past to do an Oliver’s Own beer. And now we have our oils and vinegars. 

SB: Are you seeing customers shift to private brands in an effort to save money or find a product that is different from the national brands?

SR: I think so, and it depends upon the category. We’re very selective with private label when our name is on it. But we have plenty of private label products throughout the store. Full Circle Market, Field Day Organics and Best Yet are our more conventional private labels. Those sell every day as an alternative for a customer. But the things we put (the Oliver’s) name on, they may not be hitting a price point of Best Yet, but we guarantee that the quality is much better. So it's more of a value for what you're getting. And that's the niche that we've gone after. We want to give the customer the best quality product at the best price. That's our mission with our private label products that carry the Oliver’s name.

SB: As a four-store regional retailer, is it a challenge to find suppliers that will develop products for the Oliver’s brand? 

SR: It’s hit or miss. For example, I was offered a Christmas candy, but the minimum order was too high for us and I knew I could not sell that number of units. To overcome this, we look for local companies in Sonoma County to partner with that will produce quantities we know we can sell. As a result, we don’t have a supplier that does more than one of our Oliver’s Own products. 

SB: Are there plans in the works to expand the product selection with the Oliver’s brand?

SR: I’ve been in talks with two companies. One, I am trying to resurrect our barbecue sauce as we still get customer requests for the products. And we have a local supplier interested in working on that project. The other is adding an Oliver’s Own Canadian maple syrup, which would be an organic product. I’m still in negotiation and these things do take some time.