Whole Foods Cutting Prices On Private Label Products
Whole Foods Market is the latest retailer to cut prices on a broad selection of private label products as the grocer’s CEO said his company has reduced prices by 25% on 880 items sold under its proprietary 365 brand.
CEO Jason Buechel spoke of the price reductions on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast and said the Whole Foods shopper is noticing the changes.
“We’re starting to see folks build up bigger baskets,” he said. “They have felt the pinch of inflation, not just with food prices, but with all their bills and everything else. We want to be in a place where we can offer the highest quality natural and organic foods at great prices.”
Buechel said Whole Foods has been doing “so much work” in an effort to bring down prices of products sold under its 365 brand.
“What I’m really proud of is we haven’t sacrificed the quality of our products,” he said. “For us, it’s still making sure that we have the highest quality standards in all of grocery, whether it’s the 550-plus banned ingredients that we don’t allow in our products or our animal welfare standards and our seafood standards. Folks like to know they’re having the highest quality (in their products).”
Whole Foods’ 365 brand has seen growth in recent years and products sold under its own brand have expanded its presence throughout the store. Additionally, the brand for more than a year has been the centerpiece of the grocer’s consumer advertising efforts as it continues to feature a multitude of items sold under the 365 label.
The decision by Whole Foods to cut prices of its 365 private label is the latest move this year by a major retailer to institute price reductions. Just before the Memorial Day weekend, Target revealed price cuts on some 5,000 items across its stores including milk, meat, bread, soda, fresh fruit and vegetables, snacks, yogurt, peanut butter, coffee, diapers, paper towels, pet food, and more.
Just days after Target’s announcement, Walgreens announced price cuts on more than 1,300 store brand and national brand items throughout the store. Aldi in the spring cut prices on approximately 250 items across its stores and Michaels slashed prices on more than 5,000 items.
More recently, regional grocer Giant Eagle said it was reducing prices by 20% on more than 200 produce items across its Giant Eagle and Market District locations.
