Private Label Supply Brands

Ralston-Purina, Borden, ConAgra, and Heinz have all admitted at some point to supplying products–sometimes lower in quality–to be used for private labels. Other marketers, however, criticize this “If you can’t beat them, join them” strategy, maintaining that these actions, if revealed, may create confusion or even reinforce a perception by consumers that all brands in a category are essentially the same. Either defend the proposition that manufacturers should feel free to sell private labels as a source of revenue, or the position that national manufacturers should never supply private labels.