AWG Brands continues to make strides to provide quality products to help retailers compete in the ever-evolving market. The AWG Brands and Category Management teams, in collaboration with strategic vendor partners, utilize analytics provided by the AWG Partner Gateway (APG) to maintain and grow a best-in-class competitive portfolio aligned with the AWG Brands positioning and guardrails. Additionally, these efforts evaluate the current assortments to ensure the right products are available in the right brands. Within the last six months, teammates have worked through numerous categories including yogurt, paper, cereal, ice cream, meat snacks, and oral care; and will continue launching new AWG Brands items every month in 2024.
Yogurt
The AWG Brands yogurt assortment was refreshed as part of the Category Initiative to help retailers compete in this $8.9 billion category. The new assortment, featuring redesigned packaging, includes updated formulas comparable to the national brand equivalent profiles, along with the introduction of new items that align with national trends of convenience and indulgence in the fastest growing dairy category.
- Single-serve flavors, the size that accounts for 97.8% of yogurt sales, were rationalized to best align with national brand flavors and now include thirteen Best Choice 6-ounce SKUs.
- Best Choice offerings now include various original and Greek 32-ounce multi-serve SKUs, a size that is also driving growth with a perceived better value.
- Two new Best Choice multi-flavor tube boxes provide an entrance point for kids products into the category as the segment has grown 13.5% in the past two years.
- Best Choice Superior Selections, the elevated everyday brand, enters the yogurt category for the first time with two 32-ounce popular, indulgent Greek flavors.
Paper
Private brands is the #1 brand within the toilet paper and paper towels category, 40.2% and 35.1% unit share in total U.S. respectively. As part of the strategic Category Initiative, AWG Brands introduced a new paper program with the promise of national brand quality to help AWG member retailers better compete in this $16 billion category. The AWG Brands Paper Program features a 3-tier structure between offerings with packaging redesigns to showcase the product on shelf.
- Always Save provides a functional product with a focus on providing an affordable option or best value for consumers. Toilet paper offerings include four-roll and twelve-roll packs, while paper towels include single big roll, three- and six-roll regular packs.
- The Best Choice paper offerings include premium and ultra quality products that are comparable or better quality than the national brand equivalent.
- Best Choice toilet paper offerings include six- and twelve-roll packs, and a new premium lavender scented six-pack showing triple digit growth in the last year.
- Best Choice paper towel offerings include six- and twelve-roll packs, and a six triple roll pack in a segment that has grown +10.1% in the last year.
Cereal
Private brands annual cereal sales are $609 million across total U.S. and AWG Brands are $24 million. At AWG, AWG Brands cereal sales already outpace the national average. To help AWG member retailers continue to meet consumer demands for quality products at affordable pricing, AWG Brands has revitalized its Always Save and Best Choice cereal offerings to compete in the crowded breakfast space.
- Always Save is moving from bag to box, driven by boxes leading the ready-to-eat category with +80% market sales and a significant decrease in private brands bagged cereal.
- The evolution of Always Save from bag to box will allow AWG member retailers to better compete in this important segment. Always Save offerings include 10 items in a new design to grab consumers’ attention at the shelf.
- Best Choice boxed cereal offerings were evaluated versus the national brand flavor and size profiles to determine the optimal assortment. Best Choice offerings include 26 items across kids, all-family, and adult segments with a simplified pricing strategy to provide AWG member retailers greater flexibility when advertising the products.
Ice Cream & Novelties
89% of customers either like or love ice cream and identify it as their favorite dessert. Private brands are the number one in ice cream dollar share nationally. AWG Brands redeveloped the item assortment to provide improved cost of goods and better align with consumer trends driving the category, including indulgence and snacking.
- Always Save offerings include 4-quart pails and 56-ounce squares in core flavor offerings and 12-count cups as the best value items on the shelf.
- Best Choice offerings will include 4-quart pails and 48-ounce scrounds that align with the flavor profiles of the national brand equivalents. The Best Choice novelties assortment realgins the bar, sandwich, cone, and popsicle segments.
- Introducing Best Choice Superior Selections to the ice cream category with 16-ounce pints and 48-ounce scrounds with decadent flavors and inclusions to capitalize on the growing indulgence trend. Offerings will also include two seasonal options: pumpkin and peppermint.
Meat Snacks
The AWG Brands meat snacks assortment review resulted in new items matching the competitive landscape and competing in top trending flavors in this $2.5 billion category. The new AWG Brands meat snacks items include a 10-ounce Always Save jerky bag, the number one size for private brand meat snacks, and Best Choice Superior Selections original steak bites, the number three type of meat snack. In addition, the Best Choice brand expanded with two Best Choice beef sticks and a sweet & hot jerky bag, a growing flavor trend, to the three existing SKUs of Best Choice bag jerky. Additionally, Clearly by Best Choice offers three bag jerky SKUs.
Oral Care
Oral Care is a $10.6 billion category. To help AWG member retailers compete, fourteen new items were added to the already existing assortment of toothbrushes, mouthwashes, floss, and denture products. The Always Save brand entered the oral care category with value items including adult and kid toothbrushes, and mint flossers. Additionally, the Best Choice lines expanded further into the floss and toothbrushes to compete with the new national brands products launched in the past year.
AWG BRANDS RFP Process
As part of Convergence, AWG has been conducting a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process with current and potential vendor partners to improve costs of goods, quality, and service levels. Planned RFPs are driven by Category Initiatives and others are triggered when potential opportunities arise. AWG Brands sourcing work begins 9-12 months ahead of Category Initiative retail execution to allow full internal evaluation and testing processes. Yogurt, paper, cereal, ice cream, meat snacks, and oral care all went through this extensive process to aid AWG member retailers in staying competitive with AWG Brands in the marketplace, and the drive will continue aggressively throughout 2024 with many already in progress.
