Bestway makes major revamp of own-brand offering

Bestway has announced a complete revamp of its retail own label offering, including rebranding the products as Best-one instead of Best-in in order to align the brand better with the wholesaler’s symbol group.

The new pack designs highlight the products’ appearance, usage and benefits, with the emphasis on quality and everyday value. All products are pricemarked and have a typical POR of 30%. Selected lines will be promoted during each promotional period with 40% POR offers.

The portfolio covers packaged grocery, soft drinks, household and an enhanced fresh and chilled range, including fresh meat, pre-packed fruit and veg, and superfoods such as avocado and kale.

An initial selection of 300 products is to be given the new branding, with many of them benefiting from improved product formulations and thorough benchmarking against competitor lines. The first sub-category to be rolled out, instant coffee, has already seen double-digit sales increases for all three variants in the range.

From August, a premium own-label will be available under the name Best-one Inspired, with an initial 15 lines including all butter cookies, rich fruit preserves and premium crisps.

IRI data shows that the own-label share of UK grocery market now stands at 51.8%, with over half of multiple supermarket and 90% of discounter sales in own-brand. At Bestway, the share is currently just 8%, meaning a revamp was well overdue, according to director of trading (grocery) Ed Smeaton.

He said: “Best-in has done a fantastic job in creating a value alternative for shoppers and a margin-enhancing range for retailers. However the market is constantly evolving and it’s time to give our customers an own-label brand that resonates more with shoppers. Shoppers now trust own-label as much as they do branded products and are looking for both quality and value.

“Best-one is a valued and recognised name on the high street, and it’s the logical next step for our retail offer to drive customers’ sales through this shopper empathy while maintaining the fantastic retail margins the range offers.”

Best-one and Best-one Inspired products will be available from all Bestway and Batleys depots and from the company’s online ordering hub.