UNFI brings condiments to its growing private brands portfolio

Dive Brief:

United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) has added three condiments to its Woodstock organic private label brand, according to an emailed press release.
Sriracha aioli, lemon dill aioli and burger sauce are the new additions to the line. Packaged in 6.5 oz. glass jars, each sauce has a suggested retail price of $4.99 to $5.49, per the announcement.
The new private label products are the latest to join UNFI’s growing number of items under its own brands portfolio.

Dive Insight:

UNFI said the new sauces are geared towards shoppers “looking to level-up their at-home meals” as people use sauces to zest up their cooking. UNFI is promoting the products as “better-for-you options that don’t sacrifice taste.”

Citing data from Spins, UNFI said shelf-stable condiments and marinades have risen more than 18% since 2020 and products labeled organic have outpaced non-organic options with 26% growth.

The line expansion comes at an opportune time when grocers are seeing strong customer interest in private label items amid high inflation.

UNFI noted that it recently launched a line of globally inspired hot sauces inspired by particularly hot peppers, such as Ghost Pepper, Scotch Bonnet Pepper, Habanero Pepper and Scorpion Pepper.

Bunches of bananas in cardboard boxes labeling them as organic. — UNFI's newly launched Wild Harvest organic bananas have performed well, the company said.

Courtesy of UNFI

A few weeks ago, UNFI said that is expanding its line of organic produce under its Wild Harvest line, which is currently available at hundreds of retailers across the country.

“The newly launched Wild Harvest organic bananas have performed well, and dozens of additional key items will be introduced throughout the remainder of 2022,” the company said in the announcement, noting that the “bold” purple packaging for the line helps customers distinguish which products are organic.

The investment in strengthening own brand produce isn’t surprising: During the third quarter earnings call in June, President Christopher Testa noted that UNFI’s produce sales outpaced the U.S. produce market by more than 3%.

That expansion comes just months after UNFI revamped its Wild Harvest line with new packaging and the addition of four plant-based proteins.

UNFI’s private brand portfolio includes more than 5,000 SKUs and its own brands have gained momentum with rising sales in Q3, Testa told investors.