Independent wholesaler, Bestway Wholesale, is relaunching its retail own-label offer this summer, repositioning the label in light of the evolution in the own-label market.

The current Best-in range, which encompasses over 500 products across ambient and chilled grocery, will be phased out over the coming months and will be replaced with the more shopper-friendly ‘best-one’ brand.

Ed Smeaton, director of trading for grocery at Bestway Wholesale, says: “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 - as highlighted in a Which? report earlier this year which put the ‘best-one’ brand as their favourite convenience symbol group. 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.

“The new on-pack graphics deliver a modern, fresh and contemporary look for the brand designed to create greater impact on shelf and deliver a higher rate of sale. As well as attractive designs and photography a major focus of the new range is the quality and benefits of the products. This may involve calling out 1 of 5 a day or the whether the products is a good source of fibre and protein. All of these components combined mean that the range has real shopper appeal."

The company says the rebrand is not only cosmetic, with many of the best-one products reformulated to reflect shopper demand for better quality ingredients and taste delivery while retaining the PMP mechanic to shout value to shoppers and an average POR of 30 per cent.

The new ‘best-one’ design will initially be introduced over the best-selling categories including biscuits, soft drinks, snacks and grocery staples. These are the fastest selling lines and the items shoppers purchase most frequently. The initial launch will cover 150 products with all Best-in lines rebranded to ‘best-one’ by the end of the year.

Initial results of the new rebranded lines are extremely positive. Coffee skus which entered the market six weeks ago show an average increase of 32% over the previous best-in range with Instant Coffee up 34%, Rich Roast up 50% and Freeze Dried up 21% respectively.

Smeaton adds “The main thing for our customers is that we provide quality products with great margins and highly completive price points that allow them to compete with other channels such as multiples and discounters. ‘best-one’ delivers across all these metrics and provides a win-win for both retailers and shoppers. With the new ‘best-one’ range, product usage is the prominent message on pack making it simple for shoppers to identify and purchase. The ‘best-one’ logo is positioned more subtly but what better name for a product range than the ‘best-one’.

The ‘best-one’ range is currently in Bestway and Batleys depots now and available to buy online at the company’s websites. Bestway Wholesale will be updating all its category planograms to include the striking new ‘best-one’ products and will be highlighting the new range in-depot with a 40% POR promotion across key lines..

“This is an exciting new chapter for Bestway Wholesale and our customers as the new ‘best one’ range provides the platform to tap into the changing consumer trends. Alongside our competitive branded offering, the new own-label range is a big part of our future plans as we look to help retailers meet the demands of shoppers” concludes Smeaton.

The company also announced plans to launch a premium own-label range – best-one Inspired – in August, which will initially consist of 15 premium lines to tap into the growing trend for premium own label.

The first tranche of the new ‘best-one’ branded products – 300 in total - are available now in depot and to order online.

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