This Is The Hands Down Best Grocery Store Private Label

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Once considered an inferior substitute for name-brand products, private label brands have evolved over the years from budget-friendly alternatives to consumers' top picks at major grocery retailers. Store brands offer more than just value; they provide quality products that maintain their affordability while appealing to the needs of today's savvy shoppers. Some private labels have such loyal fanbases that people choose them over their more popular, nationally recognized counterparts. But when it comes to a store's own products, the top brand in our ranking is Walmart's Great Value, which was the hands-down best.

Walmart's Great Value brand, which was launched in 1993, encompasses everything from toothbrushes to organic extra virgin olive oil. Today, the brand has nearly 10,000 products to its name. It's well-known that grocery stores source their private label products from larger national brands, and Walmart's Great Value line is no exception. It's clear they have chosen quality partners to create their products. 

Another reason the brand might be so popular is that Walmart does a good job of keeping costs low while also listening to its customers and adapting as consumers' needs change, so it's no surprise that Great Value items can be found in 87% of American households. An example of its ability to listen is Walmart's announcement that by January 2027, it will remove all synthetic dyes from its foods.

The Great Value brand has a loyal following, and not just because it's cheap, although the irresistible combo of high-quality products at low prices has shoppers hooked. Walmart leverages partnerships with large, established brands to bring top-of-the-line products to its shelves. Because it doesn't have to spend money marketing each of these products individually, it's able to provide the same quality product as national brands, but at a budget-friendly price.

Some Great Value packaged snacks ranked high in our worst-to-best list and are popular alternatives to their trendy (and more expensive) name-brand cohorts. Take, for example, the Great Value fudge-covered peanut butter-filled cookies that look an awful lot like beloved Girl Scout cookies. Unlike those, though, the Great Value version is available year-round and costs just $2.26 per box. With a 4.7-star rating on the Walmart website, the cookies are a clear favorite. One reviewer who gave the product five stars said, "Dangerously good. Chocolate and peanut butter is already a win, and these actually deliver. The fudge coating is smooth, and the peanut butter inside is sweet and creamy without being too dry."

Another standout is the Great Value vanilla-flavored ice cream sandwiches, which retail for $2.97 and include 12 of the tasty treats. Nearly 16,000 reviewers on the Walmart website have awarded this product a five-star rating, with one reviewer saying, "Five stars. Would absolutely buy another box and guard it like a suburban dad protecting the thermostat."

It's not just the cookies, ice cream, and sauces that customers are filling their carts with, though. Cleaning supplies, self-care, and home goods all have a place under the Great Value label, which covers non-edible items from toilet paper to trash bags, many of which have 4.5-star and up reviews, all adding credibility to one of the nation's most favored private label brands.