private label

DeCA’s Private Label Program Off to Good Start

07/14/2017 By Veronica Jorden

Name your favorite commercial grocery retailer. Be it Walmart, Giant, Target or Wegmans, they’ve each got their own line of private label products. And if you’re anything like me, you’re more than happy to add a store brand item to your cart if it means a few dollars off your bill.

And now, DeCA, has expanded its arsenal in the fight to keep our commissaries open by launching a series of new products under its own store brand. Commissary shoppers rejoice! Even more savings? I’ll take it.

While the plan to add commissary private label products to the shelves has been in the works for over a year, the private label program’s 2 easily recognizable and aptly-named brands — Freedom’s Choice and Homebase — were officially announced in February.

Freedom’s Choice branded food products will be sourced from leading manufacturers and undergo a rigorous testing and selection process. Homebase products will be non-food items including things like plastic bags. As a weekly commissary shopper, I for one, can hardly wait to see these new products hit the shelves.

A Year of Creative Initiatives

It’s hard not to be impressed by the series of creative initiatives DeCA has rolled out in the last year in an attempt to revitalize local commissaries and help shrink the nearly billion-dollar taxpayer-funded subsidy required to keep commissaries open. These initiatives have included everything from variable pricing structures to curbside pick-up.

Private labeling seems to be one of the most promising efforts. In fact, according to the DeCA website, nearly 60% of its patrons expressed an openness to buying a private label product.

“Our customers have been asking for private label for a long time,” said DeCA’s director and CEO Joseph H. Jeu.

If commissary shoppers hold true to their word, the planned product line seems destined for success. In fact, if all goes according to plan, the new private label product line could help reduce commissary costs by half a billion dollars in the next 10 years.

The new program promises that nearly 1,000 private label products will be on commissary shelves by the end of 2017, but shoppers will only see a few initial products. The first products were due to hit shelves in May, and a recent visit to the Fort Meade commissary confirmed that the program is indeed underway.

My First Private Label Purchase

I expected to see the products presented with a greater fanfare, but I was able to locate 2 products, bottled water under the Freedom’s Choice label and kitchen garbage bags under the Homebase brand. Both were attractively packaged and both were offered at a substantial savings over the next cheapest brand.

The case of water offered a $0.40 savings over our usual brand. Calculated out, a 40-cent savings on each of 2 cases of water per week would save our family just over $40 per year! I am also happy to report, that as far as taste is concerned, the water was met with the approval of our entire family – including one kid who happens to be very particular about her bottled water!

I will be keeping my eyes open for additional private labels items. My hope is we will see products like pasta, gluten-free items, vitamins and juices. It might also be nice to see it in the freezer section on items like frozen vegetables, ice cream and even pizza.

My hope is that in sourcing items for this product line, DeCA will keep the dietary needs of military families in mind. It would be great to see items offered at a low cost that also make eating healthy a little bit easier.

Have you seen the commissary store brands, Freedom’s Choice and Homebase at your commissary?

3 Commissary Myths that Need to Be Busted

02/01/2017 By Michelle Volkmann

For the past 2 years, there’s been a lot of talk about possible changes to the commissaries. The talk has come from all directions. There was talk about possible changes from Congress. There was talk about possible changes from the consultants hired by the Defense Commissary Agency. There was talk about possible changes from commissary employees and shoppers.

Now commissary shoppers may be asking themselves which (if any) of these commissary changes are happening. Here’s a little hint: only 1 of the proposals is scheduled to happen in 2017.

What about the other possible changes? For now, these recommendations move to the land of myths and rumors.

Here are 3 myths that you may hear commissary shoppers talking about.

Commissary myth #1: DeCA is merging with the military exchanges.

If you thought this was happening, it was because the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission presented a proposal with 15 recommendations to modernize the commissaries. One of those recommendations was a proposal to combine the commissary and exchange systems into a single defense resale organization. This proposal was intended to reduce the overhead costs of operating the commissaries and exchanges separately.

When MilitaryShoppers wrote about this proposal nearly 2 years ago, readers said that this proposal was a terrible idea. Repeatedly, readers wrote this comment:

“Do not combine. We would lose our privileges.”

For now, the commissary and exchange are not combining.

The statement that DeCA is merging with the exchanges is a myth, according to DeCA officials. They also said

“DeCA leadership continues to explore different levels of cooperation with the military exchanges. To the extent the Defense Department plans to implement any of those options in future, DeCA is committed to ensuring that employees are well-informed and equipped with information to understand any potential impacts.”

Commissary myth #2: DeCA is exploring a privatization pilot program.

Privatization is happening, right? Wrong, according to DeCA officials.

“Upcoming pilot programs will not be exploring potential privatization (i.e., a private sector company taking over DeCA operations). Privatization was not a part of the changes proposed in the 2016 NDAA and is not planned for DeCA at this time.”

The proposal to privatize the commissaries was discussed repeatedly over the course of the last 2 years. At one point, several large unnamed retailers were approaching DeCA and expressing their interests in running the commissaries.

Like the recommendation to merge the commissaries with the exchanges this idea was met with many vocal opponents. They argued that privatization is not the answer to Congress’s budget concerns. Skeptics argued that privatization wouldn’t save the taxpayers money and would lead to price increases for commissary patrons.

Privatization is off the table. For now.

Commissary myth #3: DeCA’s mission is changing.

“DeCA’s mission has always been to offer the right products at the right prices as a critical benefit to its patrons,” DeCA said on its website.

One proposal, a private label brand, is happening and DeCA is confident that is program will “offer more flexibility in how DeCA delivers that benefit, and positions the agency to be more cost-effective, efficient and better able to protect the benefit for future generations of patrons.”

Congress wants DeCA to be cost-effective and efficient. Veterans want to keep this military benefit without increasing the prices or surcharge. Military families want groceries at a competitive price compared with civilian grocery stores.

We all want the same things for our commissaries. Will the private label brand be enough to save the commissary benefit without raising prices or reducing the benefit?

We’ll just have to wait and see.

Are you hearing any other rumors about changes to your commissary? Tell us in the comments section.

Commissaries Will Offer 400 Private Label Items Starting in May

01/24/2017 By Michelle Volkmann

For the first time in its history, private label items will be found in your military commissary.

Commissary shoppers know (and often complain) that generic products aren’t available at the commissary.

If you want ketchup, you buy Heinz.

If you want oatmeal, you buy Quaker Oats.

If you want cola, you buy Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

The same quality for a lower price product often referred to as a generic brand, like the Best Value brand found at Walmart stores or the Market Pantry brand in Target stores, isn’t an option at your commissary. There isn’t a store brand for DeCA.

Soon that will change.

The Defense Commissary Agency selected MDV SpartanNash LLC to be its first private label supplier.

“We are excited that DeCA has selected us to support this important initiative, and to provide commissaries with private label products for the first time in their history,” said Dennis Eidson, SpartanNash CEO and Chairman of the Board in a press release.

“This partnership will provide military families with quality options and the opportunity to stretch their food budget. Many of our active duty and veterans are on a limited income, and their military benefit provides savings which are key to meeting their families’ food and household needs. Patriotism is one of our core values, and we are extremely proud to serve our nation’s service members, their families, and military partners around the world,” Eidson said in the press release.

Starting in May, commissary shoppers will see private label items on the shelves in their stores. DeCA officials said the plan is to introduce an initial assortment of 400 items in commissaries worldwide in May 2017. The amount of private label products will be gradually increased with the goal of 1,000 available at commissaries by the end of 2017.

DeCA’s director and CEO Joseph H. Jeu said he is excited to bring private label products to military families.

“They are smart, savvy shoppers who know that private label products are cost-effective alternatives to national brands. We’re excited to help them save more at our commissaries,” he said in a press release.

DeCA reported that 60% of commissary patrons said they would be interested in a DeCA private label.

“Our customers have been asking for private label for a long time,” Jeu said.

Customers aren’t the only ones asking for private label products. Congress had a hand in this decision too.

The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) nudged DeCA to explore the option of private label products. DeCA has been researching ways to keep the commissaries open with less federal funding. The private label brand is only option out of many that DeCA is exploring in the next year.