Dive Brief:
- Amazon Fresh has rolled out a plant-based offshoot of its Fresh private label brand in stores and online, the company announced this week.
- Fresh Plant-Based includes 15 products at launch, including patties, almond milk and Italian meatballs, with additional products rolling out this year.
- The introduction of plant-based private label foods continues Amazon’s rapid expansion of store brands throughout grocery categories.
Dive Insight:
Like other mainstream grocers, including Kroger and Target, Amazon Fresh now offers a plant-based store line that offers lower prices on trendy meat-free alternatives.
Amazon’s Fresh Plant-Based line includes selections like grillable patties, almond milk, a ground meat substitute and “chick’n” nuggets. Product pages promote the health attributes of each item — like the fact that the patties contain 21 grams of protein per serving, while the almond milk has 50% more calcium than regular milk.
To promote the new line, Amazon is offering its new plant-based products for 20% off throughout March, both online and in stores. Amazon said it will continue to expand the plant-based line over the course of the year.
The new products are part of an explosion in private label groceries for Amazon. The company has been adding products to lines like Happy Belly, Fresh and Amazon Kitchen, and last year rolled out a grocery line called Aplenty that now includes everything from pasta sauce to frozen pizza and s’mores bites. Amazon Fresh also sells Whole Foods’ 365 Everyday brand products.
Kroger, a close competitor for Amazon’s grocery business, launched a plant-based offshoot of its Simple Truth line in 2019, and a year later rolled out an additional brand focused on plant-based proteins. Last May, Target rolled out a plant-based addition to its Good & Gather grocery brand that listed products for under $8.
Plant-based foods have posted robust sales growth in recent years, though the category has become crowded and sales have recently slowed. At the same time, retailers are trying to figure out how best to merchandise meat alternatives in stores and online.
Private label sales are poised for growth as high inflation continues, with store brands offering lower prices on what many shoppers perceive to be comparable quality products.
