Target Launches Good & Gather Label to Replace Archer Farms, Simply Balanced

Target is making its biggest play in grocery in years with the launch of a new flagship private-label food brand that will completely replace Target's Archer Farms and Simply Balanced lines and will partially swap out Market Pantry.The new line, Good & Gather, will be Target's largest in-house brand across the entire store with more than 2,000 products to be rolled out over the next 18 months. It's expected to become a multi-billion dollar brand and is the latest example of the Minneapolis retailer leaning into developing and selling its own brands in order to offer more items consumers can't find anywhere else."We did a ton of guest research," said Stephanie Lundquist, who stepped into a newly-created role of president of food and beverage in January. "One of the things we heard is that they're time starved, so they want ease and convenience. They don't want to have to worry if there are ingredients or additives they don't want. But above all else, they want great taste at an affordable price."With those guiding principles in mind, Target stepped up the rigor of its taste testing and hired more food experts and scientists to help develop the products. It also worked out of a new test kitchen at its Nicollet Mall headquarters.The new line, which has been under development for a couple of years, will be free of artificial flavors and sweeteners, synthetic colors and high-fructose corn syrup. Some of the products will be similar to their Archer Farms and Simply Balanced counterparts with some upgrades. For example, the lime flavor in the Simply Balanced sparkling water was reformulated to taste better in the Good & Gather version.  Continue reading...