Honestly we can’t really compare the US based niche stores with our local amazon/grofers brands. The thing which is going for Traders Joe /Sprouts /Whole foods is mostly the kind of stuff they carry in their stores. I have shopped in all of these stores for over five years and these are not the typical grocery stores. They typically lean towards organic foods and locally procured items, specialty cheeses etc. There is a separate crowd for it to go out and buy these things. There are bargains to be had in certain items but again there are other items which are too costly. Amazon’s presto and grofers in house brands in snacks and other categories can be a one time change when our favorite brands aren’t available and I often see people will tend to back to name brands in India as these never match the name brands perceived quality/attachment to the. product etc. It’s s akin to getting Yippe when Maggi isn’t available and repenting when you eat it. I see only Costco’s Kirkland brand who always had quality, packaging and cost benefit equal or better to name brands made a significant impact in terms of people really wanting to get it. To me, our big brands management are smart enough to lower the price, throw in some catchy offers to retain the customer base. But as you mentioned the packaging and finishing are on par with other big brands these days but we need to see if they can really make a dent in the name brands’ businesses in the long run.
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