Commissaries to introduce store brands

  • Published
  • By Kevin L. Robinson
  • Defense Commissary Agency
FORT LEE, Va. --  The Defense Commissary Agency has chosen the names “Freedom’s Choice” and “HomeBase” for its private label product assortment. That announcement came from DeCA Director and CEO Joseph H. Jeu.

 

Private labels, also known as store brands, will be appearing on commissary shelves in May 2017.

 

“Commissary patrons have been telling us for quite some time that they want to take advantage of the value offered by store brands, but commissaries have not had their own brand until now,” Jeu said. “We are proud of our new brands, and I believe our customers are going to be very pleased with the quality and low prices that Freedom’s Choice and HomeBase bring to our shelves.”

 

Freedom’s Choice will be the commissary brand name for food items and HomeBase will cover nonfood items such as paper products and other household items. With the initial rollout targeted for May, patrons in commissaries worldwide can expect to see a number of DeCA’s Freedom’s Choice and HomeBase products.

 

It takes time to develop and allow for a store brand to reach maturity, and the number of commissary branded products will continue to grow larger over the next four to five years.

 

“Freedom’s Choice and HomeBase will give our patrons another chance to save money without sacrificing quality on brands priced significantly lower than national brands,” Jeu said. “Our private label products will also be equal to or lower in price then commercial grocery store brands. These products will give our patrons the quality they expect and the savings they deserve.”

 

Private label products are offered by retailers under their own, in-house brand or under a brand developed by their suppliers. DeCA conducted extensive research into developing the commissary brands, surveying hundreds of military members and their families to obtain their input for names and logos.

 

“We talked to our customers about a number of package titles and showed them potential artwork for our commissary brands,” said Chris Burns, DeCA executive director for business transformation. “The Freedom’s Choice and HomeBase names and logos proved to be overwhelmingly popular.”

 

In Dec. 2016, DeCA announced its partnership with Spartan Nash to begin developing the commissary brands. Spartan Nash, through its military division, is the leading distributor of grocery products to military commissaries in the United States.

Plans to start promoting Freedom’s Choice and HomeBase have already begun, and commissary customers will be noticing these names and logos soon.

 

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