Generic brands of consumer products (often supermarket goods) are distinguished by the absence of a brand name. It is often inaccurate to describe these products as "lacking a brand name", as they usually are branded, albeit with either the brand of the store in which they are sold or a lesser-known brand name which may not be aggressively advertised to the public. They are identified more by product characteristics.
They may be manufactured by less prominent companies, or manufactured on the same production line as a 'named' brand. Generic brands are usually priced below those products sold by supermarkets under their own brand (frequently referred to as "store brands" or "own brands"). Generally they imitate these more expensive brands, competing on price. Generic brand products are often of equal quality as a branded product; however, the quality may change suddenly in either direction with no change in the packaging if the supplier for the product changes.
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At their initial introduction, generics were packaged in mostly white packaging with black lettering. Today, such stark package design is rarely used. Lower priced products today usually bear the name of the store or supermarket where it is sold, or the name of the distribution company that supplies that store. A variation on this that is common in the United States is private labeling: brand names owned by the store that sells the product, that are not the same as the name of the store. For example, supermarket chain Safeway, Inc. sells dairy products under the Lucerne brand, while the Kroger's line of supermarkets sells products under several names, ranging from the top quality Private Selection down to the budget-driven line Kroger Value.
Membership-based "warehouse club" stores have begun their own contract-packed brands. The Wal-Mart owned Sam's Club sells products under the name Member's Mark, Costco sells products under the name Kirkland Signature (a reference to former corporate home office location, Kirkland, Washington), and BJ's Wholesale Club sells products branded Berkley & Jensen.
Generic branded food, as well as being cheaper than branded food products, may be a healthier alternative with independent research finding supermarket own-brand cereals containing less salt, and saturated fat than the branded equivalent.[1] In addition to price and nutrition, evidence suggests that quality is equal to, if not better than established brands and in the 2007 Whisky Bible several supermarket single malts were rated higher than top-brand distilleries with Tesco the highest rating own-brand.[2]
Rather than offering a single own-brand alternative, supermarkets have in recent years introduced 'premium' and[3] 'value' ranges offering varying quality and price. Some supermarkets advertise the quality of their premium own-brands for example Sainsbury's television commercial featuring celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.[4] Value supermarket brands are sold at considerably less than known brands, sometimes even below cost price, to entice the shopper into the store.[5] Despite perceived lower quality, supermarket own-brands continue to sell and a trading standards investigation found that there was little nutritional or taste difference between value and regular products.[6]
When patent protection expires on a drug, a bioequivalent version may be sold as a "generic" version of the brand name drug, typically at a significant discount below the brand name. The utility of these products is considered to be the same as that of the original brand name.[7]