WITH soaring grocery prices, market research suggests that consumers are now turning to house brand items more than ever before. Data indicates that shoppers have become more price-sensitive and value-driven in the face of increasingly challenging times.
Inflation appears to have opened the door for house brands to gain consumer awareness and engagement in an effort to combat higher prices and smaller portions or sizes. Those who previously would only consider branded products because of habit or the outdated belief that branded products are better are now more willing to try out house brand products.
If you’re a regular customer at Giant, you’d have noticed that it carries a long line of products under the house brand 'Meadows'.
Meadows is an exclusive brand created for DFI Retail Group, which means you won’t find this range of items anywhere except for Giant, Giant Mini, Cold Storage, Mercato and TMC Bangsar in Peninsular Malaysia.
The house brand was launched in Malaysia in 2020 to help ease customers’ financial burdens by offering high-quality, tasty food choices at great value, with the grocery food range being halal certified to ensure even more customers can enjoy them.
While in the past, there may have been a distinct gap in the level of quality between house brand and brand-name products, today that gap has narrowed significantly and in many cases, closed.
House brand quality levels are much higher than ever before and they are more consistent. The distributors that contract for house brand production have improved their procurement processes and are super careful about monitoring quality.
Products under the Meadows brand, for example, are carefully selected from around the world and have won global awards on taste and quality, yet are kept at an affordable price point – this is the Meadows’ promise.
Every product in the Meadows range has been curated with care from countries all around the world and focuses on quality, value and presentation. Its fresh range of produce includes fruits and vegetables. For example carrots, potatoes (red/white) and onions (red/yellow) are imported from Australia, while apples and Packham pears come from South Africa.
The canned and packaged foods on offer feature a wide variety of items such as nuts (groundnuts, almonds, macadamia, peanuts), oats (instant, quick cook, whole), potato chips (original, hot & spicy, truffle and BBQ). All Meadows products are tried and tested by real families before they go on shelves, so you can be sure they have passed the taste test!
In Malaysia, these food products were followed by the introduction of Meadows Home cleaning and paper products in 2021 and the latest laundry range in June 2022.
The non-food range includes home care and kitchen items such as bathroom tissues, kitchen towels, soft pack tissues, home cleaning items such as antiseptic and dishwashing liquid, wraps and bags such as aluminium foil, cling wrap, rectangular and zipper bags and washing detergent Meadows Nano concentrated laundry liquid.
“I actually didn’t realise that the Meadows brand was sourcing its products from all over the world and it had won so many awards," says Liana G, 32, who occasionally does her grocery shopping at Giant. “I used to think that ‘generic’ or store brands were not as good as the more popular brands on the market. But now I am keen to try them out as there are lots of interesting products to choose from. I have also read a lot about how store brands can be just as good if not a better option.”
As DFI Retail Group’s exclusive brand, Meadows promises products that customers can trust. The brand has won over 190 quality awards in 2021 and 2022 and this includes awards from Monde Selection and International Taste Institute.
The Meadows products come with an everyday low- price guarantee and these prices have been reduced further at Giant and Giant Mini under its “Lower Prices That Last” campaign.
“The prices for Meadows products are actually very good,” says Jit Seng Lim, 29. “I usually pick up the Chocolate Malt Drink and Peanut Butter because they are a lot cheaper than the other brands out there that I used to buy. Since the pandemic, I have been very careful about how much I spend and I find that these products are just as tasty and more affordable, so why not?”
Indeed, pandemic purchasing has proven that consumers are willing to alter their buying behaviours and lots of people are opting for house brands as an affordable alternative.
Meadows offers great value with prices that can be up to 20% lower price than other brands. A quick look at Giant’s Lower Prices That Last catalogue online (https://www.giant.com.my/lowerpricesthatlast) shows you that you can get Meadows Chicken Tempura Nuggets (800gm) at RM10.90, Frozen Vegetables (500gm) at RM6.15, Chocolate Malt Drink (1kg) at RM12, Instant Noodles (chicken/curry) 5 packets for RM3, Peanut Butter (510gm) for RM9.75 and Basmati Rice (5kg) for RM28 among a range of other things.
Whether it's fresh food, snacks, breakfast cereal or household and kitchen products, Meadows will surely have something that interests you and is easy on your wallet.
Shop at any Giant store nationwide, or at your neighbourhood Giant Mini. Check www.giant.com.my/lowerpricesthatlast for the full list of items with lower prices that are here to last – just look out for the finger heart icon.
