The Major Baked Goods Brand Behind Walmart's Great Value Bread

By now we know that there are typically big-name brands behind our favorite private-label products. Such as how Jelly Belly makes the Kirkland Signature jelly beans, which means you're getting a steal every time you use that Costco membership. With grocery prices rising, it's not uncommon to switch to private-label products — whether you prefer the Aldi brand, Kirkland Signature, or Great Value — to save a few bucks. If there's one thing researching private-label brands has taught us, it's that you don't always have to sacrifice quality when you purchase private-label over name brands.

When it comes to Walmart's Great Value breads, the brand behind most of them is none other than baked goods tycoon Sara Lee. Sara Lee is responsible for making Great Value's white, whole wheat, rye, and sourdough breads, in particular. Besides reports from former employees confirming that Great Value bread comes from the Sara Lee bakery, the fact was further verified in 2015 when there was a statewide recall on various Bimbo Bakeries (the parent company behind Sara Lee) products, including two Great Value breads (via PR Newswire).

Although the ingredients in the product are nearly identical and the manufacturer is the same, the price difference between Great Value bread and Sara Lee bread is significant. Looking at plain, old white bread, a 20-ounce bag of Great Value White Sandwich Bread goes for $1.42 at Walmart, while a 20-ounce bag of Sara Lee Classic White Bread is priced at $2.50. While we ranked Sara Lee's Artesano Bakery Bread as the best white bread, it's a bit more expensive.

According to one Reddit user who worked for an IT company closely connected to the manufacturer, Great Value bread is cheaper than Sara Lee because it's "packaged into cheaper/different bags." The user further explained that employees would "swap the bags in the bread bagging machines to either brand." While there has been no official confirmation of this fact, the different packaging could explain the nearly $1 price difference between the two breads.

Sara Lee is also credited with making Great Value's coffee products and a handful of its coffee cakes. The bakery brand has been crafting baked goods since 1935, when the company's founder, Charles Lubin, purchased a bakery chain. The first cheesecake product was introduced in 1949 (which didn't fare so well on our ranking of frozen store-bought cheesecakes), and the company was renamed Sara Lee, after Lubin's daughter. Nearly 100 years later, it remains a powerhouse in frozen baked goods, packaged baked goods, and, of course, breads.