Walmart's Bettergoods Vs Great Value Brands, Explained

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Walmart's new in-house brand, bettergoods, debuted in the spring of 2024. Though it joined other Walmart brands like Marketside and Great Value, bettergoods strove to fulfill a few niche roles at the popular superstore with its highly curated product range. Namely, this brand is designed to cater to those who are craving worldly flavors, as well as those with specific dietary requirements and preferences. With alluring names and packaging, there are many bettergoods products worth buying. One of our favorites is the bettergoods organic fruit snacks in the mixed berry flavor, which stand up impressively well against other fruit snacks on the market.

Nonetheless, the Great Value brand certainly still has a time and place in your kitchen. Beyond their varying price points, there are a number of similarities and differences between the two brands that you should keep in mind while shopping. We delved into products past and present to find out what you need to know about both bettergoods and Great Value so that you can be most pleased with your next Walmart haul. 

In most departments of Walmart that deal with home goods, you'll be able to spot at least one or two Great Value products. In the cleaning section, there are paper towels, toilet bowl cleaners, sponges, dish soap, and dusters. A few aisles over, you'll find toilet paper, facial tissues, and flushable wet wipes. Then, of course, the grocery department is brimming with shelf-stable goods like crackers, pastas, peanut butter, and canned fruits, as well as refrigerated and frozen items like ready-to-heat meals, a wide variety of yogurts, and numerous kinds of cheese. However, Great Value is not ubiquitous throughout the warehouse. For example, the clothing and electronics sections are just two examples of areas that are void of the brand.

In contrast, the bettergoods brand has been designed to focus solely on food. You won't even be able to find food-adjacent products, like resealable plastic bags or paper towels, in the bettergoods line. Instead, set your sights on shelf-stable products like Red Quinoa Tortilla Chips and Dark Chocolate Pistachio Pecan Nut Bars, as well as refrigerated and frozen products like the Garlic, Parmesan, and Basil Butter and the Italian Wood-Fired Mushroom and Truffle Pizza.

The bettergoods and Great Value lines do not share many duplicate products. However, there are a few items that fit the bill and therefore act as a good measure of the typical price difference between the two brands. For example, the bettergoods marinara sauce costs nearly $0.28 per ounce, while the Great Value version is only around $0.08 per ounce. Meanwhile, despite containing similar base ingredients like enriched flour, yeast, and vital wheat gluten, bettergoods everything bagels cost about $0.68 per bagel, while the Great Value cinnamon raisin bagels are nearly half the price at $0.36 per bagel.

Some of these price differences can be attributed to name value; bettergoods is a trendier line, while Great Value is meant to be more economical (sometimes at the expense of product quality). However, Great Value products may also be less expensive due to the ingredients used and how they have been sourced. Fair Trade Certified cocoa beans, for example, are used in bettergoods chocolate bars, but not in their Great Value counterparts. 

While Great Value bars are Rainforest Alliance Certified, this standard does not require a minimum price guarantee for farmers or premiums to support local communities and organic farming practices. Fair trade cocoa beans will typically demand a higher price than non-certified beans, and this trickles down to the pricing of the final product. So when it comes to picking a brand, don't just base your decision on flavor and money; take ethics into account, as well.

In Walmart's press release introducing the bettergoods line, it was stated that the brand had been "thoughtfully curated by Walmart's experienced product development team that collaborated with suppliers across the globe to source quality, trend-forward ingredients and flavors." The products in this line are meant to be "exciting culinary concepts" that do more than fill your belly with sustenance; bettergoods products aim to provide customers with experiences worth talking about (and going back to the store for more). They feature "elevated ingredients" in "innovative recipes" that are "totally unique to Walmart."

These themes are sometimes called out directly (albeit ambiguously) in the products themselves. For instance, bettergoods offers a trendy alternative to mayonnaise in the form of its garlic parmesan aioli spread. Other products clearly take advantage of buzzworthy ingredients and flavor combinations, frequently calling upon what some might call "exotic" flavors. A few examples of this include the smoothie mix with red dragon fruit, açaí, and collagen, cold brew ice cream, and the Tamarind and Chili Pineapple Flavored Gummy Rings.

Included in the Great Value product line are familiar favorites, such as pepperoni pizza, strawberry toaster pastries, and chewy granola bars. As you stroll the aisles of Walmart, you can toss these products into your cart without needing to research ingredients or possible uses. There are relatively few Great Value products that inspire you to think outside the box, both in terms of form and flavor. For instance, Americans are well accustomed to heating and eating frozen waffles, especially in flavor variations like buttermilk, blueberry, and chocolate chip.

On the other hand, bettergoods specializes in making you do a double-take during your Walmart run. Instead of breezing through the store, you are encouraged to stop and marvel over quirky ingredient combinations and purchase them out of both curiosity and excitement. Going back to the waffles example, bettergoods carries three entirely different products: Custard Filled Waffles, Mixed Berry Filled Waffles, and Hot Honey Chicken and Waffle Breakfast Sandwiches. Not only are these flavors intriguing, but the form in which they are offered — as fillings and stuffings — is uncommon as well. Another example can be found in the bettergoods and Great Value coffee lines. Bettergoods does not offer a classic roast; in its place are alluring varieties like smoky vanilla and a handful of single-origin coffees.

When you search "bettergoods" on Walmart's website, you'll find that the results can be conveniently narrowed down through the "made without" and "plant-based" filters. These two categories are hallmarks of the bettergoods brand, helping distinguish it as a reliable source of food for those with specific dietary requirements and preferences. This isn't to say that the Great Value line does not contain allergen-friendly or plant-based products. After all, nobody is debating whether the Great Value almond flour can really be used for gluten-free baking. It's just to say that finding such products in the bettergoods line can often be easier.

To make life easier, each product in the "made without" line comes with a label that specifies what is not included. On that label might be gluten, sugar, preservatives, added hormones or steroids, artificial flavors, and artificial colors. As an example, while Great Value carries a sanding sugar made with three artificial colors, bettergoods dye-free sanding sugar is colored with natural ingredients like red radish, beet, and purple sweet potato.

Meanwhile, the plant-based line comes in bold green packaging, making it easy to pick out vegan products from those containing dairy, eggs, and meat. No more squinting to see if a pint of ice cream says "dairy-free," you'll be able to easily grab a variety of oat milk frozen desserts from the freezer aisle without having to think twice.

Bettergoods offers a plethora of products that appeal to those who are on the hunt for healthy ingredients like probiotics and ancient grains, but that doesn't mean you can't find an array of indulgent desserts in its lineup. Just try the brand's French macarons, chocolate cake pops, or tiramisu gelato. Nor does bettergoods sell customers short on crunchy, munchy snacks. For that, there are honey-roasted sesame chips, guacamole-flavored cassava chips, and Thai-Style Pineapple Fried Rice Crackers. Of course, we can't forget to mention that bettergoods still puts convenience and comfort at the forefront of its mission. The brand offers dozens upon dozens of frozen food items, including full-fledged meals like garlic butter dry rub chicken wings and beef bulgogi stuffed mpanadas.

Similarly, Great Value products may not be as upfront with its healthy offerings, but you can nevertheless find many nutritious items under the brand name. From products as basic as almonds and whole milk to slightly more complex items like organic vegetable broth, bean and cheese burritos, and frozen broccoli stir-fry, there are plenty of products that can nourish you on a daily basis. They may not sound as sexy as their bettergoods counterparts, but rest assured that they can still pack a flavorful punch and nourish your body from the inside out.

Many Reddit users believe that when Walmart introduced bettergoods, several Great Value products were taken off the shelves and rebranded under the new line. This would help explain why certain Great Value products, such as Great Value unsweetened almond milk, are no longer available. Regardless of whether such rumors are true, they demonstrate how the two lines play off one another: Great Value and bettergoods rarely carry food items under identical names, but they commonly offer different variations of the same core product. Take Great Value's range of yogurts, which does not include a single whole milk product. Instead, low-fat and nonfat flavors abound. Conversely, bettergoods only offers whole milk Greek yogurts, which makes sense, given that whole milk has recently become trendy. If you are curious to try one, we ranked the honey vanilla flavor as our favorite Greek yogurt among ten different brands.

Another example of food items with varying flavors is the bagels mentioned previously in this article; Great Value carries plain and cinnamon raisin, while bettergoods carries double cheese, everything, and double chocolate chip. Sometimes, though, the differences are more subtle. For instance, bettergoods offers a five cheese Italian wood-fired pizza, while Great Value carries a rising-crust four-cheese pizza; in such cases, you might see a greater difference in the price than in the flavor (in this case, roughly $0.44 per ounce as opposed to $0.29 per ounce).

Great Value products tend to be more plain Jane than their bettergoods siblings. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Basic food items may be useful for baking or cooking a recipe at home. For instance, if you want to bake with chocolate, the uniquely flavored bettergoods bars may not suit your needs as well as the Great Value chocolate bars. Figuring out how to incorporate a niche product into a recipe, like a cookie butter-filled milk chocolate bar, may be difficult. On the other hand, familiar and straightforward varieties like a 30% milk chocolate bar or a 50% dark chocolate bar can easily be integrated into recipes.

The availability of products is also a concern. The Great Value brand offers over 1,000 food products, while bettergoods has just under 500. It is worth noting that bettergoods does seem to be rapidly expanding, as the brand featured far fewer products — only about 300 — when it was launched in 2024. Even so, the product line remains selective and highly curated toward novelty items. More run-of-the-mill cooking staples, like lemon juice, may only be available under the Great Value line. 

Here's another example: While it may be shocking to some, there is no such thing as bettergoods peanut butter. In its place is pistachio nut butter, which many folks must learn how to use. This is an instance where you may want to turn to Great Value, which carries several varieties of peanut butter, including creamy, crunchy, and even powdered.

The style of packaging in which a product is sold has much to do with how appealing it is to customers. Glass bottles, for instance, have a more elegant appearance than plastic ones — even though some glass bottles may contain even more microplastics than their plastic alternatives due to the paint present on caps. Regardless, glass tends to sell at a higher price point, especially because it has an inherently higher cost of production. This means that Great Value's shelf-stable fruits that are sold in cans may appeal to those who are on a budget, while bettergoods' shelf-stable fruits in glass jars might be more likely to make their way into the carts of those who are enticed by sleek packaging. 

The same is true for Great Value's juices, which appear to be mass-produced because they are sold in large volumes like 64- and 96-ounce plastic bottles, as opposed to the beverages bettergoods sells in much smaller 32-ounce glass bottles. On yet another aisle, you will find that bettergoods coffee primarily comes in bags like the ones you might buy at Starbucks — and unlike the canisters and cardboard boxes favored by Great Value.

Just because bettergoods favors more aesthetically pleasing packaging, however, does not necessarily mean that the food inside is of higher quality or that the supply chain is more eco-friendly. When it comes to plastic versus glass bottles, the latter require more energy to be produced and necessitate the mining of silica sand, a kind of resource extraction that often destroys habitats. 

While Great Value tends to offer barebones names that are short and free of frills, the names of bettergoods products can be quite lengthy as they both wax poetic and pragmatically describe each product's star ingredients. For instance, bettergoods carries a Chocolate Indulgence Sea Salt Granola, compared to Great Value's chocolate chip one. Such extended names aren't always wholly necessary; bettergoods offers an Ultimate Chocolate Ice Cream, a name that does not explain how the product differs from Great Value's more simplistically called chocolate ice cream. The names of bettergoods products might even refer to flavors and culinary techniques that customers think sound fancy, but do not truly understand. This is the case with bettergoods' Bucatini No. 520 and Fusilli Bucati No. 4103, names that stand in stark contrast to Great Value pastas like spaghetti and rotini.

Depending on your cooking style, you may or may not like that the flowery names of bettergoods products will often require you to get creative in the kitchen. That's because rather than being straightforward and familiar, bettergoods products sometimes feature names that are open to more culinary interpretation. For example, while bettergoods does carry items like a carnitas seasoning blend, some of the brand's other seasonings are named by flavor descriptors, such as the mushroom umami seasoning or the hot honey seasoning. Conversely, many of Great Value's seasonings have names that tell you how to use them, or at least what cuisine they are meant for. That includes the pork rub seasoning mix and the Italian seasoning.

When it comes to making guests feel special and welcome in your home, you'll want to keep bettergoods products visible and readily available. The fun flavors included in the bettergoods line will leave a memorable impression on guests. Whether it's the Smoked Gouda Mac N' Cheese Flavored Wavy Potato Chips or the bruschetta made with artichoke, guests will likely be taking note of what to add to their grocery lists when they get home. Indeed, the bettergoods line, with its trendy sweet and savory flavors, is well-suited to snack and charcuterie boards. And thanks to the "made without" line, you'll easily be able to take care of guests with dietary requirements; for instance, by serving the gluten-free sea salt sesame crackers or the plant-based 55% Oat Chocolate Bar with Tart Cherries and Pistachios (dark chocolate is one of the most underrated charcuterie board foods). It's worth looking into bettergoods' sparkling water lineup here, too, since they can add bright pops of color to your table.

Nevertheless, you don't have to shell out all your hard-earned money on the more expensive brand. If you are cooking or baking before your guests arrive, go right ahead and use Great Value products. Odds are, few people will be able to tell the difference between which frozen fruits you blended into the sorbet or which cheese you baked into the macaroni. Taste test your recipes beforehand, and if you are happy with the cheaper ingredients, don't feel pressured to spend any more than you have to.