What Walmart Employees Know About In-House Brands That Most Shoppers Don't

Prices at the grocery store have never been higher, and that upward trajectory is only likely to keep getting worse, at least short-term. However, since we still need to eat the same amount as before, consumers continue to fill their carts with a higher proportion of budget-friendly products. Store-brand groceries have never been more popular, thanks to this tightening of the collective economic belt, but this forced swap may not actually be as bad as it seems. As it turns out, one major shopping secret of Walmart employees is that many of those low-price, in-house Great Value products actually come from the exact same producers that put out consumers' favorite brand-name products.

While it is notoriously difficult to track down the producers behind stores' signature label products, occasionally something slips out. Like, for instance, when Land O' Lakes butter supposedly arrived filled with Walmart's Great Value product. The folks working at the stores also sometimes have inside knowledge, and there are plenty of employees on the internet ready to spill the beans on the popular brands behind Walmart's Great Value products.

Obviously what we read on social media needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but according to alleged Walmart employees online, the Great Value chocolate chips come from Hershey's, the yogurt from Dannon, the cereals from Kellogg's, and the zip-top bags from Ziploc, among other big names. The same producer doesn't necessarily mean the same product, but it may be indicative of a similar level of quality.

Even if we can't fully trust these voices online (and the manufacturer of store-brand products is not disclosed on the packaging), there is one way that these relationships can be pinned down. Each time Walmart issues a food recall, the documentation offers insight into where these Great Value products come from. It is maybe a bit of a shame, because the recall might, for example, expose that Sara Lee also makes that Great Value loaf with the much smaller price tag, but there is a lot of information to be gleaned from these recalls about the overall picture of who makes Walmart's store-brand products.

In 2006, a recall was issued for Great Value peanut butter produced by ConAgra. That name might not be familiar from the aisles of the grocery store, but it was the same manufacturer behind Peter Pan peanut butter at the time. Similarly, a 2010 chicken nugget recall revealed that the poultry giant Perdue was behind at least some of Walmart's Great Value frozen chicken products. Additionally, a Walmart recall of cinnamon rolls and cheese Danishes exposed J.M. Smucker as the producer — the same company that makes all those famous Hostess-brand snacks and treats.

With grocery prices as high as they are, everyone is forced to shop more frugally. For many, that means swapping out brand names for generic alternatives. But once you learn that many of these products come from the same producers (and carry a heavy discount), there's really no reason to go back to the brand name.