Target Goes All In on Plant-Based Grocery
Target is supersizing its No. 1-selling food and beverage owned brand to include on-trend plant-based products.
The food retailer is launching Good & Gather Plant Based, a new line featuring plant-based creations such as non-dairy chocolate flavored mousse dip, crispy chick’n tenders, savory buffalo-style cauliflower wings and more.
“Good & Gather Plant Based reinforces the brand’s commitment to products that prioritize great taste and quality, with the value only Target can offer,” says Rick Gomez, EVP and chief food and beverage officer, Target. “Guest demand for plant-based offerings is incredibly high and continues to grow. By adding Good & Gather Plant Based to our curated assortment of plant-based offerings, we're giving guests more of what they want and making it easy for them to discover the joy of food every day.”
The new line is designed to bring satisfying, plant-based goodness to breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between with more than 30 products, including dips, flavor-packed spreads and silky creamers that join existing Good & Gather plant-based guest favorites such as meatless patties and almond milk. Plus, Good & Gather Plant Based offers value, with most items priced under $5.
Crafted by Target’s internal team of food scientists and recipe developers — and backed by a money-back guarantee — the assortment aims to deliver tasty, satisfying staples and on-trend flavors, such as Everything Seasoned Cashew Dip & Spread and Caramel Vanilla Almondmilk Creamer.
Some of the Good & Gather Plant Based items are already available, and other products such as creamers and salad dressings will launch through fall — joining the hundreds of plant-alternative items already featured in Target's portfolio of owned and national brands.
On April 5, the retailer debuted Favorite Day, a new owned food and beverage brand. The Favorite Day assortment includes more than 700 sweet and savory products spanning categories such as bakery, trail mix, ice cream, snacks and more, all priced below $15.
Target today has a stunning 10 private brands in its portfolio (food and non-food) that generate a billion dollars or more (and four brands that generate at least $2 billion). The Good & Gather assortment includes more than 2,000 products across food and beverage from dairy to produce, ready-made pastas and meats to granola bars and sparkling water. All of the products under the Good & Gather brand are made without artificial flavors and sweeteners, synthetic colors and high fructose corn syrup, and are also backed by a money-back guarantee. With the new launch, Target will now offer Good & Gather, Favorite Day and Market Pantry as its grocery private labels.
On March 2, Target reported a blockbuster holiday quarter of impressive sales and traffic growth. For the fourth quarter ended January 30, same store sales increased 20.5%, consisting of 6.9% growth at physical stores and 118% digital growth. Average ticket grew 13.1%. The company said that 12 million more guests became multi-channel shoppers during fourth quarter.
Target said it will invest $4 billion annually over the next several years to open new stores and cut delivery times for online orders. During fourth quarter, same-day services (Order Pick Up, Drive Up and Shipt) grew 212%, led by more than 500% growth in Drive Up. More than 95% of Target's fourth quarter sales were fulfilled by its stores. Target also said it will add two distribution centers and test micro-fulfillment centers to speed up order processing the rest of the year through Christmas.
The retailer opened 30 new stores in 2020, with a "record year of 29 new small-format stores." Target plans to open 30 to 40 new stores each year. Some of these stores will be near college campuses and in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Portland.
Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is No. 7 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, with more than 1,900 locations.
