Rapid grocery player Gopuff is understood to be launching own-label bottled water under the brand Basically.
The delivery firm – which promises orders to arrive in around 15 minutes – is expected to launch the product in the coming weeks.
Gopuff has registered for trademarks to be applied to a broad range of product categories beyond bottled water, across household and snacks. In household it has filed trademarks for Basically to cover tissues and stationery, mobile phone accessories, tableware, candles and cleaning products such as laundry liquid and disinfectant.
It has also registered a trademark for brand Eat’N, which will be applied to salsa, jerky, crisps, tortilla chips and popcorn. Trademark filings also indicate a move into health and cosmetics – with the slogan “It’s not just healthcare, it’s selfcare” filed against tweezers and toothbrushes and the “on-demand delivery of prescriptions, medicines, dietary and nutritional supplements”.
It is unclear whether the own-label products will be available in the UK as well as the US. The trademarks haven’t been registered separately in the UK to date. Gopuff has been recruiting for several US-based roles “responsible for the sourcing, negotiation, and development of private-label products”.
It is not the first rapid grocery player to make a move into own-label. Jiffy launched a range of 35 own-label fresh products to customers in London in August last year. Co-founder Vladimir Kholyaznikov told The Grocer the success of the range had prompted the company to pursue “further categories under our own Jiffy brand”.
On Tuesday, German rapid grocer Flink revealed a partnership with Mymuesli to create “beautifully co-branded breakfast product” Mymuesli2go Go Nuts muesli pot.
Industry expert Brittain Ladd has advised all rapid grocery players to launch own-label ranges.
“Specifically, the strategy I continue to recommend is to view private-label products as an opportunity to differentiate and achieve a competitive advantage,” he said.
But they shouldn’t pursue low-cost essentials, he added.
“I would never recommend, for example, Gorillas launch a low-cost private-label loaf of sliced bread. Gorillas isn’t a discounter, and no RGD company should ever position their company to compete against Lidl, Aldi or Walmart on price,” Ladd said.
“However, I do recommend [they] step back and answer this question: how can we reimagine private-label categories? What categories can we introduce? What assortment gives us the right to win?”
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