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Walmart's latest launch is on-trend.

Bettergoods, which launched this week, is the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant's 15th private-label brand. It offers more than 300 "trend-forward" and "chef-inspired" products that are mostly priced under $5, according to a press release. The assortment includes everything from plant-based mozzarella cheese to strawberry sparkling water, all packaged in bright colors. The launch is expected to resonate with younger and more affluent consumers, Scott Morris, senior vice president of private brands, food and consumables, for Walmart U.S., told CNBC.

The new brand debuts as inflation continues to affect consumers. Grocery prices have jumped more than 25 percent in the past four years, according to The Washington Post, and a 2023 Yahoo Finance/Ipsos survey found 67 percent of participants citing the cost of food as the most tangible way they'd been impacted by inflation.

Walmart isn't alone in its cost-conscious strategy. Target announced the launch of a new private-label brand last month called Dealworthy, which aims to provide consumers with affordable beauty, personal care, apparel, and electronic products.

Walmart has established itself as the biggest grocery retailer in the U.S., with a total $611.3 billion in net sales for the 2023 fiscal year, according to its earnings release. The retailer is also in the process of building and remodeling more than 150 stores across the country, a departure from its strategy established in 2016 to invest in its online shopping and technology efforts.

As stated in its press release, Walmart says Bettergoods aims to offer many new products that aren't already available in the market. That's in contrast to many private-label brands that offer direct alternatives to national brands at lower prices--such as Target's Up&up.

With plant-based and gluten-free offerings at affordable prices combined with a high-end tack and colorful packaging, Bettergoods takes an approach to its private-label brand that's not unlike the in-house strategy at Trader Joe's. Instead of selling products that can be bought anywhere else, many Bettergoods items are unique to Walmart--such as an oat milk blueberry swirl frozen dessert and chicken curry empanadas. Time will tell if Bettergoods has its own Everything But the Bagel-level success story.

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