Wal-Mart moving in for the kill

Quick. Name the largest store brand in the United States. It’s not Kraft, Johnson & Johnson or any other giant product supplier. The answer is Great Value, Wal-Mart’s store brand. And with Wal-Mart smelling blood among its giant retail rivals like Kraft and P&G, it’s getting more aggressive with its brand.

When I think of Great Value products, the cheap clear gallon tub of artificial vanilla ice cream comes to mind. And indeed, ice cream is one of the “750 everyday items” whose recipes the company redesigned to make them more like branded products. Great Value now carries a variety of ice creams like fat-free caramel-swirl, mocha mud slide and cake batter.