AWG Champions Value for Shoppers Amid Economic Pressures with Focus on Private Brands

As retailers seek to provide more value to shoppers, Always Save® and Best Choice® provide reliable solutions at local independent grocers.

As shifting economic factors and changes to benefits available to shoppers place increasing strains on family budgets, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is reinforcing its commitment to value through its legacy private brands, Always Save® and Best Choice®. These trusted brands provide a critical solution for shoppers seeking relief from rising grocery prices, enabling them to find quality and savings at their local, AWG member retailer.

Many families, particularly those on tight budgets, are actively seeking ways to stretch their dollars. This has accelerated a shift toward private brands, which offer a powerful combination of quality and affordability.

“There are many factors affecting grocery budgets today,” said Tye Anthony, Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer at AWG. “We’re investing in our private brands and working with our vendor partners to help reduce costs for AWG member retailers and ultimately their customers.”

A Two-Pronged Approach to Value

For more than forty years, AWG has offered a multi-tiered value proposition to shoppers through its cornerstone brands.

• Always Save®: Opening Price Point or Best Value on Shelf. The Always Save brand delivers on its name. It offers hundreds of key value items across the store that carry the opening price point or the best price per unit—every single day. To provide even deeper savings, seasonally-relevant products are placed on the Always Save Hold Down List, featuring ultra-competitive pricing designed to beat any competitor. Every Always Save product is backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee, ensuring quality for even the most discerning, budget-conscious customer.
  
  
• Best Choice®: Compare to National Brand Quality with Better Pricing. For shoppers who want national brand quality without the price, Best Choice offers the perfect solution to “compare and save.” With a portfolio of over 3,300 products, each item is formulated to meet or exceed the quality standards of national brand alternatives. By leveraging scale and efficiency, Best Choice maintains lower everyday pricing than its equivalent national brand counterparts. To help retailers compete directly with promotions, select Best Choice Key Value Items carry strategically lower prices. This commitment to continuous and consistent value helps consumers save at the register every time they shop. All Best Choice products are also backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

More Than a Purchase: Supporting Local Communities

AWG’s commitment to its retailers emphasizes that finding value doesn’t require shoppers to abandon local businesses for national dollar stores or big-box chains. By choosing Always Save and Best Choice at their neighborhood independent grocer, shoppers are not only saving money but also reinvesting in their own communities.

“The choice to shop at your local independent grocer ensures that the dollars spent stay local, strengthening the community fabric in a way that corporate chains cannot,” said Emily Detwiler, Vice President of AWG Brands. “Value and community go hand-in-hand at your local independent grocer.”

ABOUT ASSOCIATED WHOLESALE GROCERS, INC.
Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is the nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets, serving 1,100 member companies and 3,500 locations throughout 33 states from 9 wholesale division support centers. Consolidated sales for AWG in 2024 were $12.1 billion. In addition to its cooperative wholesale operations, the company also operates subsidiary companies that provide certain real estate and supermarket development services, and pharmaceutical products.

ABOUT AWG BRANDS
AWG Brands is Associated Wholesale Grocers’ private brand program consisting of Always Save®, Best Choice®, Pure Wonder by Best Choice™, Hello World by Best Choice™, Clearly by Best Choice™, and Best Choice® Superior Selections®. The AWG Brands portfolio includes more than 4,100 products from departments across the grocery store including center store grocery, bakery, produce, meat and seafood, general merchandise, and health, beauty and wellness. Learn more at awginc.com/awg-brands.