Case Study: Albert Heijn turns private label into a house of brands with Brand Potential

Albert Heijn turns 20,000 own-label SKUs into distinctive brands with Brand Potential

Albert Heijn, a major Dutch supermarket chain, faced the challenge of transforming its vast private-label portfolio from a basic alternative into a suite of distinctive, design-led brands that could compete with and outperform established A-brands. To address this, they partnered with the vendor Brand Potential to leverage its services in brand design, insight, and innovation.

Brand Potential implemented a solution by building a long-term creative partnership to operate as an extension of Albert Heijn. They used insight-led brand design to turn private labels into powerful brand ecosystems, such as AH Terra for plant-based products and Delicata for heritage chocolate. The impact included the successful creation and relaunch of multiple flagship brands, stronger recognition across approximately 20,000 SKUs, and a shift in shopper perception of private label from functional to desirable. This helped normalize new lifestyle choices and turned these products into the visual and emotional face of Albert Heijn in customers' homes.

Albert Heijn