Great Value products are made by hundreds of different third party manufacturers rather than by Walmart itself.
Walmart owns the Great Value brand name, but the actual food and household items are produced under contract by companies that often make the equivalent name brand product on the same production lines.
Manufacturers linked to specific Great Value products over the years include Sara Lee for bread, Wells Dairy for ice cream, Conagra for canned goods, and Hefty for trash and storage bags.
Walmart does not publish a complete public list of its suppliers.
This article covers who actually makes Great Value products, where they are manufactured, what changed in the brand’s 2026 redesign, and its history.
So let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Who Makes Great Value Products?
Great Value is Walmart’s own private label brand, but Walmart does not manufacture the products itself.
Current items are shown on Walmart’s official Great Value shop page.
Walmart contracts with several hundred third party suppliers to produce Great Value items.
Many of those same manufacturers also make the national name brand version of the identical product on shared production lines.
Companies that have been tied to specific Great Value goods through recalls, packaging errors, and industry reporting include Sara Lee, Bimbo Bakeries, Conagra, Kellogg’s, Wells Dairy, and Hefty.
Walmart generally does not disclose which specific company makes each Great Value item.
The connections that are known typically surface through recall notices, earnings reports, or former employees rather than official confirmation.
Where Are Great Value Products Made?
Great Value is Walmart’s largest private brand.
Roughly two thirds of its annual product spend goes toward items made, grown, or assembled in the United States, according to Walmart’s own sourcing commitments.
Country of origin still varies by product.
Packaging that lists only Distributed by Walmart, Bentonville, AR without a separate country of origin statement generally indicates the item was made domestically.
Products manufactured outside the US are required to list their country of origin on the package.
Walmart has pledged to invest 350 billion dollars into US made, grown, or assembled products over the decade following 2021.
What Changed in the 2026 Great Value Redesign?
On April 15, 2026, Walmart announced its first full packaging redesign of Great Value in more than a decade.
The refresh introduced a more modern visual identity intended to improve shoppability across physical stores and Walmart’s digital platform.
Walmart stated the redesign changed the branding and packaging system rather than the products themselves, explicitly noting that what’s inside isn’t changing.
Great Value is now sold in nine out of ten US households and is described by Walmart as the largest food and consumables CPG brand in the country.
Separately, Walmart announced a goal to remove synthetic dyes from its food private brands, including Great Value, by January 2027.
Great Value vs Kirkland Signature: How Do They Compare?
Great Value and Costco’s Kirkland Signature are the two most widely recognized private label grocery brands in the country.
Great Value is available to anyone at any Walmart, while Kirkland Signature is exclusive to Costco members, requiring an annual membership fee to access the brand at all.
Price comparisons on shared product categories, including olive oil and sea salt, have found Great Value pricing per ounce competitive with or lower than equivalent Kirkland Signature items.
Analysts at GOBankingRates have pointed to Great Value’s wider availability and lower barrier to entry as a meaningful advantage for budget focused shoppers.
Kirkland Signature has built a stronger reputation among some shoppers for punching above its price point on specific categories like paper products, coffee, and supplements.
Costco has been notably transparent in some cases about which national manufacturer produces a given item, printing brand names like Starbucks directly on Kirkland packaging.
Great Value generally does not disclose its manufacturing partners in the same way, though the two brands are frequently rated as comparable overall in independent taste and quality testing.
What Product Categories Does Great Value Cover?
Great Value spans more than 100 product categories, making it one of the broadest private label brands in American retail.
Core categories include pantry staples like canned goods, pasta, and baking ingredients, along with dairy products, frozen foods, snacks, and beverages.
Beyond food, Great Value also covers household essentials including paper towels, trash and storage bags, laundry detergent, and cleaning supplies.
It competes directly with national brands like Bounty, Hefty, and Tide in categories where private labels have traditionally struggled to match brand loyalty.
The brand has also expanded into organic and better for you subcategories in recent years, reflecting broader shifts in grocery shopping preferences.
Because Great Value spans such a wide range of categories and suppliers, quality can vary meaningfully from one product to the next.
Shoppers who find a specific Great Value item disappointing should not necessarily assume the same is true across the rest of the brand’s lineup.
When Was Great Value Founded?
Great Value launched in 1993 as Walmart’s private label brand for grocery and household items, offering a lower cost alternative to national brands across the store.
By the late 2000s, Great Value had become the largest food brand in the United States by both sales and volume.
In 2009, Walmart conducted a major relaunch, testing more than 5,250 products against national brand equivalents.
The relaunch reformulated roughly 750 items to improve quality and consistency.
Great Value has since grown to cover more than 100 product categories, from pantry staples and frozen food to cleaning supplies and paper goods.
It remains Walmart’s flagship private brand more than three decades after its introduction.
Frequently Asked Questions About Who Makes Great Value
Is Great Value made by Walmart?
No, Walmart owns the Great Value brand name but does not manufacture the products itself. Several hundred third party suppliers produce Great Value items under contract with Walmart.
Are Great Value products made in the USA?
Most are. Roughly two thirds of Great Value’s annual product spend goes toward items made, grown, or assembled in the United States, though the exact origin varies by specific product.
Did Great Value packaging change in 2026?
Yes, Walmart introduced a full redesign of Great Value packaging on April 15, 2026, its first major refresh in more than a decade, though the products themselves were not reformulated as part of that change.
Is Great Value the same as the national brand version?
In some cases, yes. Certain Great Value products are made by the same manufacturer as the national brand equivalent, sometimes on the same production line, though this varies by product and is not something Walmart officially confirms.
I am Jack Neel, a mechanical engineer, researcher, and writer. I created this website to share my knowledge about different brands and products with you. I research the manufacturers behind the brands and provide you with the information you need to make smart buying decisions.