I Tried Groceries from Target’s Good & Gather Line — Here’s What I’ll Definitely Buy Again

I too believe Target has a unique ability to tell me what I “need” (I’ve nearly completed my evolution of becoming SNL’s lovely, enthusiastic Target Lady). But it’s not just the cute home goods and dangerously affordable clothes I’m after. The trendy retailer’s store-brand groceries are constantly finding their way into my cart.

Target’s store brands — Good & Gather, Market Pantry, and Favorite Day — are so expansive, you can find close to every item on your grocery shopping list. With more than 2,500 products under the Good & Gather label alone, according to the retailer’s website, you could say that Target is competing to become the new reigning champ of the Store Brand Olympics (against titans like Trader Joe’s and Aldi).

If you’ve yet to experience the hype, here’s everything to know about the retailer’s grocery store brands, how they differ, and a few of my favorite Good & Gather products.

Good & Gather is Target’s largest food and beverage store brand (aka private-label brand). Launched in 2019, the line includes thousands of everyday staples (yogurt, jarred sauces, fresh produce), specialty items (charcuterie bites, salad bowls, Spicy Dill Pickle Dipping Sauce), and seasonal finds across almost every department in the store. Roughly one year later, the retailer introduced Good & Gather Signature, a subset of the Good & Gather line that features even more premium cheeses, sauces, spreads, coffee, pastas, and more.

You’ll find Good & Gather items in the produce, dairy, meat and seafood, pantry, and frozen sections, among others. The line is also made without artificial flavors and sweeteners, synthetic colors, or high fructose corn syrup.

Longtime Target shoppers might be well-acquainted with Market Pantry. The budget-friendly store brand — products are said to be 10 to 30% less expensive than national brand equivalents, according to Target’s website — was first introduced in 2001. Although the packaging looks a bit different today, the Market Pantry line continues to include core staples: bread, condiments, canned and jarred goods, and a selection of frozen items. 

Think of Good & Gather as a slightly more premium alternative to the Market Pantry line of products. (In a similar move, Walmart recently launched bettergoods as a sibling to its budget-friendly Great Value brand.) You’ll find a wider a variety of items and flavors in the Good & Gather line, plus the line has more stringent ingredient requirements (Market Pantry Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn, for example, contains artificial flavors). 

Products under both Target store-brand labels are often cheaper than their name-brand counterparts. For example, Market Pantry Apple Juice is $1.99 compared to $3.79 for the same-size name-brand equivalent; similarly Good & Gather’s Organic Apple Juice is priced at $4.49 vs. $4.99 for a similar bottle of the name-brand stuff.

But wait, there’s one last brand to keep an eye out for while shopping at Target: Favorite Day. The newest of the food and beverage store brands, Favorite Day debuted in 2021 and contains over one thousand snacks and sweets. If you’ve been to a Target over the last three years, you’ve probably spotted a number of these items in the baked good, snack, soda, and frozen dessert sections.

I’d say, absolutely. Good & Gather has yet to really let me down — both in terms of the quality and variety of the products, as well as the moderate pricing (similar to what you’ll spend on my favorite staples at Trader Joe’s). Best of all, everything comes with a money-back guarantee, so there’s no reason not to branch out and try new items that don’t ordinarily fit in your weekly shop. Personally I’m eyeing the pre-made birria sauce and these broccoli and cheese veggie tots. 

Most important of all, Good & Gather products are pretty delicious and don’t feel any less special than name-brand versions of the same item. Here are just a few I always seek out each time I hit Target.