Fresh Thyme Market has let its private label work fall to the wayside in recent years as it prioritized other parts of the business. But in 2026, the Midwestern specialty grocer plans to revive its store brand with trendy new products, modernized packaging and a revamped strategy, Alex Peters, Fresh Thyme’s Own Brand manager, said in an interview.
Fresh Thyme plans to revamp its store brand packaging and add 200 new items in 2026, growing private label penetration by 6% by the end of this year. Those products will reflect current health trends, such as protein and fiber, while also incorporating long-standing specialty grocer values like sustainability and organic offerings. Peters noted that Fresh Thyme’s current organic assortment is heavily underpenetrated.
The grocer launched its store brand line in 2018, but the pandemic led it to pause innovation on the line, Peters said. So while store brand offerings remained on its shelves, Fresh Thyme didn’t introduce new products or update existing ones, he added.
Fresh Thyme’s brand has continued moving forward in other areas, unveiling a revised name, refreshed logo and a new marketing campaign focused on its customers.
“A lot of our [private label] programs are stale, older programs,” Peters said. “We want to reinvigorate the process, the program, our ingredients, standards, as well as overall packaging to showcase who we are and bring the own brand program into the 21st century, as we’ve done with the store.”
Peters joined Fresh Thyme early last year with the sole purpose of reigniting the specialty grocer’s store brand offerings. In 2025, he laid out a strategy for bringing life back to Fresh Thyme’s private label line, and in 2026 the grocer will begin putting it into action, he said.
Packaging will play a major role, according to Peters. Currently, most of Fresh Thyme’s private label items feature the grocer’s old logo and name, which is outdated compared with the rest of the store. Revamped packaging will begin rolling out across the store brand line in the final months of this year.
“We’ve since evolved away from the farmers market aesthetic… Look at our logo today,” Peters said. “It’s [cleaner], refreshed, simplistic.”
In a Tuesday press release, Fresh Thyme stated that the company is “actively seeking supplier partners.” Peters added that supplier partners will include some local partners as well as larger suppliers that meet the grocer’s quality standards.
Fresh Thyme also plans to expand its Own Brands team, which currently just includes Peters, to include a sourcing manager and a packaging manager.
Private label sales have been going gangbusters in recent years, with sales in the U.S. rising more than 3% last year compared with 2024 — nearly three times as quickly as national brand sales, according to Circana data released by the Private Label Manufacturers Association in January.
“The Own Brands portfolio is really that tangible expression of the banner brand, and so we really want to make sure that we're doing it right,” Peters said. “And [we’re] really excited to roll that out to our shoppers.”
