When you walk through the aisles of Trader Joe's, you will rarely find a brand name you have seen anywhere else. This is because the grocery chain mostly offers products of their own making, or their "private brands." In fact, Trader Joe's is quite possibly known most for its in-house labels - and especially within the college crowd, its selection of frozen meals.known most for its in-house labels - and especially within the college crowd, its selection of frozen meals.

As Trader Joe's continues to stock its shelves with its numerous TJ labels and push away outside brands, this shares a distinct strategy to another grocery chain: Aldi, a German retailer. In the US, Aldi is a small-time, minimal grocery chain, but in Europe, they are one of the biggest players in the retail industry that offers mainly private labels, and the main exception is on its batteries and electronics. In fact, about 90 percent of all products sold in Aldi are private brands, according to CEO Jason Hart.

There are, however, other similarities between the two grocery chains' business models: their lack of advertising and their preferences for stocking core grocery items in a relatively small store (around 10,000 square feet of sales floor). So after further research, I saw that those similarities were not coincidental. Thought you were buying from an All-American, feel-good grocery store? The fact is, Trader Joe's is a subsidiary of Aldi Nord, a division of Aldi. That's right: Joe has been Johann all along.

The Albrecht family, who created Aldi, bought the chain in 1979 back when Trader Joe's operated only a handful of locations in California. It was only after this shift in ownership when Trader Joe's established itself as the bright and colorful store with its unconventional, yet creative products and low prices. And this is where private branding becomes instrumental.

Private brands, also known as "generic brands" in the US, are products exclusively manufactured for a specific retailer, and because these products are made for a single company, that company has principle say in product management. They set quality standards, marketing methods, and most importantly, the prices.

Why do people buy generic? Because they are cheaper for more-or-less the same quality to the name brand. Well, what if the quality is even better than the name brand? Why would you get a bottle of Tropicana when you could get TJ's hand-squeezed OJ for 50 cents more? And what if I told you it's actually the same price? No, wait, it's cheaper!

Trader Johann's has been able to adjust its prices on goods more quickly and more effectively than other leading retailers, such as Walmart, the world's largest retail company.

In recent years, TJ and Aldi, as well as Amazon/Whole Foods, have been waging price wars against Walmart which currently controls nearly 22 percent of the US grocery market, and Walmart has been taking some minor jabs to the pocket. Aldi spent around $1.6 billion for renovations and price adjustments while Walmart had to spend over $6 billion. Surely, this is a small investment to secure its dominance in the US, but Walmart and other bigger retailers must rethink their strategy as the aforementioned three players will continue to harass them with a game plan largely unbeknownst to them.

Ever since the end of the Great Recession, in-house brands have been playing an increasingly important role in brand exposure and, particularly, brand recognition. When we, young consumers, hear about Trader Johann's, we are enticed by its trendy and progressive move away from GMOs and processed foods, its rumored fine treatment (and payment) of its employees, and the cost-quality evaluation of its exclusive, private brands.

The exclusivity of these products, however, have indeed shrouded the origin of the contents, and TJ, in particular, has gone above and beyond in keeping quiet about their sources. But back in August, when the news released its findings that big and well-known companies, like Frito-Lay and Nestle, made many of TJ's so-called "in-house" items, it seemed that there would be a great outcry from its long-time customers.

But it never came. It turned out that TJ had generated customer base and loyalty to the point where its customers simply shrugged. Even though TJ's trade practices were clearly in conflict with the type of people they were attracting, none of that really mattered as long as they got what they came for. As long as TJ was still the "funky shop around the corner that sources...from local farms and food artisans," no one questioned them (Beth Kewitt of Fortune).

This is the true strength and longevity of a well-crafted brand image. A brand image of the friendly, non-corporate grocery store that took a lot of a long time to develop and a carefully curated selection of private brands.

While in-house products are not a new industry standard, retailers heavily invested in their private labels are gaining marketability and momentum in the retailing industry, and this investment and faith in private brands could prove to be a disruptive force in an industry where a variety of goods in large stores trumped overvalue goods in modest stores.