A number of years ago, grocery stores introduced products that used the private label branding strategy. For a range of products including cereal, medicine, canned soups, and other items, they began using their own store brand or a brand that the consumer knew was associated with the store rather than a leading consumer brand. Priced much lower than leading brands, these products gave the customer a choice of a more value-oriented product. The question so many consumers have asked since seeing these private-label products is: what's the difference between the brand I know and this private-label brand?

Over many years, consumers have answered that question for themselves by buying and testing the private-label products and comparing them to leading consumer brands. In many cases they have realized the private-label products are very similar to the major brands. In some cases, they've realized the store brand is produced in the same factory as the well-known consumer brand. This marketing and product evolution has spilled over into the world of safety equipment, and more specifically, work gloves.

As more and more manufacturing has shifted from the United States to Asian countries, work glove manufacturers have followed that trend as well and moved manufacturing to lower-cost countries in order to effectively compete on cost. Many of these factories now produce leather work gloves, knit work gloves, kevlar gloves, and other types of gloves with precision standards and quality that are then imported into the United States.

Like the consumer trying the private-label cereal for the first time, industrial workers are now asking the question: do these private-label work gloves have the same quality and safety protection as the brand of work gloves I've used in the past? The answer to that question in many cases is yes. Often times, a leather palm glove or knit work glove manufactured by a well-known industrial company is produced by the same industrial plant that also manufactures gloves with no brand on them. They use much of the same process, same materials, and hold the same quality standards for both versions. Like the grocery store items, however, the private-label gloves are priced much lower in the marketplace than the branded gloves. Industrial companies who have a tight budget and are looking for high-quality alternatives can source these private-label safety products and save money without compromising employee safety.

In addition to industrial gloves, Asian companies also manufacture high-quality safety vests, hard hats, safety glasses, and a range of other safety supplies that are required by OSHA and other regulators in the United States. Like cereal or canned soup, these safety products can be a great substitute when a company places more emphasis on cost than on brand name.