Sam’s Club has removed more than 40 unwanted ingredients from its entire Member’s Mark food and beverage line, completing a reformulation project launched in 2022 based on member feedback.
The wholesale club announced Jan. 12 that all Member’s Mark food and beverage products now shipping to its 600-plus locations meet its “Made Without” commitment standards.
The initiative eliminated certified synthetic colors, artificial flavors, aspartame and high-fructose corn syrup across hundreds of products. The club removed ingredients while maintaining taste profiles and competitive pricing, though some products were discontinued when reformulation proved incompatible with quality standards.
“Because you asked for simpler ingredient lists, we made it our mission to translate those expectations into a new standard of integrity for the Member’s Mark brand,” said Julie Barber, chief merchant at Sam’s Club.
“We did it because quality at Sam’s Club means more than just a great price. It means providing ingredients that members want and eliminating the ingredients they do not want, and being a brand that members can trust to listen to and respond to their feedback.”
Product development challenges
The reformulation required collaboration between merchants, product developers, suppliers and the Member’s Mark Community, a group of members who provide feedback and co-create products. The bakery category presented particular challenges.
Bakery icing reformulation proved especially complex. Removing specific certified synthetic colors while maintaining consistency and visual appeal for celebration cakes required extensive development work. Sam’s Club said product developers continued testing until the new recipe met ingredient standards while preserving the appearance customers expect for special occasions.
Sports drinks required a different solution. Industry-standard bright blue coloring typically relies on synthetic dyes. Rather than accept a more natural purplish hue after removing those ingredients, Sam’s Club infused blue coloring into packaging while reformulating the beverage itself.
“To keep that iconic blue, we infused the color into the packaging instead of the drink itself,” Barber wrote. “We brought our members along on this journey to make sure we maintained the look they love while still delivering the benefits of a reformulated product inside.”
Some products couldn’t meet the new standards. When reformulation compromised what made an item popular, Sam’s Club removed it from shelves rather than lower ingredient standards. The club declined to specify which products were discontinued.
Industry impact and future expansion
Sam’s Club positioned the achievement as a potential catalyst for broader industry change. As a major buyer, the club’s ingredient requirements for suppliers could influence reformulation efforts across retail.
“Given our size and scale, our hope is that we can drive change in partnership with our suppliers and make a positive impact across the industry – another reason for us to be proud of what we’ve accomplished at Sam’s Club,” Barber said.
The initiative excluded sports nutrition and over-the-counter products, which may contain ingredients such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, D-L malic acid and phosphoric acid.
Sam’s Club plans to extend “Made Without” standards to cosmetics, health and wellness and laundry categories beginning in 2026. The club did not provide timelines for category-specific rollouts.
The announcement follows Sam’s Club’s recent expansion of pharmacy services, including free same-day delivery of refrigerated medications for Plus members and access to oral GLP-1 weight management medications.
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