near east
Near East® is a brand known for its grain-based food products, including rice pilafs and couscous, founded in 1962 by Armenian immigrants in Worcester, Massachusetts. The brand originated from a homemade rice pilaf recipe that gained popularity, leading to the development of packaged mixes. Today, it is part of PepsiCo's portfolio, offering a variety of authentic and easy-to-prepare grain dishes.
Shelf presence
Brand Power (0-100) blends four shelf signals. Price position is shown below for context · a value↔premium read, not part of the score.
carried in 16 of 24 Bay Area grocers. how many stores stock the brand.
20 products in the catalog. how deep the product line is (saturating).
spans 3 categories · 5 subcategories. how many categories the brand plays in (saturating).
Where it owns shelf
each bar is the % of that category's SKUs that are Near East (full bar = 100% of the shelf), grouped by department.
Top competitors
the brands crowding the same categories as Near East · photographed shelf-mates first, then brands stocked beside it at the same grocers, then same-category rivals citywide.
Most similar brands
closest to Near East in what it makes — matched on product name, category & description across the whole catalog, wherever they’re sold. Not who it competes with on the shelf.
The lineup
every Near East product in stock, cheapest first.
Sold at
Find Near East online
Where to find Near East · Bay Area
Opportunities
New doors · no Near East in our capture yet
Bay Area grocers where neither the digital catalog nor our shelf photos show Near East· but the shelf it belongs on is already there, ranked by fit. Fit blends category coverage, rival presence, price-band match, and openness to independents at this scale; weigh the footprint chips and route notes against it · a 7-door chain and a single great shop are different prizes. Our capture is partial, so a widely-distributed brand may already be carried through channels we don’t index.
Lead with Near East Original Rice Pilaf Mix · its most-distributed SKU (14 doors) in Boxed Grain Meal & Sides, the biggest opening. The closest open door is Driver's Market · 2 rivals already on that shelf.
