Battery Guy:
Without photos it is difficult to say. If they say "Made in USA", then they are Duracell, Energizer or Rayovac. Otherwise, it is anyone's guess.
If they are made in the USA, look at the bottom (negative) terminal and compare it to the Duracell, Energizer and Rayovac products on the shelf. Each has it's own distinctive design, and one of them should look like the CVS cells.
Sorry for the "non-answer". Perhaps someone else will be more helpful.
Cheers,
BG
Mr Happy:
This is not answering the question, but I have an alternative suggestion. I have found that batteries with less common brands like Sanyo, Panasonic or Sony are often found in places like Big Lots or dollar stores at prices much lower than the name brands at big retailers. It's worth looking out for those if you want good value batteries.
More Power:
I know Rayovac has made them in the past but can't say with 100% certainty that they currently do.
Battery Guy has the right idea; compare negative ends to known cells and whatever matches will give you the answer.
LEDAdd1ct:
Thank you for the help, guys. This is for a low current application of 54mA, which is why I am going with alkalines. I may yet invest in AA-->D adapters.
Since CVS no longer carries Energizer cells, I cannot compare them in the store, but CVS *does* carry Duracells. I can compare those two immediately, and may find the answer. If they don't look identical, I will probably purchase the CVS branded one, and take it to another store.
When I find the answer, I will post it here for the benefit of all.
-a few minutes later-
On this site
here someone claims that they are made by Energizer, which is kind of funny: CVS stops carrying Energizer batteries under the Energizer label, but sells Energizer batteries under their own. I am going to see if I can find more than one other site to corroborate that CVS batteries are indeed manufactured by Energizer. (After clicking the link I posted, read the comments section to see.)
-a few minutes later-
This person had a conversation with a CVS manager, who "thought" Energizer might make them.
-not even quite a few minutes later-
This person claims they used to
be a CVS manager, and that the CVS alkalines are really Duracells in less flattering cases.
If this is true, it should be trivial to compare the Duracell branded cells and the CVS branded cells, and see if their negative terminals match. It would also make sense that CVS opted to drop Energizer cells entirely, and offer you the intellectually challenging choice of opting for a Duracell cell in Duracell clothing, or a Duracell cell in CVS clothing (equally functional, but less popular in high society).
The quest continues...
Mr Happy:
Be aware that although it may be made by Duracell or Energizer, it does not necessarily mean it is the same as a Duracell or Energizer battery. The factories are fully capable of making batteries to different specifications for different uses.
LEDAdd1ct:
Noted.
Originally Posted by Mr Happy:
Be aware that although it may be made by Duracell or Energizer, it does not necessarily mean it is the same as a Duracell or Energizer battery. The factories are fully capable of making batteries to different specifications for different uses.
Battery Guy:
Perfect example of this is the Eveready Gold alkaline product that is made by Energizer in the US. This alkaline battery has slightly lower capacity and significantly lower high drain performance compared to the Energizer MAX. If I had to guess, I would say that the Eveready Gold is the battery that Energizer sells for private label.
Cheers,
BG
LEDAdd1ct:
I got out of work earlier today, and made my first stop CVS. To my surprise, I found Energizer, Duracell, and CVS cells all in stock. Here's what I found:
1) The negative plates of all three "D" cells appear different
2) The CVS cells are made in America
3) The manager had no idea who the OEM for CVS is
Time to pick up the phone, and continue researching from there...
MorePower:
If not Energizer or Duracell, based on negative endplates, but made in America, then it's a pretty safe bet that the cells are made by Rayovac.
LEDAdd1ct:
I just got off the phone from someone in CVS at their Rhode Island headquarters/company location, and had a brief but interesting chat. I told her that I was calling on behalf of a community of flashlight hobbyists, and that we were fairly confident that since the CVS cells were made in America, that they were from one of the three major companies, Energizer, Duracell, or Rayovac. I asked her which company made them. Anyone care to guess what her answer was...?
Unsurprisingly, she told me that that was proprietary information, and that she was unable to say. This prompted my next question. I said:
"Some folks have suggested that though the CVS-branded cells may be made by one of the major U.S. manufacturers, they may contain a lower-tiered product with an inferior chemical composition. I know you cannot tell me who makes them. Regardless of which company makes them, can you tell me if they are made from a lesser formula than the company's own brand?"
Her reply?
"All CVS-branded products are manufactured in the United States. I can tell you that it is absolutely
not the case that CVS-branded batteries are made from a different batch/composition than the company's own cells."
I found this pretty cool— I would assume she is telling the truth.
My next goal will be to telephone a number of CVS stores and ask if they happen to know who the OEM is.
I understand that large companies generally regard the population as making purchasing decisions based on cost alone, and that beyond that, they have a contract promising not to disclose who the OEM is for their various products. Truth be told, this just makes me want to know even more.
We at CPF will find out who makes CVS batteries, even if CVS themselves won't tell us.
(If anyone reading this thread, perhaps arriving from Google, works for CVS, and would like to anonymously share the information with us, drop me a PM.)
Originally Posted by LEDAdd1ct:
...she told me that that was proprietary information...
s.urfer:
I would interpret such an answer as "We can and will change to a different OEM whenever we see fit".
I had this experience back in the days, when CD-R media was pretty expensive. The local supermarket sold its own "brand" of media, which was in the same package all the time but looked different from time to time. They simply bought the media where available and didn't care, who manufactured it.
Originally Posted by LEDAdd1ct:
...All CVS-branded products are manufactured in the United States...
s.urfer:
This opens a completely different can of worms. If I recall correctly, by law pretty much all that is needed, to label something "Made in XYZ" is that it is packaged and labeled within XYZ as such. Because XYZ is where the product is finished
She claimed manufactured, though, which might mean more than just labeled "Made in the USA".
Mr Happy:
I didn't say "lower-tiered product with an inferior chemical composition", I said "different specification". Batteries can be made to suit different usage profiles, for instance high power for short periods vs low power for long periods.
I'm not quite sure why you are fixated on CVS though? In my experience they are a "high price, low volume" retailer. CVS is usually the last place I think to look for a bargain. Their business model is to be open at times and places when you need something urgently and they are your last resort.
LEDAdd1ct:
Mr Happy, I am sorry if I misunderstood what you said. The way I understood it was that occasionally the store brand of a given product (not simply batteries, any consumer good) is made literally from the same factory line as the name brand product but with a different label, while at other times, the product is made in the same factory but to a lower specification. If I conflated what you stated with my own previous chain of reasoning/background knowledge, I apologize. I can and do make errors on a regular basis.
With respect to CVS, at times I become intensely curious about a topic. I held the same intense curiousity about Rayovac lanterns, since they are sold in many countries under other labels, until we discovered they are made by Favourlight.
Also, there may be other people on the Internet who have the same question. I have seen other threads on the Internet where someone answered a question on a thread several years old, because they knew that others might share the same question and be actively seeking the same answer. I see it as a sort of global kindness.
With respect to the optical media example, that is interesting, and I agree with you that that could be the case: not publicly affiliating themselves with a given maker enables them to silently switch OEMs. I now purchase only Taiyo Yuden to avoid this.
t0ast:
Hello, I'm new to the forums, but I was wondering the same thing about CVS batteries and well Google brought me here. I see you called CVS headquarters and they said all CVS products are manufactured in America. I have CVS AAA batteries that clearly say "Made in China" on their label. :thinking:
LEDAdd1ct:
That is very strange! And, goes in direct contradiction to her statement on the phone yesterday. I am not bashing the nation or its products, as I have Chinese products of both high and low quality. However, I am puzzled by why the lady on the phone would say that when it is clearly false.
t0ast, :welcome:
Originally Posted by t0ast:
Hello, I'm new to the forums, but I was wondering the same thing about CVS batteries and well Google brought me here. I see you called CVS headquarters and they said all CVS products are manufactured in America. I have CVS AAA batteries that clearly say "Made in China" on their label. :thinking:
Battery Guy:
I think that this is a good point. Just because some CVS private label 'D' cells are made in the USA by one company doesn't mean that all of their 'D' cells are made by the same company. Same goes for the other cell sizes.
Several years ago Wal-Mart came out with its own private label battery. At first these batteries appeared to be made by Energizer, but after a few months both Energizer and Rayovac varieties began showing up in stores (no comment from me on which one was better as I believe people from both companies read CPF :wave.
I think that you can get a good deal buying private label batteries, but you must be vigilant to insure that once you find a private label of good quality, that the private label doesn't change its source over time.
Cheers
BG 
