Americans are switching to store brands. Across all channels, consumers are buying more private label than ever before. Nielsen reports that private label sales have increased by 12% in supermarkets, drug chains and mass merchandisers since last summer. Total sales for the year reached $85 billion and unit market share rose to more than 23%. The trend is going to continue, too. According to a new Roper survey, more than 60% of all shoppers now say that they purchase store brands frequently, up from 40% just three years ago. Eight out of 10 consumers say that store brands are as good or better than national brands and nearly 20% of shoppers expect to buy more private label in the year ahead.

For retailers, wholesalers, and their suppliers, the time to emphasize private label has never been so compelling. And the best way to get into private label is PLMA’s next Private Label Trade Show. It is the only trade show devoted entirely to store brands. For almost 30 years, PLMA’s annual private label trade show has been the place where retailers and suppliers meet to build their private label business. It’s the industry’s event of the year.

With more than 2,000 exhibit booths, the show spans five halls of Chicago’s Rosemont Convention Center. Exhibitors come from more than 35 countries. Product categories include fresh, frozen and refrigerated foods, beverages, snacks, shelf-stable groceries and ingredients of all types. On the non-food side, there is household and kitchen, paper and plastics, health and beauty, GM and DIY. Everything today’s consumers want and it is all available under one roof at one show in one visit.

Buyers come from all over the world – supermarkets, supercenters, discounters, drugstores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, importers, exporters, wholesalers of all kinds, even military exchanges – to source and learn about the latest trends.

MORE THAN A TRADE SHOW
But PLMA’s annual show is more than exhibitors on the show floor. Seminars and workshops give you insight into marketing and merchandising. PLMA’s Idea Supermarket presents more than 60 gondolas of products and packaging from retailers around the world. PLMA’s executive education program, developed in conjunction with St. Joseph’s University’s Center for Food Marketing offers 2 days of classes on the fundamentals of private label.

There is also PLMA’s new Innovation Hall with exhibitors of software and technology, logistics, marketing services, packaging, design and graphics, product development and laboratory testing.

PLMA’s annual show is perfect for networking and making contacts. If you are already in private label, then PLMA’s 2010 Trade Show can open new doors for you and your products.  If you are not yet in private label, PLMA can launch your company skyward.  

The 2010 PLMA Trade Show will be held at the Rosemont Convention Center, only 10 minutes from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Conveniently located within walking distance or short shuttle bus rides from major hotels, the convention center provides exhibitors with an easy-to-reach, efficient venue for trade shows.

PLMA’s Annual Private Label Trade Show is the industry event of the year. For more information about exhibiting or attending, contact: