Store brands continued to strengthen their position in the marketplace during the first half of 2026, outperforming national brands in the industry's most important metric—unit sales.

For the six months ending June 14, store brand unit sales increased 0.2% while national brand unit sales declined 0.5% compared with the same period last year. Store brand unit market share reached an all-time high of 23.8%.

Growth was broad-based across the store. Among the 166 food categories where store brands compete, 52% posted unit growth. In nonfood, 39% of 164 categories recorded private label unit gains. Pet Care led all departments with unit growth of 4.8%, followed by Beverages (+1.8%) and Refrigerated (+1.5%).

While consumers remained cautious with spending in a slow-growth grocery environment, store brands continued to demonstrate their resilience and appeal, outperforming national brands in unit sales during five of Circana's six monthly reporting periods.

The midyear results reinforce the sustained momentum and growing consumer preference for store brands.