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NEW YORK (May 1, 2024) - More than 13,000 exhibitors, retailers and other industry professionals are expected to attend PLMA’s “The Store Brands Phenomenon 2024” Private Label Trade Show, November 17-19 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Chicago.

This includes more than 1,700 exhibitors, 2,800 booths and thousands of retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and other visitors. The event is the largest of its kind and consistently receives a prestigious Gold 100 ranking as a top U.S. trade show.

The show’s tagline - “Empowering the Retail Industry” - perfectly describes how store brands are an essential part of the retail business model and a key element for success.

“Store brands and the PLMA Show empower retailers to thrive,” stressed Anthony Aloia, PLMA’s corporate vice president. He noted how this extends beyond traditional chains to specialty retail, convenience stores, online retailers, food service providers and many other formats.

Indeed, the event provides visitors and retailers of all types with one-stop-shopping on the bustling Show floor, which will feature the latest innovations in shelf-stable foods and beverages, refrigerated and frozen foods, flavors and ingredients, authentic international foods and nonfoods, self-care, baby care, household goods, kitchenware, general merchandise, sustainable packaging, pet care, and much more.

Two burgeoning private label product sectors - Beauty & Cosmetics and Wine & Spirits - will be a main attraction on the show floor. Last year, Beauty dollar sales jumped 11% to $3.8 billion, representing the largest dollar sales growth of all the departments that Circana tracks for PLMA. Dollar sales for private label wine grew 1.4% to $38.8 million for the 52 weeks ending April 21, 2024 vs the same period the prior year; and liquor sales jumped 28% to $9.5 million.

“We know that, statistically, the size of the wine and spirits department is significantly larger, given that several retailers are not represented in these figures,” Aloia said. “There is a growing opportunity here for both retailers and producers.”

Beyond the show floor, the event features, opening seminars, a keynote breakfast, retail trends breakfast, engaging networking events and informational displays.

Among the many special on-site exhibits:

• PLMA’s Idea Supermarket®, featuring the latest product and packaging trends from around the globe.
• New Product Expo, a showcase of select product and packaging innovations from companies exhibiting at the show.
• PLMA’s Salute to Excellence Awards®, a display of retailer food and non-food product innovations that received the highest scores and were chosen best private label product in their category by industry and consumer judges as part of PLMA's prestigious Salute to Excellence Awards® product competition.

Many pre-show services are offered by PLMA, including Show Navigator, a mobile-friendly tool that provides information about the show.

The Show comes at a time when shoppers are filling their carts more than ever with private brands. Sales of store brands in all outlets increased $10.1 billion, or 4.7%, to a record $236.3 billion last year compared to 2022, according to PLMA’s 2024 Private Label Report. Store brands bested national brands, which grew 3.4% in dollar sales.

Compared to 2019, annual store brand dollar sales in 2023 increased by $60.2 billion, a 34% gain. Store brand dollar share rose 1.2 points to a record 18.9%. During the four-year period, store brand unit sales were ahead by 500 million and unit share improved 0.8 points to 20.7%, also a new high.
The store brands “phenomenon” continues this year: Store brands outperformed national brands in both dollar and unit sales for the first four months of 2024, according to Circana. Private label dollar sales were up 2.0%, compared to an increase of 1.1% for national brands. The results in unit sales were even more impressive: store brands rose by 2.5%, while national brands fell 1.0%. For the first four months of 2024, dollar share advanced to 20.5%, and unit share moved up to 23.1% - both are all-time high marks.

For more than 40 years, the PLMA Show has attracted major supermarkets, supercenters, drug chains, wholesale clubs, dollar and specialty stores, mass merchandisers, importers and exporters, e-commerce retailers and many others to find new products, make new contacts and discover new ideas. 
Exhibitor registration is now open. Visitor registration opens this summer.

Click here for more information.
Visit the PLMA Press Room for show logos and photos.

About PLMA

The Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) is a non-profit trade organization founded in 1979 to promote the store brands industry. With executive offices in New York and International Council offices in Amsterdam, PLMA represents more than 4,500 member companies worldwide. In addition to the Annual Private Label Trade Show in Chicago and its World of Private Label International Trade Show in Amsterdam, PLMA provides annual conferences, executive education and professional development opportunities. Follow PLMA on plma.com, plmainternational.com, and on social media:

SAN ANTONIO (March 21, 2024) - The Private Label Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place here last night at PLMA’s 2024 Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference.

The Class of 2024 consists of 16 individuals who are honored in four categories:

Lifetime Achievement

• Clay Dockery, Vice President, Private Label and Co-Manufacturing, Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA
• Peter Kroner, Managing Partner, Marketing Concepts Group
• Edward P. Salzano, President, EDNJ Associates
• John W. Solomon, The Kroger Co. (Retired)

Private Brand Champion

• Nils Clement, Founder and CEO, Euro Caps BV
• Pam Ofri, Senior Director of Own Brands, Wakefern Food Corp.
• Jac Ross, Vice President, Sprouts Brand, Sprouts Farmers Market
• Nick Scangas, President and Chief Operating Officer, Cedar’s Mediterranean Foods

Private Brand Innovator

• Pascale Courtemanche, R&D Director, Plats du Chef, C.H. Guenther & Son
• Jackie Li, Senior Vice President, Private Brands and Global Sourcing, Dollar General
• Dr. Rakesh Rathore, Chief Operating Officer, TrueChoicePack
• Brooke Rice, Senior Director of Own Brands, Southeastern Grocers

Next Gen Private Label Leader

• William Crosby, EVP, Crosby Foods Ltd.
• Hope Lenhart, Director of Brand Management for Essentials, Beauty and Hardlines, Target
• Chad Mallory, Senior Product Manager, Amazon Fresh Private Brand
• Mohan Valluri, Vice President of Sales and R&D, Alamance Foods

The Next Gen Private Label Leader category honors those who are under the age of 40 and have grown their businesses through innovative thinking; Private Brand Innovator, awards those who have demonstrated out-of-the-box decision making leading to a new way of doing business; Private Brand Champion, recognizes those with a track record of developing successful initiatives that lead to category growth and who have vision and determination that cut through barriers and obstacles; and Lifetime Achievement, pays tribute to those who, over the span of their careers, have distinguished themselves as a leader of store brand development and innovation.

“We’re thrilled to honor this incredible group of men and women for their excellence in these four important categories,” said PLMA President Peggy Davies. “They truly deserve this special recognition for going above and beyond in their contributions.”

Presented by PLMA and Store Brands, the Private Label Hall of Fame was created in 2006 to recognize high achievers and thought leaders who have made significant contributions in their own organizations, as well as those who have set standards of excellence and accomplishment throughout the industry.

Retailers, manufacturers and suppliers, wholesalers, members of the press, market researchers and consultants were among the potential candidates.

Profiles on all inductees will be featured on StoreBrands.com and posted in the Hall of Fame section of plma.com.

About PLMA

The Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) is a non-profit trade organization founded in 1979 to promote the store brands industry. With executive offices in New York and International Council offices in Amsterdam, PLMA represents more than 4,000 member companies worldwide. In addition to the Annual Private Label Trade Show in Chicago and its World of Private Label Trade Show in Amsterdam, PLMA provides annual conferences, executive education and professional development opportunities. Follow PLMA on plma.com, plmainternational.com, and on social media:

NEW YORK (February 27, 2024) – Sales of store brands increased $10.1 billion to a record $236.3 billion last year compared to 2022, according to PLMA’s just-released 2024 Private Label Report.

That represents a 4.7% rise in dollar sales in all outlets from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, versus the same period the prior year, according to the report. Store brands bested national brands, which grew 3.4% in dollar sales.

Compared to 2019, annual store brand dollar sales in 2023 increased by $60.2 billion, a 34% gain. Store brand dollar share rose 1.2 points to a record 18.9%.  During the four-year period, store brand unit sales were ahead by 500 million and unit share improved 0.8 points to 20.7%, also a new high.

The annual report analyzes store brand and national brand sales in unit and dollar sales in key categories. It is based on sales figures from the PLMA/Circana Unify+ market data portal, available free to PLMA members on plma.com.

The results show that today’s consumers are directing more of their budgets to private label items.

"Overall, the industry is healthier than ever," PLMA President Peggy Davies states in the report. "One of every five food or non-food grocery products sold across the U.S. carries the retailer’s name or own brand and was supplied by a store brand manufacturer."

According to the report, nine out of 10 departments that Circana tracks are showing growth over the year before. The outlier once again is tobacco, which continues to trend downward overall.

Departments with the highest dollar sales growth are Beauty, up 10.5% vs. 2022; General Food, +10%; Beverages, +8.9%; Home Care, +8.7%; Frozen, + 4.4%; and General Merchandise, + 4%. 

Click here for the full report.

About PLMA

The Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) is a non-profit trade organization founded in 1979 to promote the store brands industry. With executive offices in New York and International Council offices in Amsterdam, PLMA represents more than 4,000 member companies worldwide. In addition to the Annual Private Label Trade Show in Chicago and its World of Private Label Trade Show in Amsterdam, PLMA provides annual conferences, executive education and professional development opportunities. Follow PLMA on plma.com, plmainternational.com, and on social media: