Welcome to PLMA’s e-scanner newsletter – News, Insights, Inspiration and Happenings

By Carol Angrisani, Editor and PLMA Content Producer

NEWS ROUNDUP
‘World of Private Label’ Trade Show, May 20-21

PLMA’s 2025 World of Private Label International Trade show will be held May 20-21 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre, The Netherlands.

For nearly 40 years, PLMA’s annual World of Private Label International Trade Show has brought retailers together with manufacturers to help them find new products, make new contacts, and discover new ideas that help their private label programs succeed and grow. 

With 3,160 exhibitors from 75 countries showcasing a diverse range of food and non-food products, this year’s event underscores the growing importance and interconnectedness of the private label industry on a global scale. Buyers from across the globe, including major retailers, wholesalers, e-commerce leaders, and distributors, will gather in Amsterdam to discover the latest products, trends, and innovations that are shaping the private label industry.

Main Highlights: 

  • Exclusive Seminars & Workshops: PLMA will host a series of exclusive seminars and workshops. These sessions will focus on Navigating Trends, Market Insights, and Innovation in Private Label, as well as Building Strategic Partnerships & Navigating Modern Procurement for Long-Term Success. The seminars and workshops are free and open to all registered visitors and exhibitors. Speakers taking the stage include representatives from Jumbo Supermarkets, NielsenIQ, and Daymon. In addition, the winners of PLMA’s 2025 Salute to Excellence Awards, the best of the best in private label, will be announced.
  • New Product Expo located in the PLMA Idea Supermarket area will feature unprecedented innovation from exhibiting manufacturers, showcasing more groundbreaking products than ever before from trendy protein chips with kimchi flavor or falafel with spirulina to controlled single-dose super glue and AI smart toaster. Now is the time for forward-thinking ideas, as retailers and manufacturers collaborate to drive innovation by creating exciting solutions for the private label industry. These innovative products can be found across the trade show floor, offering a firsthand look at the future of product development and industry trends. In the same area, Retail Trends from 64 retailers worldwide will be showcased, alongside all the retail winners.
  • The exhibit floor will include fresh, frozen and refrigerated foods, dry grocery, and beverages as well as non-food categories, including cosmetics, health and beauty, household and kitchen, auto aftercare, garden, housewares and DIY.

The show floor is divided into nine food halls and five non-food halls to help visitors make the most of their time.

Click here for more information. 
WPL2025

2026 Leadership Conference Headed to Bentonville

PLMA’s 2026 Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference will be held April 15-17 in a familiar Ozarks town with a world-famous resident: Bentonville, Ark., home of Walmart.

The location for 2026 is in keeping with PLMA’s plan to move the event around the country and locate it near major retailer hubs.

The two most recent Leadership conferences were held in San Antonio and Scottsdale. The latter in April drew 167 attendees, including presenters, the highest number of Leadership participants in more than 20 years.

The 2026 edition will again offer concurrent sessions that enable participants to build their own agenda. It will feature dozens of breakout sessions on separate tracks with several main stage presentations by industry experts.

Introduced this year, the new format received high marks from attendees for its wide-ranging subjects and diverse points of view.

Topics to be discussed include opportunities and challenges of product development and sourcing, the latest sales statistics for private label and national brands, consumer and retail trends, marketing, technology, inventory management, among others. The format and retail-centric location promotes business networking and relationship building opportunities throughout the two-day program.

Dubbed the “new capital of cool” by The Wall Street Journal, Bentonville is the birthplace of Walmart and home to its new corporate headquarters. In 2024, the retailer achieved 5% revenue growth year over year, totaling $681 billion with private label penetration at about 25%. Today, 21 Walmart private brands each have more than $1 billion in sales, with five accounting for $5 billion each. The chain offers products in 90 owned brands.

Health-Centric Grocers Are Thriving

Foot traffic is growing at both Sprouts and Natural Grocers, according to data cited by Placer.ai. In Q1 2025, visits to Sprouts increased 11.9% year-over-year, while visits to Natural Grocers rose 5.9%. This compares to a 0.8% year-over-year increase for the broader grocery sector, according to Placer.ai.

Demographic data shows that both chains are popular among affluent consumers. Sprouts is particularly successful at drawing that demographic. For the first three months of 2025, the median household income of Sprouts visitors averaged $96.8K, while Natural Grocers came in at $84.0K. In comparison, the grocery industry average is $81.8K.

Ideas and Inspiration at Gelson’s, Price Chopper, Stewart’s Shops

Pics French Fry SeasoningGelson’s Coastal Mountain sage honey is 100% raw and unfiltered. It’s made by a family-owned business in California.

French fry lovers can get Pics-brand zesty French fry seasoning at Price Chopper.

Stewart’s Shops has launched a limited-edition private label ice cream called Brownie Points. It’s made with brownie batter ice cream, chocolate cookie crumb swirls and brownie pieces.

Trend Alert: Sustainable Paper Towels

Wegmans Food Markets partnered with Irving Consumer Products for its private label sustainable paper towels. Irving says it planted over one billion trees since 1957 and grows more wood than it harvests. “One Billion Trees Planted” is printed on the packaging. Sustainable bath tissue is also available.

Data Points: Organic Product Sales

$71.6 billion

- This is the amount of U.S. sales of certified organic products in 2024, a 5.2% increase from the previous year, according to the 2025 Organic Market Report by the Organic Trade Association. Of this total, organic food sales were $65.4 billion and organic non-food product sales were $6.2 billion.

Notable Quotable: Mike Murphy, Kroger

“Private Selection's® Cherry Harvest collection truly captures the essence and craveability of the season's must-try, highly sought after flavor.”

- Mike Murphy, Group Vice President of Center Store Merchandising at Kroger, said about the retailer’s new limited-edition line of cherry-flavored foods. The 17-item line includes Cherry Vanilla Kettle Cooked Popcorn with Dark Chocolate; Cherry Chocolate Chunk Pancake Mix; and White Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Cookies.

In Case You Missed It: Small Formats are Big News

Amanda Lai, Director of Food Industry Practice at McMillanDoolitle, discusses small-concept retail initiatives:

Click here for the full interview.

Events
The Evolving Tariff Landscape

In 2025, businesses have been on the receiving end of a rollercoaster of tariff policy changes. As the rulemaking evolves, what can be done today to future-proof businesses from the impacts of tariffs? This webinar will cover a variety of practical operational changes that can be made today, and longer-term adjustments that can be implemented over time to mitigate the risks of tariff volatility.

June 5
Lunch & Learn - Online 12:30PM ET
Register