NEW YORK (February 16, 2023) - Private brand sales hit a new record last year, jumping 11.3% to a whopping $228.6 billion in all outlets in the U.S. for the 52 weeks ending January 1, 2023 versus the prior year.

Store brands performed so well that they grew at nearly twice the rate of national brands, which were up 6.1% in dollar sales, according to PLMA’s exclusive IRI Unify sales data. The findings are published in PLMA’s just-released 2023 Private Label Report, available here.

“The store brands business is booming,” said PLMA President Peggy Davies. “Last year’s record sales and double-digit growth reflect the strong consumer demand for store brands. Shoppers are filling their baskets with great-tasting, innovative and high-quality store brand foods, beverages, nonfoods, household goods and many other categories.”

Dollar share increased to 18.9%, up from 18.2% in 2021.  Unit share grew to 20.5%, from 19.9%. 

A major reason for the double-digit surge was that the inflationary environment motivated more shoppers to try, buy, like and remain loyal to store brands because of the quality and value they provide.

Last year’s impressive performance also comes at a time of heightened private brand innovation in areas like health and wellness, sustainability, convenience, indulgence and more. The industry has successfully introduced new product lines, expanded existing lines, and launched impactful marketing and promotional programs.

While private brand unit sales slipped 1% in 2022, they outperformed national brand unit sales, which dropped -4.1%.      

Of the 17 departments IRI tracks, 16 showed store brand growth. Numerous categories even had double-digit sales gains. The fastest-growing segments are beverages, up 19% to $12 billion; deli prepared foods, 17% to $5.9 billion; refrigerated foods, 17% to $47.4 billion; liquor, 15.6% to $62 million; general food, 14% to $38.6 billion; floral, 13.5% to $883 million; bakery, 12.6% to $8.4 billion; produce, 11.9% to $13.5 billion and deli meat, 10% to $1.7 billion. 

Strong sales were also reported in general merchandise, up 9% to $27.7 billion; frozen foods, 8.2% to $17.7 billion; deli cheese, 5.5% to $754 million; meat, 5% to $26.5 billion; health care products, 3% to $17.6 billion, beauty, 2.7% to $3.7 billion; and homecare, 2% to $2.7 billion.

The only category that saw a sales decline was tobacco - not surprising at a time of declining cigarette use.

The outlook for 2023 looks just as promising, as shoppers continue to make store brands their brand of choice. 

“When it comes to quality, value, taste and performance, store brands can’t be beat,” Davies said.

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, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Kroger’s Our Brands VP Juan De Paoli to Speak at PLMA Conference in March

PLMA will hold its Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference next month and the program will feature a wide range of speakers and topics. The conference will be held March 22-24 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando.

The event is themed ‘What Does Winning Look Like for Store Brands?’ reflecting the expanding role store brands play in U.S. retailing, particularly in the wake of 2022's record-breaking, double-digit sales increases.

The conference’s keynote speaker is Juan De Paoli, vice president of Our Brands at the Kroger Co., who will take the stage at the breakfast session on Friday, March 24.

De Paoli’s 20-plus years of experience is responsible for driving Kroger's private label vision, strategy and program development and enhance the company’s brand equity, strategic positioning, revenue, and profit across all food, household, pet and personal care products.

Other industry experts who will speak include:

* Kevin Ryan, Founder and CEO, Malachite Strategy and Research, a retail and foodservice-focused insights and innovation agency and former executive at Amazon and General Mills, who will discuss "Beyond the Horizon: Future Forces Impacting Private Label."

* Jim E. Dillard III, Executive V.P and President, Consumer Healthcare Americas, Perrigo plc, formerly a top executive at Altria Group, Inc., will discuss "Winning With Self-Care Brands."

* Roger Davidson, CEO, Oakton Advisory Group LLC, an expert on food trends with 30 years’ experience in merchandising, marketing, operations and global sourcing at Walmart, Wild Oats, SUPERVALU, Ahold USA and HEB, whose topic is "Winning Through Innovation, Infrastructure & Sourcing."

* Judy Clark, CEO of Fresh From Texas, a high-quality, value-added fresh produce solutions provider, who will offer a "Fresh Spin on Winning in Store Brands." With retailers focusing on the perimeter and winning the first twenty steps into the store, Clark will highlight the role of store brands on the fresh produce side.

There will also be a of a blue-ribbon panel of industry experts titled "Store Brands' New World: Meeting the challenges and opportunities of uncertain economic times."

Moderator Michael Sansolo, president, Sansolo Solutions LLC, a food retailing guru and longtime SVP at FMI, will be joined by Brooke Rice, Sr. Director Own Brands at Southeastern Grocers; Tom Becker, Director, Proprietary Brands-US at Circle K; Jorge Flores, Executive Director, Store Brands at CVS Health; Christina Reyes, Senior Manager, Client Insights at SPINS; Joe Mollica II, President at LNK International; and Mark Gilliand, VP, Sales & Marketing at Old Dutch Vinegar and Mustard Co.

To register for the conference please click here or for additional information, contact Carleen Foster at conferences@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, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Dunnhumby’s annual Retailer Preference Index (RPI) ranks U.S grocery retailers based on financial performance and how they respond to customer needs.

Big news this year: H-E-B has replaced Amazon in the top spot. Hear more about the RPI and what it reveals about H-E-B’s strength and store brand. Watch Carol Angrisani's interview with Erich Kahner, Director of Strategy & Insights at dunnhumby. CLICK HERE FOR FULL INTERVIEW.

"Product Quality" Ensures Continued Store Brands Growth
PLMA Board Leaders Express Strong Optimism During Annual Roundtable

The improved quality of store brands over the last decade ensures that economy-driven new purchasers of the products are likely to stick with them even when better times return, said two PLMA board leaders during the trade association's annual look ahead roundtable.

The panelists, Doug Bausch, VP of sales and marketing at OTC pharmaceuticals manufacturer LNK International, Inc., and current chairman of PLMA’s board of directors; and Clay Dockery, VP of corporate brands at Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA, a former chairman who serves as ex-officio, kicked off the discussion with strong optimism about future store brand sales and pointing to product quality as the key.

"The sweet spot for store brands is quality and with that will follow significant sales," declared Bausch.

While positive in the wake of record sales in 2022, both long-time industry executives also warned that store brands are underdeveloped in e-commerce platforms where national brands have a leg up when it comes to the most favorable product placement and presentation. “It is critically important for us to work together as an industry to find solutions to overcome this slow start,” offered Dockery.

Educating the consumer and highlighting store brand quality that is equal or better than comparable national brands while demonstrating price comparisons is essential to leveling the playing field, explained Bausch. He added top of page searches that include the store’s own brand next to national brands could also increase awareness among online shoppers.

Dockery said, "We are losing consumers on the first sale, since E-shoppers favor speed over price and gravitate to familiar brands without considering the price benefit of store brands." As an example, he pointed out that in a short time the coffee category has become dominated by online subscription services.

With work-from-home now the norm, the panelists’ suggested that chains have an opportunity with “a very captive audience” to reach consumers who are spending more time online and not rushing through the retail environment and selecting a product largely because of habit or packaging appeal and time constraints.

The roundtable was moderated by Peggy Davies, PLMA president, and appeared on the association's PLMALive! news and information website. To view the 2023 Year-Ahead Panel, please click here.

Store Brands Continue to Thrive, per IRI
Sales Over the First 11 Months Up 10.6%
Annual Total is Expected to Set a New Record

As 2022 comes to a close, store brand sales in the U.S. continue their steady gains.

Over the first 11 months of the year, dollar sales increased by 10.6%, nearly twice the growth of national brands, which were up 5.8%, according to IRI. 

In the month of November alone, store brand sales improved by 12.4% compared to the same period in 2021, while national brands were up 7.4%. So far this year, store brand dollar share is at 18.5%, unit share is 20.1%. 

Based on the data, PLMA is projecting full year 2022 sales of store brands to reach $221 billion, which would be a $21 billion increase over 2021 and a new annual record. 

The growth is spread across the store. 

Looking at the 17 individual food and nonfood departments that IRI tracks for PLMA, over the trailing 52 weeks ending November 27, store brand sales were up in 16 of them, including double digit increases in nine departments: Beverages, Deli prepared, Liquor, Refrigerated, Floral, Bakery, Produce, General food and Deli meat. Only in the Tobacco department were sales off. 

In the two largest departments for store brands, Refrigerated with $47 billion in sales, and General Food with $38 billion, the increases over the 52-week period were 15.3% and 12.3%, respectively.

Store brands also outperformed national brands in terms of unit sales for the first 11 months of the year; they were down slightly at minus 1.3% while national brands dropped more than three times as much, off 4.3%. For the month of November, store brands were nominally even at minus 0.8% while national brands gave up 4%. Such disparate results in unit sales are often seen as an indicator of shoppers switching to store brands from national brands.

The in-person return of PLMA’s Private Label Trade Show was a tremendous success. Retailers, suppliers, wholesalers and other industry members connected and collaborated to advance the store brand industry. News anchor Jodi Daley reports on product trends from the show floor, ideas shared at the presentations and much more. Click here for video.