Tariffs, Ultra-Processing, Labeling, EPRs, and Traceablity
In Case You Missed It: PLMA’s Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference, April 15-17

Hear about the agenda and presentations, including Keynote from Scott Morris - Walmart's Senior Vice President of Private Brands Food, Consumables, and Manufacturing. Watch our news report here:

Store Brand Shoutout: Federated Group, Staples

Every month, e-scanner will highlight two PLMA Salute to Excellence Award® winners for store brand creativity and innovation. Click here to view the full list of winners.

Food: Federated Group - Life Every Day® Fried Apples with Cinnamon
Fried Apples with Cinnamon
Nonfood: Staples - TRU RED™ Brightwell 5-in-1 Productivity LED Desk Light.
TRU RED™ Brightwell 5-in-1 Productivity LED Desk Light
Notable Quotable: Alex Peters, Fresh Thyme Market
"We're excited to deliver healthier, more balanced solutions that inspire discovery and bring fresh ideas and products to every aisle."

- Alex Peters, Own Brand Manager at Fresh Thyme Market, said of the retailer’s Own Brand relaunch, featuring new products and packaging, including more natural and organic assortments across grocery, produce and frozen.

Trend Alert: Fiery Flavors

Sprouts has launched a limited-time “Sweet Heat” line of spicy foods and beverages. Selections include hot honey white chocolate flavored popcorn, spicy sparkling lemonade, jalapeno cashew butter, and Mexican hot chocolate cookies.

Ideas and Inspiration - Lunds & Byerlys, Kowalski’s, Target, Topco
  • LundsKowalski’s handmade macaroons are available in three flavors: Almond Pistachio, Lemon Lavender and Almond.
  • Lunds & Byerlys offers locally crafted premium confections, including Victorian Brittle and Sea Salt Caramels.
  • Target announced that in May it will become one of the first national retailers that only carries cereals made without certified synthetic colors.
  • Topco’s bio-based storage bags are made with a patent-pending Land & Sea Blended Technology.  This process uses less plastic, replacing with bio-based plant and ocean materials.
New Product Watch: Bird Food

Weis has introduced new lineup of wild bird foods in a classic blend, premium blend and black oil sunflower seeds.

Visits Grow at Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Lidl

Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Lidl’s each experienced positive year-over-year visit growth in all four quarters of 2025, according to Placer.ai. This suggests that value-led grocery concepts remain well positioned as consumer price sensitivity persists.

While some of that growth can be attributed to Aldi, Lidl, and Trader Joe’s expanding store footprints, increases in average visits per location suggest that demand rose alongside store count, according to the report. If value remains a primary motivator in 2026, these low-price grocers appear well positioned to continue capturing incremental foot traffic.

While each chain is similar in terms of private label dominance and expansion, the in-store experiences differ.

  • Trader Joe’s posted the highest share of visits lasting 10 to 15 minutes and 15 to 30 minutes, suggesting a highly efficient shopping experience. Shoppers appear to arrive with a plan and move quickly through the store.
  • Aldi sees a higher share of visits in the 15 to 30 minute and 30 to 45 minute ranges than the grocery category overall. This suggests that Aldi’s limited-SKU and small-format model simplifies navigation and decision-making.
  • Lidl shows the strongest skew toward longer visits, including the highest share of visits lasting over 45 minutes (11.7%), exceeding Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and the grocery category overall. This reflects Lidl’s positioning somewhere between a traditional grocery store and a superstore.
Study: More Than Half of All Shoppers Read Labels

More than half (58%) of all shoppers and 87% of health-focused shoppers are reading labels all or most of the time prior to purchasing a new item, according to a study from Acosta Group.

This shows that ingredient transparency is key to purchasing decision, according to Acosta.

"Label reading is becoming a routine part of shopper decision-making," Mark Rahiya, Group President of Omnichannel Sales and Services, Acosta Group, said in a statement. "Consumers are actively seeking ingredients that support specific health goals. That creates an opportunity for natural and organic brands to connect through transparency and clearly communicated benefits."

Two-thirds of omni shoppers have a balanced or flexible approach to food and nutrition, selecting both healthy and indulgent foods for their grocery carts based on product availability, taste, occasion and mood.

A significant percentage of all consumers, however, are selecting products that support health and wellness:

  • 35% of all shoppers define themselves as "health aware," or trying to eat healthy most of the time but enjoying occasional indulgences.
  • 15% of Gen Z and 21% of Millennials define themselves as "health focused," or actively seeking nutritious foods, avoiding processed foods and prioritizing health in nearly every food choice, regardless of price.
U.S. Store Brands Gain Ground vs. European Countries

Some experts predict the difference between the market share penetration of private label grocery products in the U.S. vs leading countries in Europe will narrow. In new figures from PLMA, the gap is closing.

Over the past two years ending February 9, when measured alongside Europe's top 17 private label markets, American store brands ranked tied for 4th in terms of store brand dollar share increase, moving ahead by 0.9 points to 21.3%, and tied for 5th in unit share gain, at plus 0.8 points to 23.5%.