Store brand sales picked up in 2022 right where they left off at the end of last year, growing 4.2 percent in dollar volume across all U.S. retailing channels in January, compared to the same period in 2021. The increase was about equal to the 4.4 percent growth of national brands, according to IRI data provided to PLMA.
Last year was a roller coaster ride for store brands as sales were up, then down, but finished strong, with increases averaging about 5 percent over the last five months. The “PLMA 2022 Private Label Report” details the full list of increases and decreases in sales.
Store brand dollar sales grew 1 percent to a record $199 billion in all U.S. retail channels in 2021, according to the report that was based on IRI data. Private brand dollar share last year was 17.7 percent, while unit share came in at 19.6 percent. Both represent increases over a three-year period.
In the eight largest departments covered by IRI, private label grew in six. In the largest category – refrigerated foods – store brands increased by 0.7 percent, followed by general merchandise category which grew by 1.7 percent, health care products grew by 0.2 percent, frozen grew by 0.8 percent, produce grew by 11.4 percent and beverages grew by 2.7 percent.
The figures reveal that the U.S. store brand market in 2021 was able to retain the double-digit sale gains from 2020. Retail brands jumped 12 percent in dollar sales in 2020 amid the shutdown of foodservice, a greater emphasis on cooking at home and the boom in online grocery shopping. That exceeded national brands’ gain, which were up by 10 percent.
Moving into 2021, as the country and the foodservice sector began to reopen for in-person business, some expected that store brands would decline, giving back all or most of 2020’s huge increase, however, that did not happen.
“The main takeaway is that retailer brands are a vibrant industry and an important piece of the U.S. grocery business, especially in difficult economic times,” said PLMA President Peggy Davies.
The 2021 performance of store brands represents a return to the consistent, single-digit growth that existed in pre-pandemic years.
PLMA, in collaboration with IRI, provides market data of both store brands and national brands in 317 categories and 967 sub-categories. The data are refreshed monthly on the Unify data portal on plma.com. More details can be found in PLMA’s 2022 Private Label Report.
