Private Label Sales Smash Another Record

PLMA’s annual report recaps a banner year for store brands

2/27/2024

PLMA just released its annual report summing up store brand performances over the past year.

Store brands continue to resonate among value-minded consumers. According to the 2024 Private Label Report published by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA), store brands topped a record $236.3 billion in 2023, up $10.1 billion from the prior year.

Notably, the 4.7% growth of store brands outpaced national brands, which rose 3.4% in dollar sales last year. Also underscoring the strength of these collections, private label dollar sales are up 34% compared to the pre-pandemic/pre-inflation year of 2019.

"Overall, the industry is healthier than ever," said PLMA President Peggy Davies. "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."

To Davies’ point, store brands performed well across categories. The report, based on data from the PLMA/Circana Unify+ market data portal, revealed that nine out of 10 departments showed yearly growth, led by beauty (+10.5%), general food (+10%), beverages (+8.9%), home care (8.7%), frozen (+4.4%) and general merchandise (+4%).

The only flat area seems to be unit sales. According to PLMA, unit sales of store brands were down a scant 0.1% compared to a 2.8% slide for national brands. In its report, the group noted that slower unit sales continue to “perplex” retailers and CPGs, but the trend appears to be tied to shoppers’ continued cautionary behavior in light of stubborn inflation and their increasing attempts to cut down on food waste.

Looking ahead, PLMA’s annual report indicates that the disruption that marked the opening years of this decade may be easing. “There are signs that point to the end of the extreme sales volatility of the last three plus years, and a return to the steady state the industry had become accustomed to. That is, modest, middle single digit increases year over year, a sweet spot where store brand sales have traditionally found themselves,” the analysts conclude.