New York — Store brand dollar sales grew 1 percent in 2021, reaching a record $199 billion across all U.S. retail channels, according to the PLMA 2022 Private Label Report released by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA).
Based on sales data from Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), sales were up and down but finished strong, with increases averaging about 5 percent during the last five months of the year.
Private brand dollar share last year was 17.7 percent, while unit share came in at 19.6 percent, both representing increases when evaluating the numbers over a five-year period.
In the eight largest departments covered by IRI, private label sales grew in six. The largest category, refrigerated foods, saw an increase of 0.7 percent, followed by general merchandise (up 1.7 percent), health care products (up 0.2 percent), frozen (up 0.8 percent), produce (up 11.4 percent), and beverages (up 2.7 percent).
The data also reveals the U.S. store brand market was able to retain the unprecedented, COVID-19-fueled, double-digit sales gains from 2020 in 2021. Store brands jumped 12 percent in dollar sales in 2020, which exceeded national brands’ gains, which were up 10 percent.
“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,” according to PLMA President Peggy Davies.
Store brand sales picked up in 2022 where they left off at the end of 2021 in both dollar and unit sales, according to PLMA/IRI’s Unify system.
Private brand dollar volume across all U.S. retail channels grew 4.2 percent in January versus year-ago sales, keeping pace with national brands, which grew 4.4 percent during the same period.
As of January 23, total private brand dollar sales reached $15.8 billion and 18.2 percent of brand share. Store brands reached 20.3 percent share in January 2022, up 0.7 points from the annual 19.6 percent private brand market share in 2021.
