Private Label Sales Reach Nearly $229B in 2022

NEW YORK — Private label sales hit a new record last year, jumping 11.3 percent to a $228.6 billion in all outlets in the United States for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 1, 2023 vs. the prior year.

Store brands performed so well that they grew at nearly twice the rate of national brands, which were up 6.1 percent in dollar sales, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association's (PLMA) exclusive IRI Unify sales data. The findings were published in PLMA's just-released 2023 Private Label Report. 

"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."

According to the report, 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 comes at a time of heightened private label innovation in areas like health and wellness, sustainability, convenience and indulgence. It also supports the market analysis of companies like StrasGlobal, which have been encouraging more convenience store chains to create private label offerings.

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

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

The only category that saw a sales contraction was tobacco, which PLMA found unsurprising at a time of declining cigarette use. 

Founded in 1979, the PLMA is a nonprofit trade organization which promotes 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.