Demand for CPG products in 2021 will be 7.4 percent to 8.5 percent higher than in 2019 predicts the Consumer Brands Association. According to its CPG Economic Pulse: 2020 in Review report, CPG demand grew 9.4 percent in 2020, with an unprecedented 21 percent increase in March alone.
"As the world was swirling in chaos, CPG companies had to focus intensely on output because people needed their products to stay home,” said Consumer Brands’ president and CEO Geoff Freeman, in a statement. “The 2020 economic data is the paper trail of a year when the CPG industry rose to the occasion and delivered.”
The report also found that the industry quickly recovered the initial jobs lost at the start of the pandemic, bringing employment levels up to 98 percent of pre-pandemic levels by October 2020. In addition, wages in the third quarter of 2020 were 3.4 percent higher than the same quarter a year earlier while wages in the broader economy declined 0.8 percent.
“2020 was a historical anomaly in every way, and its conclusion doesn’t inform the future so much as tell a story about the CPG industry’s response to incredible demand,” continued Freeman. “The industry continues to sprint a demand marathon that didn’t end with the calendar year.”
Related: Report: CPG Sales Will Decline But Remain Elevated; Report: CPG Trends Will Shift in 2021.