Report: Private Brands Surge

Amid high inflation, private brands experienced growth, surpassing $217 billion in sales in the U.S. market in 2023, reports data insights firm Circana. The report, CPG Private Brands Update, identifies retailer opportunities to increase demand for their private brand offerings.

“Private brands are increasingly capturing market share from name brands, experiencing growth in both dollar sales and units,” said Mary Ellen Lynch, principal of center store solutions at Circana, in a statement. “This trend is driven by consumers, particularly those with children, as well as millennial and Gen X households without children, who are strategically employing a variety of methods to stretch their dollars amid high inflation.”

Key insights from the report include:

Current State of the Private Brands Landscape

• Dollar sales of private brands increased by 6 percent in 2023, and units increased by 0.9 percent,

• Private brands grew both unit and unit share across general food, shelf-stable beverages, and refrigerated foods,

• Within food and beverage, private brands outperformed name brands, based on dollars and units for the core pantry,

• Sales of private brand food and beverage (6.7 percent) outpaced private brand nonedibles (5.1 percent),

• Private brands gained share from name brands, increasing to 25.5 percent of total unit sales, up from 24.7 percent in 2022,

• Retailers are treating their brands similarly to national brands by innovating with more clean labels, premium offerings, and marketing support.

Who is Purchasing Private Brand Products?

• Households with children represent 35 percent of private brand food and beverage unit purchases, while millennial and Gen X households with no children represent 36 percent of sales,

• Within those same cohorts, middle-affluent shoppers are the most engaged with private brands, yet lower- and upper-affluent millennial and Gen X households with no kids are driving growth.

Opportunities for Private Brand Growth

• Consumers are recognizing the value of private brands, even in the salty snack aisle, where name brands typically dominate,

• Retailers can focus on the ways consumers are cooking today, and demonstrate how private brands work with small appliances, like air fryers and instant pots, for easy-to-prepare meals,

• Retailers are focused on expanding shopper trials of their private brand products to deepen trust.