Record-breaking year for private labels

Powered by a double-digit increase in sales, private label set new records in the US in annual volume as well as in dollar and unit shares in 2022, according to the PLMA’s newsletter. 

The year began with single-digit sales increases in January (up 6.3 per cent), February (7.5 per cent) and March (9.1 per cent). Then the gains rose sharply to double digits in May (up 11.8 per cent) and never looked back, with the final four months averaging a 13 per cent improvement.

For the full year, private label sales advanced by 11.3 per cent, nearly twice the growth of national brands, which were up by 6.1 per cent, according to data from IRI Unify. Annual dollar volume increased by 23.2 bn dollars, setting a new record of 228.6 bn dollars. 

Store brands accounted for 29 per cent of all new dollar sales that flowed into the US retail industry last year. Store brand dollar share came in at 18.9 per cent, up 0.7 points from 18.2 per cent in 2021; unit share was 20.5 per cent, up from 19.9 per cent.