Store Brand Sales Hit Record $199 Billion Last Year

Store brand dollar sales grew 1% to a record $199 billion in all US retail channels in 2021, according to IRI data. Private brand dollar share last year was 17.7%, while unit share came in at 19.6%. Both represent increases over a three-year period.

According to the Private Label Manufacturers Association, last year was a roller coaster ride for store brands. Sales were up, then down, but finished strong, with increases averaging about 5% over the last five months. The just-released “PLMA 2022 Private Label Report” tells the whole story in detail.

Gains continued in 2022. Store brands sales rose 4.2% in January, just behind the 4.4% growth of national brands, according to data from IRI. 

The figures reveal that the US store brand market in 2021 was able to retain the unprecedented, covid-fueled, double-digit sales gains from 2020. Retail brands jumped 12% in dollar sales in 2020 amid the shutdown of foodservice, a greater emphasis on cooking at home and the boom in online grocery shopping. That exceeded national brands’ gain, which were up 10%.  
 
Moving into 2021, as the country and the foodservice sector began to reopen for in-person business, some expected that store brands would decline, giving back all or most of 2020’s huge increase. That did not happen. 
 
“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,” said PLMA President Peggy Davies.  
 
The 2021 performance of store brands represents a return to the consistent, single-digit growth that existed in pre-pandemic years.  
 
PLMA, in collaboration with IRI, provides market data of both store brands and national brands in 317 categories and 967 sub-categories. The data are refreshed monthly on the Unify data portal on plma.com.