How did store brands fare in 2023?

2023 was a very good year for store brands. In fact, sales of store brands increased $10.1 billion to a record $236.3 billion last year compared to 2022, according to PLMA’s just-released 2024 Private Label Report.

That represents a 4.7% rise in dollar sales in all outlets from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, versus the same period the prior year, according to the report. Store brands bested national brands, which grew 3.4% in dollar sales.

Compared to 2019, annual store brand dollar sales in 2023 increased by $60.2 billion, a 34% gain. Store brand dollar share rose 1.2 points to a record 18.9%.  During the four-year period, store brand unit sales were ahead by 500 million and unit share improved .8 points to 20.7%, also a new high.

The annual report analyzes store brand and national brand sales in unit and dollar sales in key categories. It is based on sales figures from the PLMA/Circana Unify+ market data portal, available free to PLMA members on plma.com.

[Read more: Study: Consumers shop drug stores for grocery, household items as much as pharmacy]

The results show that today’s consumers are directing more of their budgets to private label items, PLMA said.

"Overall, the industry is healthier than ever," said Peggy Davies, president of PLMA."One of every five food or non-food grocery products sold across the U.S. carries the retailer’s name or own brand and was supplied by a store brand manufacturer."

According to the report, nine out of 10 departments that Circana tracks are showing growth over the year before. The outlier once again is tobacco, which continues to trend downward overall.

Departments with the highest dollar sales growth are Beauty, up 10.5% vs. 2022; General Food, +10%; Beverages, +8.9%; Home Care, +8.7%; Frozen, + 4.4%; and General Merchandise, + 4%. 

Click here for the full report.

[Read more: Placer.ai: Discount, dollar stores show strength at year end]