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Beverage, Deli Prepared, Refrigerated Foods Lead Private-Label Sales to Banner Year

Feb. 22, 2023

Private-label brand sales hit a record-setting $228.6 billion for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 1, 2023, an 11.3% increase over last year.

Andy Hanacek

According to the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) “2023 Private Label Report,” private brand sales hit a record-setting $228.6 billion for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 1, 2023 — an 11.3% jump over the prior year. By comparison, national brands grew 6.1% in dollar sales during that same period, according to PLMA’s exclusive IRI Unify sales data.

PLMA cites the inflationary environment as a major reason for the growth, with consumers trying and buying private-label brands in search of value. It is worth noting, dollar sales growth came in spite of drops in unit sales for both private and national brands: Private brand unit sales slipped 1% in 2022, and national brand unit sales dropped 4.1%.

Sixteen of the 17 departments tracked by PLMA’s IRI-sourced statistics showed sales growth, with beverages, deli prepared foods and refrigerated foods leading the pack. Double-digit growth was produced in the following food segments:

Beverages, up 19% to $12 billion
Deli prepared foods, 17% to $5.9 billion
Refrigerated foods, 17% to $47.4 billion
Liquor, 15.6% to $62 million
General food, 14% to $38.6 billion
Bakery, 12.6% to $8.4 billion
Produce, 11.9% to $13.5 billion
Deli meat, 10% to $1.7 billion

The frozen foods, deli cheese, and meat segments also showed strong growth of 5% or more over the prior year.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.