Sales of private label products set new records for overall sales and market share last year, in both US supermarkets and drug retail chains.
Private label sales in supermarkets totalled a record US$40.9bn for 2005, an increase of almost $80m in revenue compared to a year earlier. Combined private label sales in supermarkets and drug retailers grew by more than half a billion dollars, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association. The bulk of the increase experienced by the drug chains (15%) was for non-food items.
Market share for private label products advanced to 20.8% in supermarkets, up from 20.6% one year ago. There were however, some slight decreases in dollar market share for store brands, although this was largely attributable to higher prices for national brands.
