# Private Label Hits 24.8% of US Grocery Units as Shoppers Trade Down on Price

*National brands still win on dollar growth, but unit-share erosion signals a durability test for premium positioning.*

By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC.
Published 2026-08-16.

Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/private-label-brands-category-shift-2026-08-16t18-5
Subject: Private-label brands (category shift)
Tags: private label, grocery, pricing, category share, brand defense, retail

---

Private-label brands claimed **24.8%** of all US grocery units sold in 2026, according to Food Navigator reporting on category share data. That share has widened steadily from **23.1%** in 2024, marking the third consecutive year of market-share gains for store brands in unit volume. The shift is price-driven: shoppers are buying more private-label units even as national brands capture higher dollar sales growth, a divergence that underscores the rising cost sensitivity in the physical grocery channel.

The mechanism is straightforward. Retailers have upgraded private-label packaging, formulation, and shelf placement to narrow the perceived quality gap with national brands. At the same time, national-brand price increases—driven by input-cost inflation and margin expansion—have widened the absolute price spread between branded and store-label SKUs. The shopper sees a **30-40%** price gap on staples like canned tomatoes, pasta, or coffee and switches to the house brand for one category, then another. The retailer wins twice: a higher private-label mix improves gross margin, and the threat of share loss gives the retailer leverage in next year's national-brand negotiations.

National brands retain dollar-sales leadership because their per-unit prices are higher and because they still command premium segments—organic, specialty, and innovation-led subcategories where private label has not yet closed the gap. But unit-share loss is the leading indicator. A shopper who switches to store-brand olive oil this quarter is less likely to return to the national brand next quarter, even if household income recovers. Habit formation favors the last brand purchased, and private label is now the last brand purchased in one out of four grocery transactions.

For a physical-product brand selling into grocery or mass retail, the play is to create a defensible moat that store brands cannot easily replicate. That means owning a claim the retailer's private-label team will not fund: a proprietary ingredient, a process certification, a founder story with documentary proof, or a subcategory you define. One mid-sized condiment brand held share by reformulating around a single-origin pepper varietal and publishing the farm coordinates on every label. The retailer's private-label buyer could not match the story without re-engineering the supply chain, so the brand kept its shelf position and its price premium.

The small-brand steal is to anchor your positioning on something the store brand cannot copy in this fiscal year. If you sell coffee, source from a single cooperative and name it. If you sell snacks, certify for a narrow standard—Regenerative Organic, B-Corp with published impact scores—and put the seal on the front panel. If you sell shelf-stable staples, tell the supply story in six words on the label and back it with a QR code to a one-page origin PDF. Cost to execute:zzo for the copywriting, modest annual certification fees if applicable, and the discipline to say no to cost-reduction moves that erase the difference. The retailer's private-label line manager is optimizing cost per unit and speed to shelf. You are optimizing for a reason the shopper will not switch, even when the price gap persists.

The broader pattern is that private label grows share in every deflationary or uncertainty cycle, then holds much of that share when conditions normalize. National brands that rely solely on awareness or distribution to defend position will continue to lose units. The brands that survive are the ones the retailer cannot replace without losing the customer who came for that specific claim.

## The takeaway

Private label takes share on price, but loses on claims the retailer will not fund—anchor there to hold margin and shelf.

---

## Publisher

**Hako Shikin LLC** — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded 1997. ASI 217876 · DUNS 18-204-6339.
Principal and author: **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA**.

- Author: https://www.huanggoodman.com/about
- LLM context: https://www.pops4.com/stash/llms.txt
- MCP endpoint, for AI agents: https://mcp.pops4.com/mcp
- Client dashboard: https://dashboard.pops4.com/
- Catalogue: 70,000+ products, 200+ brands