# Private-label grocery now claims 24.8% of US units sold, beating national brands on volume

*Dollar sales tell a different story, but shelf velocity belongs to store brands—and smaller brands can exploit the same mechanism.*

By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC.
Published 2026-08-11.

Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/private-label-category-pattern-2026-08-11t18-6
Subject: Private Label (Category Pattern)
Tags: private label, grocery, retail, white label, shelf placement, unit sales

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Private-label grocery brands captured **24.8%** of all US grocery units sold in the first half of 2026, continuing their multi-year unit-share expansion over national brands, according to Food Navigator citing a midyear industry report. Unit sales measure how many items walked out the door, not what they cost. On that count, nearly one in four grocery purchases is now a store brand.

The mechanism is price and placement working in concert. Private-label products sit at eye level, occupy end-caps during promotional windows, and undercut national brands by **15% to 30%** on shelf price while delivering acceptable quality. The shopper reaches for the Kirkland olive oil or the Target Good & Gather pasta because the value proposition is frictionless: same spot, lower price, house brand trust. Retailers engineered this outcome by treating their own label as the house favorite and giving it the merchandising oxygen that used to go to CPG incumbents.

National brands still led in dollar sales growth during the same period, meaning they pushed through price increases that stuck. But volume leadership matters more for shelf velocity and retailer favor. A retailer makes margin on both, but the private label delivers cleaner economics and tighter supply-chain control. The CPG brand that loses unit share loses negotiating leverage, loses favorable shelf position, and eventually loses distribution.

The steal for a small physical-product brand is to position as the retailer's private-label alternative in a subcategory where the house brand does not yet exist or underperforms. Approach a regional grocer, specialty chain, or online grocer with a white-label or co-branded offer: you manufacture, they brand, you split margin. Frame it as category expansion, not competition. Bring a working SKU, a landed cost sheet showing **30% to 40%** retailer margin, and a quality claim the buyer can verify in one tasting or sample cycle.

Start with a single chain, a single SKU, and a test commitment of **500 to 1,000 units**. The retailer takes no brand risk because it is their name. You take no customer-acquisition cost because the retailer owns the traffic and the placement. If the product moves, you have a locked-in purchase order and a reference account. If it does not, you learned the category dynamics without burning a national launch budget. The same playbook works in pet, beauty, home, and wellness wherever a retailer has merchandising authority and margin pressure.

The broader pattern is that retailers now compete on owned brands, not just assortment. The supplier who helps them win that fight earns preferred economics and distribution lock. The supplier who ignores it loses share one unit at a time.

## The takeaway

Private label wins on units by owning price and placement; smaller brands can partner as the retailer's category builder.

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## 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