According to Food Navigator reporting Circana and PLMA data, nearly 25% of all grocery units sold in the United States are now private label. Store brands are outperforming national brands in unit sales as brand loyalty erodes and price sensitivity reshapes how American households buy food and household goods.
The shift is structural. Shoppers are moving away from the legacy brands that dominated shelf space for decades, opting instead for retailer-owned products that deliver comparable quality at lower price points. The 25% share represents a crossing point: private label is no longer the budget alternative, it is a primary choice category commanding a quarter of the market by volume.
The mechanism is simple and durable. National brands carry the cost of advertising, slotting fees, and brand equity maintenance. Private label strips that overhead. Retailers control the supply chain, set the margin, and pass savings directly to the customer. When inflation tightens household budgets, the value equation flips. The brand premium no longer justifies the price gap, and switching costs drop to zero. Once a shopper discovers that the store-brand pasta or paper towels perform as well as the name on the box, the loyalty loop breaks.
This is not a recession-driven blip. The trend predates the current economic cycle and continues through recovery. Price sensitivity is now permanent behavior, rewired by inflation and reinforced by retail execution. Stores invest in private label packaging, formulation, and shelf placement because the margin is better and the customer retention is higher. The category is professionalized.
For a physical product brand, the play is clear: become the private label supplier or build a moat national brands cannot. A small brand making candles, pantry staples, or home goods can pitch retailers directly to white-label their product. The pitch is margin and speed: you already manufacture at scale, you can deliver consistent quality, and the retailer keeps the brand equity. You trade margin for volume and predictable orders. The cost line is a samples kit and a pitch deck. The close is a test SKU in a regional chain.
Alternatively, build where private label cannot follow. Private label wins on price and parity, but it does not win on story, craft, or material innovation. A small brand that sources rare ingredients, uses a patented process, or ships a product with a tight community cannot be replicated by a store buyer. The moat is not the logo, it is the thing itself. If your product requires expertise, relationships, or equipment the retailer does not control, you hold differentiation. The move is to double down on that gap and communicate it cleanly at point of sale.
The 25% figure is a market instruction. Retailers now see private label as a profit center and a loyalty tool, not a filler category. Brands that depend on shelf placement without a defensible edge will lose share. Brands that supply the retailers or occupy unreplicable ground will capture the margin national brands are hemorrhaging.
The takeaway
Private label now commands 25% of US grocery units; small brands either supply the retailers or build where store brands cannot follow.
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