When it comes to store brand sales, last year's record, double-digit gains are a tough act to follow. But the Q1 results are in, and they bring good news: The products are experiencing the same rate of growth.

During the first three months of this year, store brands picked up right where they left off in 2022, with double-digit sales increases and greater market share in both dollars and units, according to nationwide data provided exclusively to PLMA by Circana (formerly IRI and NPD). The figures include 2023 food and non-food sales in all outlets as of March 26.

“The Q1 results are particularly impressive since they are compared to 2022 sales figures, which were historically high for U.S. store brands,” said PLMA President Peggy Davies. 

Highlights of the Q1 report: 

• Store brands continue to far outperform national brands in sales. Across all U.S. grocery channels, store brand dollar volume jumped 10.3%, nearly twice the gain of national brands (which grew 5.6%), compared to the same three-month period a year ago.  
• Store brand market shares jumped higher. Dollar share rose to 19.1% and unit share advanced to 20.8%, vs Q1 of last year when the numbers were 18.5% for dollars and 20.3% for units.
• Store brands fared significantly better than national brands in unit sales, as well. As was the case last year, all brands shed units. But like in 2022, store brand units decreased far less than those of national brands. During Q1 of 2023, they were off 1% vs minus 3.9% for national brands, about one-fourth the decline.
• This disparity in unit sales can be attributed to consumers switching to store brands from national brands. It was even more pronounced in March, when store brands were down only 0.7% compared to national brands, which were off five times that figure at 3.5%.
• Among the 17 food and non-food departments Circana tracks for PLMA, 15 saw increased store brand dollar sales during the first quarter. Double-digit gainers were Beverages (up 17.1%), Bakery (+16.8%), General Food (+16%), Refrigerated (+15.5%), Floral (+13.1%), Deli Prepared (+12.4%), and Health Care (+10%).
• Other departmental winners included Deli Cheese (up 9%), General Merchandise (+8.8%), Beauty (+7.4%), Frozen (+7.1%), Produce (+6.8%), Deli Meat, and Liquor (both at +5.8%) and Health (+4.3%). Only Tobacco (off 11.8%) and Meat (down 1.6%) slipped.
• Looking at store brand unit sales, six departments improved, led by Floral (up 5%), Deli Prepared (+2.1%), Bakery (+1.8%), General Merchandise (+1.3%), Produce (+0.8%) and Liquor (+0.7%). 

The next monthly report to PLMA from Circana is due May 1. PLMA members and accredited retailers who want to dig deeper into the latest store brands and national brands sales data can visit the portal called "Exclusive Market Data From PLMA" under "Member Services" on plma.com. 

To explain the new and enhanced visualization features of the association's unique data portal, PLMA will offer a special session of its popular online Lunch and Learn program on May 11 at 12:30 p.m. EST. Called "IRI to Circana: Relaunching the PLMA Member Insights Program," it will be a comprehensive, 45-minute tutorial conducted by Jim Carlson of Circana. For more information on the session, contact info@plma.com or visit "Conferences and Education" at plma.com to register.