In this monthly feature for PLMA’s e-Scanner, Editor-in-Chief Tom Prendergast examines PLMA’s exclusive IRI/Unify sales data. He examines the data to see which categories and products are showing growth and opportunities for PLMA members and retailers. This month’s column looks at the latest IRI statistics as of June 12, 2022.The most recent IRI statistics show for the first six months of 2022 the private label industry has seen dramatic growth, with average dollar sales rising 8.7%.
However, in the past three months of April, May, and June there was an even more striking increase in sales.
On average, store brand dollar sales grew an average of 10.2% over the past three months, with 10.9% growth in June, and 9.8% in April and May when compared to a year ago.
A closer look at category sales over those months paints an interesting picture. It is not only food and basic at-home staples increasing in growth, but from many non-food categories both big and small.
For instance, in food there are many categories that have strong dollar sales growth in the past three months. Among them: basic kitchen staples such as shortenings and oils grew 25.8%; flour 27.8%; sugar 13.9%; butter and butter blends 26%; spaghetti/Italian sauce 25.6%; pasta 18.2%; and coffee 11.8% all showed increased dollar sales.
Other growing food areas include bottled water 24%; sports drinks 52.9%; spreads 57.5%; cookies 21.3%; and jellies, jams and honey were up 20.4%.
A deeper dive into the statistics shows several non-food products have shown dollar growth over the past three months.
Products from around the house that have shown growth include disposable tableware, up 9.7%; household cleaning products, 12.5%; cups and plates,15.7%; laundry detergent, 18.6%; and cat/dog litter, 19.5%.
Some bathroom products also stood out. Shaving cream grew 10.6% in dollar sales; toothpaste 9.9%; cotton balls/swabs 5.1%; skin care 30.5%; and toilet tissue had 18.9% growth from April-June.
Outside of the home products, specifically for the family car, caught the eye. Motor oil grew16.3% in sales while automobile fluids/antifreeze was up 12.8%.
There are many other products and categories showing private brand growth in the first half of 2022. If you want to dive in yourself, all these statistics and more are available to members through IRI’s Unify statistics section on www.plma.com