Private label grocery products reached 22 percent of total US grocery sales in 2025, the highest recorded level, as consumers who shifted to store brands during the inflation peak have not returned to branded alternatives at the rates consumer goods companies expected. Grocery chains are responding to this loyalty by significantly expanding their private label portfolios into categories previously dominated by national brands.
Consumer goods manufacturers including General Mills, Kraft Heinz, and Campbell's are facing sustained market share pressure as their pricing premiums over private labels have widened beyond what consumers are willing to pay for brand loyalty alone. Several companies have responded by investing in visible product innovation to rebuild value differentiation, while others have quietly launched their own retailer-exclusive brands to recapture the private label margin they are losing on national brand products.
