Private-label brands captured 24% of all grocery units sold in the United States during the first half of 2026, continuing a multi-year climb that is reshaping the economics of every category on the retail shelf, according to Food Navigator. This marks the widest unit-share gap between store brands and national brands on record, and the trend shows no sign of reversing.
Retailers invested in product quality, packaging design, and category expansion. Target's Good & Gather line, Costco's Kirkland Signature, and Trader Joe's proprietary assortment all post double-digit unit growth year-over-year in their respective channels. These are no longer value fallbacks. They are brand experiences in their own right, often matching or exceeding the perceived quality of established CPG players while holding price 15% to 30% below national-brand equivalents.
The mechanism is straightforward: the retailer controls shelf placement, knows the customer data, and captures the margin. A national brand pays slotting fees, trade spend, and intermediary cuts; the private label skips all three. When the retailer puts its own SKU at eye level and prices it under the legacy incumbent, the shopper's default choice shifts. The brand that once commanded loyalty now competes on promotion frequency alone, eroding both margin and mindshare.
For a physical-product brand shipping into grocery or mass retail, the steal is to stop fighting shelf wars you cannot win and instead position as the premium alternative that private label cannot yet copy. Pick one attribute—provenance, formulation, certification, packaging innovation—that requires capital or expertise the retailer will not replicate in-house. Then communicate that difference on-pack and in every piece of point-of-sale collateral. If your product sits next to a store brand, your packaging must justify the delta in under three seconds. Use material cues: embossed labels, windowed cartons, certifications printed large. The customer knows the private label is cheaper; your job is to make the price spread feel justified, not arbitrary.
Next, pursue the channels where private label has no structural advantage. Direct-to-consumer, independent specialty, foodservice, and corporate gifting all remove the retailer's pricing leverage. A $15,000 monthly ad budget on Meta or Google, targeted at high-intent keywords in your category, will drive enough repeat buyers to fill a DTC funnel that operates at healthy margin. Simultaneously, seed independent retailers who curate assortments around brand story rather than lowest cost. These accounts will never match the unit volume of a grocery chain, but they preserve your pricing power and build the brand equity that makes you acquisition-worthy if a larger player decides to buy rather than copy.
The broader pattern: private label grows fastest in categories where differentiation is weak and switching costs are zero. If your product competes primarily on price or basic function, the retailer will eventually launch a house version and take your margin. The only durable defense is to own a dimension the store cannot or will not replicate—and to communicate it clearly enough that the shopper pays the premium without hesitation.
The takeaway
Private label wins on price and placement; brands survive by owning one attribute the retailer cannot copy and selling it where shelf politics do not apply.
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