SHELF-STABLE FOODS REPORT national food manufacturers struggled to keep products on shelves. Big food companies lost 1.3 share points, or $12 billion in sales, to small CPGs and private brands, according to an IRI report published in January 2021. Yet the relative strength of private label was not spread equally across all categories. In some center-store categories with the biggest volume increases, the share of private label actually decreased compared to national brands. Soup, dry pasta and rice, for example, all saw overall jumps of more than 20% for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 27, according to Nielsen data (see chart). The share of private label in each of these categories dropped anywhere from 2-3% during the period. In soup, it appears that a rising tide lifted all boats. Pantry loading in the early spring provided a boost to national brands like Campbell’s and Progresso, as consumers stuck with the brands they grew up with, said Dan Carley, vice president of sales and marketing for store brands at Baxters North America. “After that initial surge, brands stayed up 15%20%, took a dip in September and came back up again,” he said. “Brands drove quite a bit of the strength in the category but private label also did well. Brands were up about 30%-35% at the end of the year and private label was up about 15%-20%.” This year has been more challenging for the soup category. In its latest earnings announcement last month, Campbell’s warned of waning sales as consumers began to dine out more and get back to the office. Carley at Baxters expects the category to be down anywhere from 5%-10% by year’s end, but said the company hopes to make inroads against branded soups with new flavors and formats like pouches and single-serve toppers, with several new SKUs available starting in July. The picture is brighter in the $2 billion rice category, which had more upside momentum heading into the pandemic. Total sales were up 3.9% 28
Store Brands
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April 2021
026-029_SBR_ShelfStable_0421_v4.indd 28
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Cost of Sales in 4 Key Center Categories Category
SOUP
National Private label VEGETABLES
National Private label RICE
National Private label PASTA
National Private label
Latest 52 weeks, 2/27/21
% Change vs. Year Ago
3,405,282,230 326,691,961
+24% -6.9%
3,030,669,026 1,538,784,782
+27.9% +21%
1,287,194,469 445,658,735
+29.9% +11.4%
1,725,895,026 660,905,859
+28.7% +17.1%
a 20%-30% growth rate this year. “More consumers are going back to restaurants, so when they are cooking at home, they will be looking for something different [than plain rice],” he said. “We’re doing new globally inspired flavors, including a Chimichurri, a Moroccan curry and a separate lineup with lentils, so you’ve got a plant-based protein with some added flavors.”
DOWN TIME: NUTS, SNACKING AND BAKING
for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 29, 2020, per Nielsen, with slightly higher gains in national brands than private label. “Ready-to-serve rice is a super easy side dish, and the pandemic only drove this trend further,” said Carley. Private label sales increased by triple digits for several weeks last spring, though from a much lower base than national brands, he said. He expects the category to maintain
Tales of quarantine cooking and baking blanketed the Internet in 2020, as consumers had more time for leisure activities and could put more thought into their meals and snacking habits. Two categories that benefited from these trends, not surprisingly, were nuts and baking mixes. Nut sales had been growing steadily prior to last year, thanks in part to the product’s reputation as a healthier snack option, said Krista Daly, director of marketing at Marathon Ventures, a producer of private label nut products including snacking and baking nuts. “During the pandemic, we found
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4/12/21 3:56 PM
