Consumers are more price-conscious in times of uncertainty, an element these past few years have had no shortage of, and it’s no surprise that sales of private-brand goods spike during tough times. However, impressive sales in convenience stores of private-brand products in 2022 suggest that consumers have an affinity for private brands that goes beyond being the traditionally less-expensive option.

According to NIQ data, convenience private-brand product sales dollars, units sold and all-commodity volume (ACV) growth outpaced both national brands in convenience and private brands in all other channels in 2022. 

Convenience private-brand growth was three times higher than national brands in convenience on a year-over-year basis. Additionally, convenience private brands experienced a year-over-year increase in units sold, unlike national brands in convenience and national or private brands in all other channels. While a portion of sales dollar growth was driven by inflation, growth in units shows a prosperous path forward.

Another sign of opportunity can be found in the comparison between sales of private brands in the convenience channel to other retail channels. Convenience private brands represent only 2.7% of total store sales, while private-brand sales in all other channels account for 19.2% of total sales. 

Bottled water and bottled juice drinks dominated the private-brand packaged beverage category, which amounted to $806 million in 2022 sales. Dairy and deli items represented the second-highest private-brand sales of all categories at $451 million. These products had the largest increase in ACV at 4.2%. Private-brand salty snacks saw the highest year-over-year growth in units sold at 6.6%.