National brands, seemingly under siege by private labels, may have less to fear than previously thought. New research from The Nielsen Company indicates that private label growth is driven by rising commodity and food prices and is not coming as a result of consumers abandoning national brands. Over the last year, private label sales of CPG (consumer packaged goods) products have grown nearly nine percent to hold a 17.5 per cent share of supermarket dollar sales. Nielsen’s research establishes,... ...Read more »

As major Australian supermarkets continue their push away from nationally advertised brands toward private labels, UK retailer Marks & Spencer, the quintessential private label retailer, has tentatively reversed the trend by committing to using branded products for the first time. The famous UK institution has announced that they will trial an offering of around 350 branded products in 19 of their stores in June. “This trial aims to offer customers greater convenience but not... ...Read more »