US consumers favour private label food

New consumer polling data from the Private Label Manufacturers Association’s ongoing study, “Store Brands and the Recession,” revealed some interesting findings.

Among the findings of the nearly 800 main household grocery shoppers surveyed were:

• 35% of shoppers are trying store brand products for the first time in categories where they had previously only purchased national brand items. Among this group, 94% say these store brand products compare “favourably” to their previous choice.

• 91% of shoppers in the survey say they believe they are going to continue buying store brand products even after the recession ends. Only 8% of the consumers polled said they intend to stop buying private label.

• The quality of store brand products is a big factor in convincing shoppers to keep buying them, with 9 out of every 10 shoppers agreeing the store brand products they buy are just as good as, or better than, national brand products.

• Nearly half of all consumers polled say they believe the supermarket where they normally shop should carry more store brands.

• Nearly 3/4 of respondents say the recession is an important factor in their decision-making.

• Compared to one year ago, 3 in 10 customers say they are now buying more store brand products.

• 57% say they buy private label “frequently;” earlier this year, the figure was 55%. The 2009 results are up substantially from the 41% who said they bought private label frequently in a survey conducted just three years ago.