SUPERMARKET PRIVATE LABEL

Private label has proven itself -- it's global, and growing into new categories

on has plenty to celebrate.

Beginning as a fledgling group of 10 companies that first met at the Chemist Club in Manhattan in 1979, the PLMA has grown into a 2,900-member organization worldwide. Today the PLMA hosts two private-label trade shows annually, in Chicago and Amsterdam, Netherlands, that draw nearly 20,000 attendees.

Private-label products, a formidable presence in the food-retailing industry, account for about 20% of items found on American supermarket shelves, and with every passing year private-label companies enter new categories. Every major supermarket has a private-label program, and smaller chains are often supplied with wholesalers' brands, in addition to sometimes carrying their own labels as well.

To celebrate the PLMA's 20th, and in acknowledgement of the fact that private label has come into its own, SN has created this supplement on a range of subjects related to store brands.