Following flat year-over-year performance in October 2010, and a roughly 2% November 2010 increase, US private label CPG dollar sales remained flat in December 2010, according to data from The Nielsen Company. Meanwhile, private label CPG unit sales declined 2.3%, following drops of 1% in November 2010 and 3% in October 2010. Private label CPG dollar sales rose 0.7% year-over-year in October 2009, while unit sales rose about 0.2%.
Private Label CPG Dollar Sales Remain at $7.2B
During December 2010, private label prepackaged, UPC-coded CPG good dollar sales stayed at about $7.25 billion, roughly the same total during the same four-week period a year earlier. Fresh meat experienced the strongest sales growth rate of any department, rising 28.8% from $40.7 million to $52.4 million. Fresh produce followed with 16.1% growth, rising from $236.1 million to $274.1 million.
Six departments experienced a decline in dollar sales compared to the equivalent four-week period in 2009. Combo pack sales declined 25.7%, from $33.1 million to $24.6 million, and non-food grocery sales dropped 6.8%, from $690.5 million to $643.6 million.
Meanwhile, general merchandise sales dropped 6.5% from $326.2 million to $305.1 million, frozen foods sales declined 4.4%, from $655 million to $626.4 million, dry grocery sales dropped 2.8%, from $2.6 billion to $2.5 billion, and deli sales dropped 2.5%, from $150.4 million to $146.5 million.
Dollar Segment Share Rises for 14th Period
Growth for private label CPG goods in terms of dollar segment share rose fractionally for the 14th straight four-week period. Dollar sales of private label CPG goods increased 0.4%, from 17.1% of the segment to 17.4%. Branded CPG goods accounted for the remaining 82.6% of the segment.
Three departments experienced a positive dollar segment share increase of 1% or more: fresh meat (5.5%), fresh produce (2.8%), and packaged meat (1.1%).
Alcoholic beverage dollar segment share remained flat, and four departments experienced declines of less than 1%: deli, non-food grocery, dry grocery, and frozen foods.
Unit Sales Drop to 3.2B
Total unit sales for December 2010 were about 3.2 billion, compared to about 3.3 billion during the equivalent four-week period in 2009. Fresh meat sales climbed 20.5%, from 9.5 million units to 11.5 million units; while fresh produce sales rose 12.2%, from 95.2 million units to 106.8 million units.
On the negative growth side, the largest decline occurred in combo pack sales, which fell 24.9%, from 4.4 million units to 3.3 million units. The next two largest declines were reported in non-food grocery sales, which fell 6.9%, from 251.6 million units to 234.3 million units, and general merchandise sales, which slid 6.3% from 97.4 million to 91.2 million.
Unit Segment Share Stays Flat
Unit segment share stayed an even 22.2% compared to the equivalent period a year earlier, with branded CPG goods accounting for the remaining 78.8% of the segment. Five departments reported negative unit segment growth, and alcoholic beverages maintained a flat unit segment share. On the positive side, fresh meat had the highest growth rate (5%), followed by fresh produce (2.3%), and general merchandise (1.1%).
No department had a negative unit segment growth rate of 1% or more. was Dairy, dry grocery, frozen foods, combo pack, and non-food grocery all reported negative unit segment performance of less than 1%. Alcoholic beverage unit segment growth was flat.
CPG Companies See Retail Collaboration as Effective
An overwhelming majority of CPG companies report effective strategic collaboration efforts with retailers, according to other recent data from The Nielsen Company. Ninety-five percent of CPG manufacturers think their retail collaboration efforts have been either extremely effective (30%) or somewhat effective (65%). A mere 5% consider them somewhat ineffective, with no respondents considering them extremely ineffective.
