In what seems like a bold leap of logic from minimal numbers the Wall Street Journal has declared that, “consumers appear to be slowly returning to big-name brands.” This might be a little premature but only time will tell
Branded Foods Tick Up
Consumers appear to be slowly returning to big-name brands after fleeing to lower-cost, private labels in the past year.
Store brands rose 3.2% at retailers for the four-week period ended Feb. 20, according to a Thursday report released by Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow. Such brands account for about 20% of unit sales of food. Figures exclude sales at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
But the increase is down from a 4% gain in January and an about 6% gain, excluding dairy, last July. At the same time, branded-food unit sales rose 2.4% for the February period compared to a 0.2% decline for the four weeks ended Jan. 23. Mr. Moskow said the gains in part could be due to shoppers stocking up on items before and during the recent winter storms.
