Double-digit growth from perishables departments is helping fuel store brand momentum, with fresh produce ranking in the top 10 mega categories to experience store brand dollar volume growth, said Irwindale, Calif.-based supplier Ready Pac, citing Nielsen ScanTrack data. Ready Pac is a supplier of convenience fresh foods, including fresh-cut produce.

For the 52 weeks ending August 4, store brand sales for all outlets and all departments reached $107.5 billion, an increase of 5.1 percent versus a year ago. By comparison, branded sales reached $518.6 billion and also grew, but at a more modest 3.1 percent. According to Nielsen ScanTrak, store brand growth came from absolute dollar volume growth in 90 mega-categories (generating $5.7 billion in gains), while dollar sales fell in 24 branded categories (generating $492.2 million in losses).

In value-added produce, the momentum is very apparent, Ready Pac said. In the last six months, total private label value-added produce grew 10 percent in unit sales, reaching 30 percent share of the category. By contrast, branded value-added produce sales declined 3 percent. Value-added salads and fruit private label unit sales grew 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively, and now make up about one quarter of the sales in their segments.