Private label is not new to Canada, but in the era of COVID-19 where Canadians are preparing more meals at home and value in the form of lower prices, for many, has taken on heighted significance, the importance of store brands has arguably grown for the time being. This is reflected by the fifth of shoppers who state they are purchasing more private label products since the start of the pandemic. This Report explores the attitudes Canadians have toward store brands, their reasons for using them and also for using them more. This Report also takes a more granular view asking shoppers about the categories in which they are most likely to purchase store brands, as well as how store brands measure up to national brands across a selection of categories with the aim of informing where there are opportunities to capture share.

• The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior in the private label market.

• Private label’s role relative to national brands.

• The perceived importance of private label versus national brands at the category level.

• Drivers of private label purchase to help prioritize messaging/positioning.

This Report was written from January 18-February 17, 2021. Consumer research was fielded October 28-November 5, 2020.

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel defined private label as grocery store owned brands. In this Report the terms private label and store brands and used interchangeably as are the terms national brands and name brands.