The Food Marketing Institute  (FMI) recently published a report to quantify consumer acceptance of private brands.  The survey included 1,039 adult U.S. grocery shoppers.  Of those surveyed, 96 percent acknowledged purchasing private (store) brands at least occasionally with almost half (46 percent) purchasing private brands most or all of the time.  Loyalty to private brands is indicated by the response of 90 percent of those surveyed expressing a commitment to continue buying private brands.  Motivations included price, quality, taste and availability.

Inflation obviously engendered more interest in less costly private brands, but continued support for purchase is based on equivalence in quality and taste compared to national brands.  A total of 59 percent of shoppers consider that private and national brands were similar in quality and both promoted health and sustainability.