Audience Profiles: Value-seeking consumers driving private label investment and mid-market brand acquisition trends

Type: Audience Profiles · Industry: Agronegocios y alimentos · Market: United States · Published: 2026-06-16

What's changing in your industry

  • Store brands hit a record 21.3% of US grocery dollars, growing 3.3% while national brands crawl at 1.2%; shoppers now trust quality store brands across 72 categories.
  • Value-seeking is no longer a low-income behavior: 82% of households earning over $100,000 bought more store brands, so price and quality matter to everyone.
  • Gen Z and Millennials drive the shift, with Gen Z's private label share (18.4%) set to pass Boomers; the next generation's loyalty is up for grabs.

What it means for your business

  • Your customers will trade a famous name for an equal-quality cheaper option without guilt, so a recognizable brand name alone no longer protects your sales.
  • Younger and multicultural shoppers are setting new habits right now; the producer or brand that earns their trust today keeps it for years.

3 actions to start today

  • Make your product's quality impossible to miss on the label and shelf (sourcing, ingredients, how it's made) so value-seekers pick you over a national name.
  • Build or supply a quality store-brand or affordable line, since private label is now 21.3% of grocery dollars and still climbing.
  • Lean into health-forward and multicultural products to reach Hispanic shoppers, who drive 16% of food category growth.

1 number to benchmark yourself

Store brands now take a record 21.3% of US grocery dollars and keep growing. What about you, how much of your sales leans on a name versus proven value?

Executive Summary

This Kenmei Audience Analysis examines the consumers driving one of the most significant structural shifts in the US Agribusiness & Food sector: the value-seeking movement that is simultaneously accelerating private label investment and reshaping mid-market brand acquisition targets. Drawing on 73 authoritative sources across government data, consulting reports, and market research, the report profiles the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics of American food consumers who are choosing quality-equivalent store brands over national names — at every income level.

The analysis documents how income-agnostic private label adoption — with 82% of households earning over $100,000 having increased store-brand purchases — has invalidated the long-held assumption that private label is a low-income refuge. Younger cohorts, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, are driving this transition with a 5% year-over-year increase in private label adoption, while simultaneously demanding transparency, quality signals, and value across all food categories. Regional variation is significant: the South and West are emerging as growth corridors for store-brand expansion, while urban concentrations amplify the digital discovery behaviors that are reshaping how consumers encounter and trial private label products.

For investors and food retailers, the strategic implication is clear: mid-market challenger brands that have cultivated loyal value-seeking followings — particularly in health-forward, functional, and multicultural food categories — represent high-conviction acquisition targets. This report maps the audience segments, geographic hotspots, and engagement dynamics that determine where private label investment and brand consolidation will create the most durable returns.

Key Findings

  • 82% of US households earning over $100,000 increased private label purchases in 2025, signaling that value-seeking is now income-agnostic and represents a structural behavioral shift rather than a recessionary coping mechanism.
  • Private label captured a historic high of 21.3% dollar share in US grocery in 2025, growing at 3.3% versus 1.2% for national brands, with the $330 billion store-brand market now spanning 72 product categories.
  • Gen Z and Millennials are the primary generational engine of private label growth, with Gen Z's private label share (18.4%) projected to surpass Boomers (18.3%) by mid-2026 — representing a loyalty-structure reset that will define the next decade of food retail.
  • Insurgent and challenger food brands captured 25% of total US food industry growth in 2025, with 113 identified brands driving 36% of FMCG category expansion — making quality-differentiated mid-market brands with loyal value-seeking followings high-priority M&A targets.
  • Hispanic and multicultural food consumers, representing $2.8 trillion in buying power by 2026 and driving 16% of CPG growth, are the fastest-growing emerging audience segment and a critical determinant of which regional markets and challenger brands will outperform.

Report Contents

  1. 01 · Consumer Demographics
  2. 02 · Audience Segmentation
  3. 03 · Psychographics & Motivations
  4. 04 · Digital Behavior
  5. 05 · Purchase Behavior
  6. 06 · Decision Journey
  7. 07 · Pain Points & Unmet Needs
  8. 08 · Media Consumption
  9. 09 · Generational Analysis
  10. 10 · Geographic Segments
  11. 11 · High-Value Segments
  12. 12 · Emerging Audiences
  13. 13 · Engagement Patterns
  14. 14 · Activation Strategy

Related reports

Sources

Access the full report

$29 USD/mo — Includes access to all reports for your industry.

Subscribe now