• 📈 Private Label Proliferates
• 🛒 Grocery Retail’s Wild 2024
• 🗓️  New Year, New Spirits Gallery
• 🔄  L.A. Libations New Leadership Team
• 🎆 2024 Trends & New Year Predictions

Grocery prices remain Americans’ top concern heading into 2025 and it doesn’t appear that totals at checkout will be going down anytime soon. That has put an onus on retailers to deliver value with many looking in-house over the past year to better meet that demand on shelf. 

✨ Walmart, Amazon, CVS and others innovated and revamped private label lines in the past year, but each took a fairly unique approach and seem to be aiming for a unique cohort of value-seeking shoppers. 

📈 In terms of performance, the field saw plenty of success with volume and unit growth up across the board, coupled with plenty of additional buy-in from retailers themselves. 

What can we expect in the world of private label in 2025? Insiders can access the full scoop for a synthesis on what went down this past year and what could be coming in 2024.

Grocery retail in 2024 was characterized by the end of the proposed Kroger-Albertsons' mega-merger, a series of abrupt closures and revivals of next-gen retailers and a rising interest in smaller format chain stores.

❌ After a series of lawsuits plagued its progression, the Kroger-Albertsons’ merger was left dead in the water. The deal’s demise culminated in December after a U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the Federal Trade Commission’s suit blocking the business combination.

🧐 What do modern c-store Foxtrot and adult non-alcoholic retailer Boisson have in common? They both shut their doors suddenly in the spring only to resurrect themselves under new ownership groups by the fall.

🛒 Are smaller sets better for grocery retail? Amazon, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s are following a less-is-more approach to new urban store concepts.

Insiders can read the full recap.

Dry January isn’t for everyone. For those of us still drinking after the clocks hit midnight and turned on the new year, we can keep the celebrations going with some of last year’s late spirits drops. From high proof tequila to Dunkin’ RTDs, here’s a few choice selections to whet your palate:

🥃 LALO launched its first new innovation with a limited edition high-proof tequila, bottled at 54% ABV. The bottle is available nationwide for $74.99.

🍋 It may be the dead of winter, and it may also technically be wine, but SummerFall is introducing some Japanese flavors to the market with its 11% ABV canned sake cocktails, made with cold-pressed yuzu juice and touting flavor notes of honeysuckle, lemon rind and ginger candy.

☕ Dunkin’ fans are known to love cold coffee all year round, so the new Dunkin’ Spiked Peppermint Mocha latte should appeal to the base. The canned drink comes in at a 6% ABV and is vegan, made with a non-dairy creamer.

Want to see what other new spirits are hitting stores? Check out the full gallery on BevNET.

🥤 L.A. Libations has a new leadership team with the promotion of its chief growth officer Chad Coester to new president. 

• Along with Coester, L.A. Libations also promoted Brian Lizzarago, Braxton Hurst and Brianna Cendejas into vice president roles of sales, mass & club and brand management, respectively.

👋 After nearly 30 years at Whole Foods Market, culinary SVP Jeff Turnas has announced he will be stepping down. Turnas mentioned he would be focusing on helping scale his wife’s cookie business, Bakesy Bakeshop, and would be launching a new venture called Forkin Knife ATX.

🫖 Canadian tea maker Firebelly Tea has appointed Rob Fraser as a managing partner. Fraser brings with him experience founding and leading apparel companies Custom Lab and OUTWAY. 

The CPG Week team runs through the trends they’ve tracked over the past year with call outs for women-positioned energy drinks, the evolution as food and beverage brands move towards GLP-1 drug users and how private label is reshaping grocery retail. From seed oils-free formulations to consolidation and tariffs, the podcast hosts detail what they will be on the look out for in the new year with a nod towards this being the Year of Ranch (again).

Click here to listen to this week’s episode.

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