Over the last decade supermarket own label have become important brands with recent sales bolstered by the cost-of-living crisis and consumers increasing demand for value.
For supermarkets, this transformation has been driven by a mix of factors including the opportunity to improve margins, deliver new products, and respond quickly to shifting consumer demands.
Recent research from Circana highlights the scale of the shift.
Private label sales have reached 50% of unit share and 42% of value sales, across France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK as European households feeling cost of living pressures buy more supermarket own brand products.
Private label products now hold a 24% value share within food and beverage aisles in the USA and in Australia it commands nearly 40% unit share.
According to Jonny Forsyth, Mintel Food & Drink Principal Strategist, supermarkets initial strategies were to gain consumer trust in everyday meal essentials, and once that was gained to branch out into more impulse and discretionary-led categories.
That evolution, however, is not uniform. In Spain, for example, Mintel data shows private label food and drink innovation has declined since 2019, falling from 37% to 30% in 2025.
“However, I think we will see private label continuing to grow its share of sales and innovation over the next few years,” he says.
“That’s because the cost-of-living crisis will continue, and consumers have a much higher regard for the quality of private label - therefore the line between private label and brands is now wafer thin. Also, supermarkets are gaining more power over brands because of the rise of social media and AI which allows them to track and innovate at a rate that is near-impossible for big brands to compete with.”
While own label has firmly established itself in everyday essentials, there has been a rapid expansion into more categories, particularly alcohol.
At the millennium, according to Mintel, just 2% of all global alcohol innovation was private label, with the category protected by the many premium-positioned brands and the reputation of private label alcohol as being both low on price and quality.
Forsyth adds: “However, in 2025, this figure had jumped to 8%. In the UK, this was 8% in 2000, rising to 32% in 2025 - so much steeper.”
He points to the UK market as being driven by the emergence of Aldi and Lidl, both of whom have invested in their alcohol launches, especially their wine ranges.
“Retailers have been helped by the fact that wine is so fragmented, with most consumers struggling to make a decision when staring at the ‘wall of wine’,” he says.
“Private label provides a cognitively satisfying way to cut through all this noise and choose a value, standard or premium option. Retailers are now doing something similar with another highly fragmented sector - craft beer.”
Globally the picture remains varied. Mintel data shows that in China, private label accounted for 41% of alcohol launches in 2025, significantly ahead of the UK’s 32%, while the US lags far behind at just 4%, below the global average.
Category Performance
Category performance also differs.
“Wine has actually hovered around the 11% mark over the past 20 years globally. We’re just seeing more of a shift towards quality own label. Beer is growing but too slowly given the potential,” Forsyth says.
“Private label accounted for less than 1% of global beer launches in 2000, 1% in 2007 and 4% in 2023 and now 6% in 2025. RTDs made up just 6% in 2023, and now make up 10%, driven by China. Whiskey has declined from 4% back in 2012 to 2% in 2025, showing that there is plenty more to be done in the premium spirits’ space.”
However, the picture remains complex and is not without its challenges as a shift towards healthier lifestyles continues to impact alcohol consumption.
Circana’s own research from December 2025 found that own label alcohol continued to struggle, with declines across major categories including beer, wine and spirits, although smaller segments, such as RTD spirits, posted growth.
UK data from NielsenIQ paints a similar mixed picture. Own label alcohol has grown in both the economy tier (7.5%), and premium (1.8%), while mid-range own label alcohol brands fell (1.2%) along with branded sales (0.8%).
Category sales also vary. Own label sales saw growth in ale (8.8%), champagne (9.2%) and still wine (0.3%) beating branded products. (Percentage growth of the category for 52 weeks prior to the 52 weeks to 18.04.26)
Discounters have long been familiar with the private‑label alcohol model, producing their own beer, wine and spirits. And even in this challenging market supermarket own label alcohol continue with successful launches.
In the UK Aldi boasts spirits such as Greyson’s London Dry Gin while Aldi Australia has been recognised for its Tamova Vodka.
Lidl is also pushing boundaries as it opened its first ever pub in Northern Ireland, due to a complicated licensing law glitch, which will be focusing on serving its own label beer, wine and spirits ranges.
Global supermarkets continue to expand their own label portfolios pushing further into this territory and innovation remains key.
UK retailer Marks & Spencer, for example, has overhauled its beer range, introducing a suite of lower-ABV own label options designed for more longer social occasions.
Maddie Love, product developer for Beers at M&S Food, says: “This is the most significant upgrade we’ve made to our beer range in years, and we’ve worked hard over the past 12 months to ensure our new options include something for every type of beer drinker, from sessionable styles and refreshing fruit beers, to zingy sours and our first Mexican-style lager with a squeeze of lime and a hint of sea salt.”
Alongside beer, M&S is investing in premium cocktails, exclusive wines and canned formats, including its “iconic tinnies” Markologist range, all aimed at delivering convenience and easy‑serve options.
Bringing products to market
But where are these global supermarket chains sourcing these own label alcoholic products?
Behind the scenes, a thriving contract alcohol manufacturing sector is helping to bring these products to market.
From brewing and distilling to winemaking these suppliers, many of them global producers, are playing an important role in enabling supermarkets to deliver their own label ambitions. Supermarkets are notoriously tight-lipped about their supply chain but there are prospects for drinks manufacturers.
For producers like Hepworth Brewery in the UK, which works with supermarkets and produces beer under contract, this presents a significant opportunity, where the company can add real value.
For Hepworth, success lies in targeting the premium end of the market, where differentiation and creativity can outweigh scale.
Hepworth Brewery chairman Andy Hepworth says: “It gives good quite access to the wider market for a small company because distribution is the key. If you are producing a white label for a supermarket, they are going to pretty much put you in every store so that is the sales, marketing and distribution done for you.”
He says that as a smaller brewer the company focuses on premium and innovative products as it cannot compete with global suppliers on price.
“You have to look at value rather than price and that means going to the top end of the market, where our abilities to innovate and do niche products makes us more competitive,” he says.
Despite wider pressures on the brewing industry, demand for new product innovation remains strong, he says. But working in partnership is a key part of this relationship with the brewers’ expertise able to suggest not only innovative products but also the practical advice on what works in terms of delivery.
But how is this market going to develop and where can retailers evolve their own label alcohol offers?
Hepworth predicts that innovation in ingredients and health, such as gluten free beers, will drive the next wave of development.
“It is heading towards more alcohol-free and it is also heading towards functional drinks and flavoured beers, which will almost certainly be lager beers,” he says.
Meanwhile, Forsyth says that retailers can evolve their own label alcohol offers by targeting spirits and craft beer.
He highlights that as RTD and wine have been the most popular sub-categories accounting for 10% and 11% of private label launches respectively in 2025, meaning there is potential in other alcoholic categories.
“Beer was just 6% and is an increasingly fragmented sector due to the rise of craft beer and consumers find too much choice cognitively stressful. Spirits have traditionally been a more premium area than beer and wine, giving it greater protection from own label,” he highlights.
“However, the high cost per unit makes it very vulnerable to private label at a time when budgets are so squeezed and the middle classes are shrinking, if retailers can convince savvy shoppers that they can get the same quality with brands that do not charge a premium for marketing and high profit margins.”
At the same time, collaboration is likely to play a growing role, with partnerships between retailers and established brands, Forsyth says. He highlights Aldi’s tie-up with BrewDog as offering a way to combine credibility with scale.
Ultimately, continued cost pressures and evolving consumer expectations mean private label is set to grow further, with alcohol representing a key area of future innovation.
Supermarkets globally look set to continue to invest into their own label alcohol ranges providing a potential area for growth and investment.