Private label

And consequently, that drives continuous innovation for their private label.

to the point where the private label can probably be the best option across multiple SKUs.

And it's just very fascinating how they chose to be super intentional in which SKUs to build private labels in.

I think it's still all signed off at the CEO and founder level to this day, right? And I think consequently, you see that reflected in how important it has been for Kirkland to be part of that strategy for them.

and then now i think about okay how does it apply to like the technology sector because i think obviously that was like call it ai marketplaces like open router which just got acquired by stripe and now you see like open router for like abcd right so at some point you probably start to see like that orchestration slash like marketplace aggregator layer start to have their own like verticals to capture more and more margin i think that's how it will play out just like how AWS.

We talked about batching.

We talked about private label.

We talked about fragrance selection.

We talked about hiring.

trying to fulfill them

yeah

if it's a retail if it's on the actual country leather brand side filling all those little three and five bar orders oh my gosh not that i don't like them i do like them don't get me wrong but with this private label stuff i've got going on and as busy as i am right now trying to do 70 of it myself right

It's a lot easier to ship 50 bars in one box than it is to ship 50 bars in, you know, 12 boxes.

But if we can keep our options open, keep our minds open, look for the good, look for the purpose, amazing things can come out of it, and that's what we're gonna talk about today in a bit more detail, is the amazing opportunity that you are now in as commercial director.

But it's not on brand, is it? It's on private label.

And what was your first reaction when private label became your new world?

Yeah.

I think especially coming from my past, I was growing up, commercially growing up with private label being more of the enemy.

Mm.

Because if you want to grow your brand of business and you have a higher or growing private label share, you try to grow from that with your brand.

So it was always more the, yeah, the, the dirty word.

Already, yes, definitely.

I finally got the time to go back to my pet project, Private Label.

and the listeners of the podcast may recall that we last time at the PLMA trade show in Amsterdam we went around and we asked our the interviewees, what they thought would be the ceiling for private label.

So that's a part that we come back to in our report as well.

In another billion-dollar-level M&A shockwave across the global dietary supplements market, Nestle finally found a buyer for its mainstream vitamin empire.

And I intentionally stated finally because, if you remember, it's been just over a year since Nestle launched a strategic review of its mainstream and value VMS brands, including, but not limited to nature's bounty, osteo biflex, Puritan's pride and private label.

Additionally, you might recall that within my late August, 2025 content, I explored two different what's next scenarios, which included who likely would acquire these Nestle health science VMS brands under review.

so i wanted to start by quickly resharing some of my previous thoughts with these mainstream and value vms brands under review generating around 1.26 billion dollars in annual revenue and with low single digit net profitability it makes you quickly realize the potential buyer pool is not large especially if nestle deal preference is all assets together in one transaction.

Additionally, I want to bring another transaction detail to your attention again.

Nestle acquired the Bountiful company at about three times trailing 12 months revenue.

However, there's literally zero chance of any large private equity firm paying that same revenue multiple, which would imply an almost $4 billion purchase price for Nature's Bounty, Osteo Biflex, Puritan Pride, and Private Label.

In fact, I'm not sure any sensible private equity firm would be willing to pay more than a billion dollars for this low margin generating collection of Nestle Health Science BMS brands under review.

Retailers cannot control the price of aluminum, cocoa, freight, or imported merchandise.

They have considerably more control over what happens next when the product carries their own name, and that is becoming one of the less discussed advantages behind the continued growth of private label.

Store brand sales reached a record $282.8 billion in 2025, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association, while store brands captured 23.5% of unit sales and 21.3% of dollar sales.

The momentum has continued this year, with private label reaching a record 23.8% unit share during the first half of 2026.

But the more interesting number may be price.

That value proposition matters.

PLMA estimates consumers saved approximately $35 billion in 2025 by purchasing store brands instead of comparable national brands.

And that savings is one reason Private Label has continued taking market share.