New survey data from Nielsen suggests there is a growing affinity for private label store brands in Canada as their dollar share here rises above the global average.

In a report titled “The State of Private Label Around The World,” a survey polled over 30,000 consumers across 60 countries on how they regarded the quality and value of store brands compared to their name brand counterparts.

Private label dollar share is 18.4% in Canada, matching the high point set in 2009 after a five-year low of 17.8% set last year. Canada also ranks 19th among nations included in the report, where the average share is 16.5%. That growth and comparative strong performance is in line with Canadians’ opinion of the products: 73% said private labels were a good alternative to name brands (more than in all regions except Latin America and the U.S., which were both at 75%), 66% said they offered good value (one point lower than the global rate) and 61% said they had the same level of quality as name brands.

Private labels have a welcome presence on retailer shelves. Across North America, only one-third of respondents said they believed retailers had too many private brands on their shelves, with only slightly more (38%) saying name brands were worth the higher price. That’s under the global average of 48%.

Also in North America, 69% of people said they considered the quality of private label products to have gone up over time, just under the 71% global average. Despite this growth, the main driver for 81% of people is still to save money (compared to 70% globally), an important part of shopping for 78% of respondents.

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