For an increasing range of food-savvy consumers, the days of approaching the supermarket deli with a mindset of simply “1 pound of sliced ham, 1 pound of sliced turkey, half-pound of sliced American cheese, 1 pound of potato salad” have started drifting into mere memory.

Drugstore retailers have come a long way. Today's drugstore is a total shopping destination that includes an array of private label products from premium food and beauty care to environmentally friendly merchandise and pharmacy services backed by OTC products.

 A powerhouse of private labels, Target is one retailer who’s got it right when it comes to launching new lines and products that make their nonfood departments shine with national acclaim. 

On a warm week in January, retailer buyers and suppliers in the convenience and front-end industry got together in San Antonio, Texas, for the ECRM Convenience and Checklane, Front End and Impulse trade shows.

In the past, private-label candy usually meant confections that didn’t have a national branded presence, such as orange slices, ball gums, starlight mints, gummi bears and circus peanuts.

Supervalu announced in January that it was selling five of its banners – Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Star Market – to AB Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP.

Paper products are the fourth-largest category in private label by dollar volume, and fifth by unit volume, according to Nielsen records compiled for the 2012 PLMA Private Label Yearbook.

PLBuyer’s 2013 Food Hot List includes food and beverage categories that saw dollar sales across supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains increase at least 10 percent during the 52 weeks ending Dec. 30, 2012.

The second-largest private label retailer in North America is the 2013 PLBuyer Retailer of the Year, the second time in eight years that Kroger has won the award.

Healthy living was central theme on show floor.