PLMA's Annual Trade Show Set For Chicago

The Private Label Manufacturers Association’s (PLMA) annual Private Label Trade Show will be back at its familiar location this fall in Chicago.

Scheduled for November 17-19 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, the event dubbed “The Store Brands Phenomenon 2024” is expected to attract more than 13,000 exhibitors, retailers, and other industry professionals. More than 1,700 exhibitors are expected to showcase their latest products.

“Store brands and the PLMA Show empower retailers to thrive,” said Anthony Aloia, PLMA’s corporate vice president. “This extends beyond traditional chains to specialty retail, convenience stores, online retailers, food service providers and many other formats.” 

The exhibit halls will feature the latest innovations in shelf-stable foods and beverages, refrigerated and frozen foods, flavors and ingredients, authentic international foods and nonfoods, self-care, baby care, household goods, kitchenware, general merchandise, sustainable packaging, pet care, and much more.

Two burgeoning private label categories - Beauty & Cosmetics and Wine & Spirits - will be a main attraction on the show floor. Last year, beauty department dollar sales jumped 11% to $3.8 billion, representing the largest dollar sales growth of all the departments that Circana tracks for PLMA. Dollar sales for private label wine grew 1.4% to $38.8 million for the 52 weeks ending April 21, 2024 vs the same period the prior year; and liquor sales jumped 28% to $9.5 million.

“We know that, statistically, the size of the wine and spirits department is significantly larger, given that several retailers are not represented in these figures,” Aloia said. “There is a growing opportunity here for both retailers and producers.”

Beyond the show floor, the event will feature opening seminars, a keynote breakfast, retail trends breakfast, engaging networking events and informational displays.

Among the many special on-site exhibits: 

• PLMA’s Idea Supermarket, featuring the latest product and packaging trends from around the globe.
• New Product Expo, a showcase of select product and packaging innovations from companies exhibiting at the show.
• PLMA’s Salute to Excellence Awards, a display of retailer food and non-food product innovations that received the highest scores and were chosen best private label product in their category by industry and consumer judges as part of PLMA's prestigious Salute to Excellence Awards product competition.