PLMA 2026: Why Foodservice Operators Should Be Walking the Show Floor

 

The Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) 2026 Private Label Trade Show arrives in Chicago Nov. 15-17 at a particularly interesting moment for the food industry, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Private label is no longer simply the lower-priced alternative sitting next to a national brand.

It has become a $330 billion U.S. CPG business, according to Circana, representing approximately 24% of unit share and 23% of dollar share. Circana says food and beverage are leading the expansion, while innovation, premiumization, wellness and sustainability are increasingly important to private-brand growth.

For restaurants, convenience stores and grocery foodservice operators, that makes PLMA 2026 more than a sourcing show.

It is a window into where food retail and foodservice are going next.

The 2025 PLMA event attracted more than 1,900 exhibitors from more than 60 countries. This year's show will feature more than 35,000 products and solutions across three exhibit halls, along with new international pavilions from Japan and Dubai and expanded participation from Australia and South Korea.

For me, as the Grocerant Guru®, that combination is particularly important because the traditional lines separating restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores continue to disappear.

Consumers aren't thinking about industry channels.

They're thinking about their next meal.

Private Label Has Become a Strategic Food Business

The numbers demonstrate why executives should be paying attention.

PLMA and Circana reported that U.S. store-brand sales reached a record $282.8 billion in 2025, up $9 billion from the prior year. Store-brand dollar sales increased 3.3%, compared with 1.2% growth for national brands. Store-brand unit volume also reached a record 68.7 billion units.

Circana's broader 2026 analysis puts U.S. private-label CPG sales at $330 billion and says private label has moved well beyond its historical role as a low-price alternative. Retailers increasingly are using their own brands to build equity, differentiate themselves, develop premium products and respond to changing consumer lifestyles.

That should get the attention of foodservice executives.

Why?

Because many of the challenges private-label manufacturers are solving are exactly the challenges facing foodservice:

Value. Quality. Convenience. Consistency. Differentiation. Packaging. Portioning. Speed.

Those are foodservice issues, too.

Why Chain Restaurants Should Attend

1. PLMA is an innovation laboratory for menu development

Restaurant R&D teams spend enormous amounts of time looking for new flavors, ingredients, sauces, snacks, desserts, beverages and meal components.

PLMA's World of Ideas, New Product Expo and international exhibits effectively create a massive cross-category innovation laboratory.

The objective shouldn't necessarily be to buy a finished private-label product.

It should be to discover ingredients, flavors, formats and concepts that can inspire the next menu item or limited-time offer.

2. Private label offers another way to think about value

Consumers increasingly define value as something broader than price.

Circana describes today's consumer as pursuing "pervasive value," which can include time savings, convenience, quality and indulgence in addition to price. Its research also found private-label growth alongside premium and super-premium growth.

That is highly relevant to restaurant chains.

The opportunity isn't simply to lower food cost.

It is to create a better Price + Product + Experience = Value equation.

3. The best restaurant ideas may come from outside restaurants

This is one of the reasons I have long advocated that foodservice executives study other channels.

A restaurant executive who only studies restaurants can miss what's happening in grocery, C-stores, international retail and the home.

PLMA brings those worlds together.

The competitor you need to understand may not call itself a restaurant.

Why C-Store Operators Should Attend

1. C-store foodservice is competing for the same meal occasions as restaurants

Today's convenience-store operator increasingly competes on prepared food, snacks, beverages and immediate consumption—not simply fuel and packaged goods.

PLMA gives C-store executives an opportunity to identify products and concepts that can expand those foodservice occasions.

2. Private brands can create differentiation

A national brand can be purchased by virtually every competitor.

A distinctive private brand gives an operator an opportunity to build something customers associate specifically with its stores.

That can become especially valuable as convenience retailers continue expanding their foodservice identities.

3. International innovation can reveal tomorrow's convenience trends

Japan, Dubai, Australia and South Korea aren't simply geographic additions to the show floor.

They are opportunities to see how other markets approach flavor, packaging, wellness, snacking and convenience.

C-store operators should be asking:

What are consumers in other markets doing today that American consumers may be doing tomorrow?

Why Grocery Foodservice and Service Deli Operators Should Attend

Perhaps no foodservice segment has more to gain from PLMA than grocery's prepared-food operation.

Circana has reported that quick grocery trips were increasing while shoppers were buying fewer items per trip—and that those trips included more purchases from the perimeter, including deli-prepared and Heat-N-Eat foods.

FMI's 2025 research takes the story even further.

The share of consumers using deli-prepared foods instead of restaurant meals more than doubled, from 12% in 2017 to 28% in 2025. More than half of Americans—53%—were taking a hybrid approach to meals, combining deli-prepared foods with items prepared at home.

That is Grocerant behavior in action.

1. PLMA can help the deli develop its next generation of meal solutions

Grocery foodservice operators can look for new ingredients, sauces, sides, proteins, snacks, desserts and packaging that can become part of Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat programs.

2. Private brand can turn prepared food into a destination

The strongest grocery deli isn't simply selling food.

It is building a foodservice brand within the grocery store.

Private-brand prepared foods can provide consistency, differentiation and an opportunity to build consumer recognition around signature products.

3. Packaging deserves as much attention as the food

A great prepared meal that doesn't travel well, reheat well or look appealing at home isn't a great meal solution.

Packaging increasingly affects the consumer's perception of freshness, quality, convenience and value.

PLMA's emphasis on packaging innovation makes the show particularly relevant to operators expanding takeout and Heat-N-Eat.

What Foodservice Executives Should Be Looking For

With more than 35,000 products and solutions on display, nobody should attempt to see everything.

PLMA itself recommends planning ahead using its Show Navigator, which provides an interactive floor plan, exhibitor information, schedules, meeting-planning tools and information about products featured in the World of Ideas.

I would add another recommendation:

Don't walk the show looking only for products you can buy today. Walk it looking for ideas you can use tomorrow.

Look for:

·       New flavor combinations

·       International food trends

·       Ready-2-Eat concepts

·       Heat-N-Eat formats

·       Packaging innovations

·       Portion-control opportunities

·       Premium private brands

·       Better-for-you products

·       Wellness-oriented products

·       New snacking occasions

·       Foodservice components

·       New approaches to value

·       Products that can travel well through delivery

That is where the strategic value of PLMA becomes apparent.

Four Grocerant Guru® Insights From PLMA 2026

1. Private Label Is Becoming a Foodservice Innovation Pipeline

Private label should no longer be viewed strictly as a grocery phenomenon.

Manufacturers developing private-brand products are working on many of the same challenges foodservice operators face.

The result is a potentially powerful innovation pipeline for restaurants, C-stores and grocery foodservice.

2. Value Is Moving Beyond Price

Private label's growth demonstrates that consumers can embrace a product because it delivers a combination of price, quality, convenience, wellness, differentiation and trust.

Circana's research reinforces that private label has moved beyond simply being the cheap alternative. Retailers increasingly are investing in premiumization, innovation and brand equity.

For foodservice operators, that's an important lesson.

The cheapest meal doesn't necessarily win. The meal that delivers the strongest perceived value can win.

3. Food Channel Blurring Is Creating New Competition for Every Meal Occasion

Restaurants compete with grocery.

Grocery competes with C-stores.

C-stores compete with restaurants.

And all three compete with the consumer's kitchen.

That is the Grocerant marketplace.

FMI's finding that 28% of consumers now use deli-prepared food in place of restaurant meals is a powerful reminder that grocery foodservice has moved directly into the restaurant competitive set.

The battle isn't necessarily over where consumers shop.

It's over who gets the meal occasion.

4. The Biggest PLMA Discovery May Not Be Something You Can Put on a Purchase Order

Trade shows are often judged by how many meetings executives have, how many samples they collect or how many suppliers they identify.

I would use a different measurement.

How many ideas did you bring home?

A new product can generate a sale.

A new idea can generate an entirely new business model.

That is why I believe PLMA 2026 deserves a place on the calendar of foodservice executives—not just private-label buyers.

The Grocerant Guru® Bottom Line

PLMA 2026 is a private-label trade show.

But it is also something more.

It is a cross-channel laboratory for understanding where food is going.

The record growth of private label, the continued consumer search for value, the rise of premium store brands, the growth of wellness-oriented products and the increasing importance of prepared foods all point toward the same conclusion:

The food industry is becoming less about channels and more about consumer solutions.

Restaurants need to understand grocery.

Grocery needs to understand restaurants.

C-stores need to understand both.

And everyone needs to understand what consumers are taking home.

That is why I would encourage restaurant-chain executives, C-store operators and grocery foodservice/service-deli leaders to attend PLMA 2026 with an open mind.

Don't go simply looking for a private-label supplier.

Go looking for your next competitive advantage.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

The Frozen Food Court Meets the Fresh Food Revolution: PDQ Shows How Restaurants Can Own the Game-Day Meal

 

The football season has always been about more than football. It is about gathering, grazing, sharing, snacking and—perhaps most importantly—feeding a crowd without spending the entire game day in the kitchen according to Steven Johnson, The Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

That is why PDQ’s latest promotion caught my attention.

PDQ, known for its crispy, hand-breaded chicken tenders and sandwiches, is launching a football-season offer that is a textbook example of how restaurants can extend their brands beyond the traditional restaurant occasion.

From September 9 through September 13, customers can buy a platter of 25 Reheat Tenders and get another 25 tenders free. Pre-orders begin August 27, with pickup available September 9–13. Customers order in-store or online using the code BIGGAME, with a limit of two redemptions per check.

In other words, PDQ is not simply selling chicken.

PDQ is selling a solution to a meal occasion.

And that distinction matters.

Consumers Don't Want to Cook—They Want to Assemble

The food industry has been talking about convenience for decades. But today's consumer is redefining what convenience actually means.

Convenience increasingly means getting a high-quality meal on the table with almost no preparation.

Circana's 2026 research makes the point dramatically: about half of all meals now take less than five minutes to prepare. That includes 65% of breakfasts, 56% of lunches and 35% of dinners. Circana also reports that frozen dinners and entrées now account for nearly 5% of in-home eating occasions, compared with less than 1% in the 1980s.

That is not merely a frozen-food story.

It is a foodservice opportunity.

PDQ understands something many restaurant marketers still miss: the restaurant does not have to own the entire eating occasion to own a meaningful piece of it.

A consumer can buy restaurant-quality food, take it home, reheat it and create a social occasion around it.

That's grocerant thinking.

Fresh Food Has Become a Foodservice Destination

The grocery industry is discovering the same opportunity from the opposite direction.

FMI's Power of Foodservice at Retail 2025 found that the share of consumers choosing deli-prepared foods instead of restaurant meals more than doubled—from 12% in 2017 to 28% in 2025.

Even more revealing, 53% of Americans are taking a hybrid approach, combining deli-prepared foods with food they prepare themselves. Retail foodservice dollar sales reached $52.1 billion, up 1.6% over the preceding 12 months.

Read that again.

Consumers aren't necessarily choosing between restaurants and grocery stores.

They are using both.

That is the foundation of the modern grocerant economy.

Costco's Rotisserie Chicken Is the Poster Child

Look no further than Costco.

Costco sold approximately 157.4 million rotisserie chickens globally in fiscal 2025—more than 431,000 per day.

That isn't simply a successful grocery product.

It is a foodservice phenomenon operating inside a retail environment.

The Costco rotisserie chicken became an iconic value proposition because it delivers something consumers understand immediately:

Dinner is ready.

And the product doesn't necessarily end with the chicken itself. Prepared chicken can become sandwiches, salads, soups and other meal components.

That is precisely how the foodservice-at-retail model creates additional occasions.

Fresh Isn't the Only Winner

For years, food marketers treated frozen as the lesser cousin of fresh.

That thinking is outdated.

The Frozen Food Court—my term for the increasingly important space where restaurant brands, foodservice concepts and recognizable food brands compete for attention in the grocery freezer—continues to evolve.

Frozen provides something fresh cannot always match:

inventory flexibility.

It gives consumers the ability to purchase a meal today and eat it days or weeks later.

That matters when consumers are managing busy schedules, food budgets and unpredictable meal occasions.

Circana continues to track frozen food as a major component of the center-store opportunity, with frozen-food sales and category shifts being closely monitored as consumer behavior evolves.

And the restaurant industry should be paying attention.

The Frozen Food Court gives restaurant brands an opportunity to put their name, flavor profile and food proposition into the home without requiring the consumer to visit the restaurant.

That is an enormous expansion of the brand's addressable eating occasion.

Restaurant Brands Are Learning to Travel

The winners in foodservice increasingly understand that their brands need to travel.

A restaurant's relationship with a consumer shouldn't necessarily end when the customer leaves the parking lot.

The brand can travel home through:

·       Reheat meals

·       Family meals

·       Catering

·       Party platters

·       Frozen products

·       Grocery partnerships

·       Take-home sauces

·       Meal kits

·       Prepared foods

·       Delivery

·       Digital ordering

PDQ's Reheat Tender Platter is particularly interesting because it bridges two worlds.

It is fresh restaurant food designed for a future consumption occasion.

That is different from simply selling a hot meal.

The consumer doesn't have to eat it immediately.

That creates a new dimension of convenience.

The Fresh-Frozen Divide Is Disappearing

Here is where I believe food marketers need to rethink the conversation.

The future isn't necessarily fresh versus frozen.

It is fresh plus frozen plus ready-to-eat plus heat-and-eat plus restaurant foodservice.

Consumers are becoming channel agnostic.

They care about the food, the price, the quality, the convenience and whether it solves today's meal problem.

FMI's 2026 research continues to position fresh food as central to food retail's ability to attract shoppers and create competitive advantage.

Meanwhile, frozen provides affordability, availability, convenience and longer shelf life.

Restaurants provide craveability, culinary credibility and brand recognition.

The smartest companies are finding ways to combine these advantages rather than forcing consumers to choose one.

Football Is the Perfect Test Case

PDQ's promotion works because it starts with the occasion, not the menu.

Football creates a predictable need:

"I have a bunch of people coming over. What am I going to feed them?"

Twenty-five tenders isn't necessarily a restaurant meal.

Fifty tenders certainly isn't.

It is a social food solution.

And that is the difference between menu marketing and occasion marketing.

PDQ isn't telling consumers:

"Come to our restaurant and buy chicken."

It is effectively telling them:

"We'll help you feed the crowd."

That is a much bigger proposition.

And football is just one occasion.

Think about birthdays, children's sports, office meetings, graduation parties, movie nights, family gatherings, holidays, tailgating, neighborhood parties and last-minute entertaining.

Every one represents a potential foodservice occasion.

The Real Opportunity: Own the Meal, Not Just the Restaurant Visit

The restaurant industry has historically measured success by transactions, traffic, check averages and frequency.

Those metrics still matter.

But the bigger question is:

How many meal occasions does your brand participate in?

That is the metric I would want food marketers thinking about.

A restaurant that sells one dinner to a customer owns one meal occasion.

A restaurant that sells a 50-piece platter for a football party may participate in an occasion involving 10, 15 or 20 consumers.

A restaurant that also sells frozen products or take-home meals can potentially participate in dozens of additional occasions without adding another dining-room seat.

That's leverage.

Three Insights From the Grocerant Guru®

1. Stop marketing food products and start marketing meal solutions.

Consumers don't wake up thinking about your SKU, menu architecture or merchandising strategy. They wake up wondering what they are going to eat—and how much work it will take to get it. The brand that solves that problem wins.

2. The Frozen Food Court is not competition for restaurants—it can be an extension of the restaurant brand.

Restaurant marketers should stop looking at grocery freezers solely as a competitor. The freezer can become another distribution channel, another billboard and another way to create brand trial and household penetration.

3. The next battleground isn't restaurants versus grocery—it is whoever owns the consumer's next meal occasion.

Fresh, fresh frozen, restaurant takeout, grocery deli, convenience stores and delivery are increasingly colliding around the same consumer. The winners won't be the companies defending yesterday's channel boundaries. They will be the companies willing to follow the consumer wherever the next meal happens.

Something to think about:

If your brand only knows how to sell a meal when the consumer walks through your front door, you don't own the meal occasion—you only own the dining room.

Success Leaves Clues—Are You Ready to Find Yours?

One key insight that continues to drive success is this: "The consumer is dynamic, not static." This principle is the foundation of our work at Foodservice Solutions®, where Steven Johnson, the Grocerant Guru®, has been helping brands stay relevant in an ever-evolving market.

Want to strengthen your brand’s connection with today’s consumers? Let’s talk. Call 253-759-7869 for more information.

Stay Ahead of the Competition with Fresh Ideas

Is your food marketing keeping up with tomorrow’s trends—or stuck in yesterday’s playbook? If you're ready for fresh ideations that set your brand apart, we’re here to help.

At Foodservice Solutions®, we specialize in consumer-driven retail food strategies that enhance convenience, differentiation, and individualization—key factors in driving growth.

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