CPG brands win against private label at Costco not by trying to out-price Kirkland Signature — that battle is unwinnable — but by doing the things that Kirkland, by its very nature as a private label, fundamentally cannot do. Understanding this distinction is the foundation of every successful branded product strategy in the Costco channel, and it is the insight that MOJO Sales & Branding has been helping CPG brands translate into commercial results for over two decades. The

The numbers are impossible to ignore and uncomfortable to dismiss. Private label sales in the United States reached $271 billion in 2024, growing at 3.9 percent — nearly four times the growth rate of national brands. The club store segment — led by Costco — holds the highest private label penetration of any retail channel in America, with store brands accounting for 47 percent of all private label growth. Sixty percent of American consumers now believe private label products

Stop what you are doing and read this number carefully: $90 billion. That is how much Kirkland Signature — Costco's private label brand — generated in total sales in 2025 alone, according to a report delivered at Costco's 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Let that land for a moment. A single store brand, sold exclusively through one retail chain, produced $90 billion in revenue in a single year. That represents a staggering $15 billion increase over Kirkland Signature's 20

Let's start with a number that should stop every brand owner in their tracks: $90 billion. That is how much Kirkland Signature — Costco's private label brand — generated in sales in 2025 alone. According to a report given at Costco's 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the Kirkland Signature brand brought in about $90 billion in sales in 2025 — more than a $15 billion increase compared to Kirkland Signature sales in 2024. Julee Ho Media Let that sink in. A single private lab

You have thirty seconds. Maybe less. That is how long you have — on a demo floor, in a buyer meeting, on a social media feed, on a retail shelf — to make someone stop, pay attention, and feel something about your brand. Not just notice it. Feel it. Because in a marketplace flooded with options, features, and price points, the brands that win are not always the ones with the best product specs. They are the ones with the most compelling story. A brand story that sells is not