Article: Pasta & Rice serve up healthy gains: upscale shapes and pricey imported and organic entries lead the way for private label growth, as the brands stay flat. (Pasta & Rice).(related article: Pasta Facts)

When store brand sales of staples like pasta and rice continue to expand despite flat sales for those categories as a whole, retailers know they're doing something right. Continued improvements in private label quality are critical to recent success, say manufacturers, but promotions that emphasize meal solutions and a reduction in the number of national brands offered also play key roles.

According to Chicago-based Information Resources Inc., dollar sales for the shelf stable pasta and rice category as a whole across food, drug and mass merchandise outlets (excluding Wal-Mart) edged up only 0.7% over the 52 weeks ended April 21. But private label sales jumped ...

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