Here's a number that should reframe how every retailer thinks about shelf space: sustainability-marketed products now account for 25.4% of all U.S. CPG dollar share, up 1.6 percentage points year-over-year. And they're growing at nearly five times the rate of everything else on the shelf. The seventh annual Sustainable Market Share Index, released April 15 by NYU Stern's Center for Sustainable Business and Circana, tracked national purchasing data across CPG categories. The findings challenge the persistent industry assumption that sustainability is a niche play or a recession casualty.
The Growth Engine Nobody's Talking About
The headline metric is striking on its own: a five-year compound annual growth rate of 10.9%, compared to roughly 2% for conventionally marketed goods. But the structural finding is more important — sustainability-marketed products have driven nearly half of all CPG market growth since 2013.
"Sustainability is a proven engine for resilient growth," said Randi Kronthal-Sacco, a researcher at NYU Stern, pointing to "products expanding at more than five times the rate of conventional alternatives."
What makes this particularly relevant right now is the macroeconomic context. In a quarter where consumer sentiment hit record lows and tariff-driven inflation is squeezing household budgets, the assumption would be that consumers drop the sustainability premium first. The data says otherwise.
The 9% Premium That Holds
Consumers are willing to pay an average 9% premium for sustainability features, according to the report. And 85% of consumers now believe manufacturers should practice sustainability — a 5-point increase from the prior year. Lauren Hazenfield of Circana noted that "consumers increasingly view 'healthy for me' and 'healthy for the planet' as intertwined" — a framing that helps explain the resilience. When sustainability and personal wellness overlap, the value proposition doesn't feel like a premium. It feels like a better product.
This is especially relevant for younger consumers. The report found that younger generations routinely incorporate sustainability into brand evaluations, making it less of a purchase add-on and more of a baseline expectation. For brands targeting Gen Z and younger Millennials, sustainability isn't a marketing differentiator — it's table stakes.
The Retail Implications
For grocery and mass-market retailers, the data points in one direction: sustainable products deserve more shelf space, not less. The 10.9% CAGR makes sustainability-marketed products one of the fastest-growing segments in all of CPG — outpacing private label's recent surge to $330 billion in annual sales, though both trends are reshaping how stores allocate square footage.
The convergence matters. Private-label brands have been expanding into sustainability positioning — elevated store brands in functional beverages, wellness products, and clean-label food are capturing both the value and sustainability shopper simultaneously. Retailers like Kroger, Costco, and Aldi that have leaned into premium private label are effectively riding both waves.
For brands, the takeaway is existential. If sustainability-marketed products have driven half of all CPG growth for over a decade and now command a quarter of the market, a brand without a credible sustainability story isn't just missing a marketing angle — it's structurally underperforming.
The report arrives at a moment when the industry's attention is consumed by tariffs, inflation, and geopolitics. But the data suggests that the quiet revolution happening on the shelf may matter more than any of them.