How to stay on the shelf after entering U.S. retail
Almost every Latin American manufacturer we advise on U.S. entry arrives with the same question: how do I get the meeting with the buyer?
It's the wrong question. Or more precisely, it's the question that matters for six months and stops mattering after that.
This year's data makes the case better than any argument.
Private label just set a record
According to Circana, PLMA's exclusive data provider, private label unit sales grew 0.2% in the first half of 2026 while national brand units declined 0.5%. Private label unit share reached 23.8% — an all-time high.
There's an even more revealing behavioral number. A Zappi survey cited by PLMA found that consumers who say they buy only national brands dropped from 21% to 10% in under a year. More than 90% changed their shopping behavior because of rising costs.
Read that from the retailer's side: today the chain has a credible alternative to your brand in almost any category, at a better margin for them, with a shopper who no longer penalizes them for preferring it.
That changes the balance of power at the negotiating table entirely. Your product isn't just competing against other manufacturers. It's competing against the business of the customer buying it.
Florida is a real opportunity, with one condition
The U.S. Hispanic market remains the strongest argument for a Latin American manufacturer, and the numbers hold up. NIQ reports that Hispanic consumers drive 16% of total U.S. CPG growth. Numerator finds that Hispanic households now account for 15% of U.S. consumer spending, up from 13.6% in 2020.
But the same Numerator analysis carries a warning: after peaking at 3.2% growth in 2024, spending per Hispanic household decelerated to 0.8% in 2025.
The honest conclusion: the Hispanic market keeps gaining structural weight, but it no longer grows on its own. A manufacturer entering Florida today on the assumption that cultural affinity guarantees turns will discover the error at the first category review, when the buyer looks at performance per linear foot instead of the brand's story.
A JBP isn't a document. It's the only structural defense you have
When a manufacturer enters without a joint business plan, the relationship with the chain turns purely transactional: every conversation is about price, promotion and space. In that conversation the manufacturer always loses, because the retailer has an alternative with a better margin.
A well-built Joint Business Plan changes the terrain. The discussion stops being about how much you concede to the chain and starts being about how much the category grows — and what role your brand plays in that growth.
In practice that requires four things most manufacturers in expansion mode don't have ready:
A category thesis, not a product presentation. The buyer doesn't need to know your brand. They need to know how you solve their category's problem: traffic, basket size, margin or turns.
A defined role for every SKU. Which one drives traffic, which one drives margin, which one defends space. Without that definition, the first assortment review cuts half your portfolio and you have no argument.
Shared metrics, agreed in writing. If you and the chain didn't measure the same thing, the relationship degrades at the first discrepancy.
The ability to execute what was agreed. The most elegant JBP won't survive a poorly executed shelf. When we implemented Perfect Store for Sigma Alimentos across more than 320,000 traditional-trade stores in Mexico, the result was a 15% to 26% increase in volume per store and a 70% improvement in the relevance of the recommended assortment. The principle is identical in U.S. modern trade — what gets agreed has to show up in the store. That work sits in our retail execution practice.
More on how we approach the shelf and the category: Category Management and Joint Business Planning, and our published analysis in Insights.
On the structural decision
Many manufacturers solve entry with a broker and postpone the decision to build their own capability. Sometimes that's right. Sometimes it's exactly what prevents them from learning the market and protecting their margin. We lay out the criteria here: When to stop depending on a retail broker and build your own commercial capability in the United States (in Spanish).
What can't be postponed is category management capability. Without it, entry is an event, not a business.
What must work after the first purchase order?
Build the account plan around repeat demand, net contribution, replenishment and store execution. Agree who owns each task and which data will trigger corrective action before committing to a broader rollout.
Data to bring to a commercial review
Prepare target accounts, product portfolio, net price, entry investment, service costs and partner responsibilities. The scope should follow the decision and available evidence. TMC combines diagnosis, design and implementation, with a pilot, accountable owners and follow-up appropriate to the project.
Related analysis
Schedule a meeting with TMC
Schedule an initial 30-minute meeting with TMC to discuss your company’s commercial challenge. We will review your category, channels, current operation and available information to assess where a consulting and implementation project could add value.
