A major crisis has a funny way of clarifying things for the general public. Suddenly, what’s most important to you becomes crystal clear, with the desire to see you and your family through hardships safely and in good health.

One area where people have changed the way they see things is on grocery store shelves. During the month of March, Americans rushed to stores to stock up on household items that they might have been taking for granted for years. The sudden rush on goods likely helped a few major brands build a new connection with their consumers. As such, a lot of those companies are getting a major boost to their brand visibility.

Using Nielsen data on the items that had the largest year-over-year growth in sales in the first quarter this year, GOBankingRates looked at brands that have seen a major upswing in value. These companies are currently experiencing a chance to get their products in front of a large, captive audience and build the sort of brand loyalty that can last for decades.

Last updated: April 22, 2020

Table of Contents

Product: Produce

Fruits and vegetables are among the foods people have stocked up on during the recent shopping binge. However, unlike many of the other top sellers, fresh fruits and vegetables don’t have much shelf life, meaning the buying surge in this group could have more lasting power.

Brands That Will Benefit

Related: Companies Set To Make the Most Money During the Coronavirus Crisis

Product: Chocolate

One place where plenty of people are turning right now to handle the stress and anxiety of these wildly uncertain times is food. Comfort foods of all sorts are seeing huge sales increases, and chocolate’s status as one of America’s favorite comfort foods has plenty of major sellers experiencing a huge boost.

Brands That Will Benefit

Product: Ice Cream

Ice cream is another favorite sweet that’s seeing sales on the rise. Dairy fans might keep at it, too, with summer around the corner and the distinct chance that there will be plenty of people stuck at home looking to stay cool.

Look: 9 Best Grocery Delivery Services That Are Worth the Money

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Magnum
  • Haagen-Dazs
  • Cornetto
  • Ben & Jerry’s
  • Breyer’s

Product: Pastries

While some ambitious bakers might be in the process of trying their hands at homemade pastries, plenty of others are perfectly happy to fall back on the old favorites they can find in the bakery aisle. People’s favorite donuts and coffee cakes and the like that they can take home with them have seen a big boost in sales.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Krispy Kreme
  • Sara Lee
  • Little Debbie

Product: Kombucha

There is no clear evidence that kombucha — or any sort of superfood or probiotic — prevents the spread of the coronavirus. However, it has definitely gotten a lot of people thinking more about their health, something that has helped a variety of brands offering kombucha products see a major increase in business.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Health-Ade Organic
  • Brew Dr.
  • GTs Enlightened Organic
  • Wild
  • Rowdy Mermaid

Product: Potato Chips

All of that binge-watching at home means salty snacks are suddenly seeing a huge jump in revenue. Potato chips are one of America’s favorite crispy snacks, so it’s no surprise to see it among the foods people keep stocking up on.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Frito-Lay
  • Kettle
  • Pringles
  • Utz
  • Ruffles

Product: Milk

No kitchen is complete without milk, whether it be for drinking, use in recipes, your morning cereal or just for dunking Oreos. And like fresh produce, this is one good where people have a limited ability to stock up. Higher sales could be more sustainable than they would be for canned goods, where people need time to work through any surplus from the recent buying binge.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Organic Valley
  • Darigold
  • Shamrock Farms
  • 365

Product: Chicken (Fully Cooked)

Cooked chicken can take a lot of forms, few more notable these days than the rotisserie chickens sold in some form or another at most grocery stores. As one of the leaner meats, chicken is a great source of protein and can be served in a variety of healthy, nutritious ways.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Tyson
  • Perdue
  • Sanderson Farms

Product: Eggs (Chicken)

Speaking of great sources of lean protein, eggs are the holy grail of survival foods. They are packed with protein and other important nutrients. They are also inexpensive and last in your fridge for a very long time. Clearly, with such a huge spike in sales, a lot of Americans were making eggs a priority at the store.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Organic Valley
  • 365
  • Eggland’s Best
  • The Happy Egg Co.

Product: Pretzels

A salty snack that Americans have long loved to munch on, pretzels were among the biggest sellers during the mid-March shopping surge. Top-selling pretzel brands are on the rise as many Americans rediscover their love of old favorite snack foods.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Snyder’s
  • Rold Gold
  • Utz
  • Dot’s

Product: Popcorn

For some, a movie just isn’t a movie unless there’s a bucket of popcorn in your lap. And while the buckets might be tricky to come by at the moment, the popcorn most certainly is not. Sales of the snack spiked as Americans rushed to the stores.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Orville Redenbacher
  • Pop Secret
  • Smartfood
  • Act II

Product: Chicken (Fresh)

Fresh chicken is one of nature’s most versatile ingredients, from adding some hearty depth to a stew to getting breaded and sauteed. When Americans were thinking which fresh ingredients they wanted most, chicken was among the top selections.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Tyson
  • Perdue
  • Kirkland
  • Gold’n Plump

See: The 20 Industries That Will Never Be the Same After the Coronavirus

Product: Antibiotics

No one wants to be in a situation where a simple cut or scrape becomes infected and requires a dicey trip to the emergency room at a time when they’re already at capacity. Sales of antibiotic creams were up significantly over the year prior.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • CVS Pharmacy
  • H-E-B
  • Kareway Product
  • McKesson

Product: Vitamins

Americans are proving to be more health conscious during the coronavirus pandemic, and not just in the form of social distancing and hand washing. Multivitamins and other nutritional supplements have also jumped off the shelves.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Centrum
  • One A Day
  • Nature Made
  • Nature’s Bounty

Product: Water

Crisis or no crisis, bottled water is usually one of the top items people seek out. Water is essential, so people will try and secure a source other than the tap in times of uncertainty.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Arrowhead Water
  • Fiji
  • Evian
  • Iceland Pure

Product: Soup

The venn diagram of comfort foods and long-lasting shelf staples intersects beautifully at canned soup, making it unsurprising that it was among the products that saw the biggest increase in sales over 2019.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Campbell’s
  • Progresso
  • Amy’s Organic Soups
  • Lipton
  • Healthy Choice

Product: Dish Soap

One of the big changes people are experiencing as a result of the crisis is the sudden requirement for their home stores to meet all of their demands. With people eating almost every meal on their own dishes these days, there’s a lot more washing going on at home.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Dawn
  • Seventh Generation
  • Mrs. Meyers
  • Palmolive

Product: Tuna

Canned tuna has long been a staple of the American cupboard, and it wasn’t surprising to see this favored protein among the best sellers during the recent grocery binge. Tuna is healthy and nutritious and it can last on your shelf.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Starkist
  • Chicken of the Sea
  • Bumble Bee
  • Safe Catch

Product: Black Beans

One group that’s working harder than ever are those at the most visible sellers of black beans. This magical superfood was clearly seen as a pantry necessity while people were stocking their cupboards, something that’s given the product a burst of sales and newfound visibility among consumers.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Goya
  • 365
  • Bush’s
  • Eden Organic
  • Iberia

Product: Paper Towels

Many might not have realized the degree to which they were getting a free ride on paper towels by being at the office all day, but it’s becoming a lot clearer. Paper towel brands that sell directly to consumers are seeing a huge jump in demand.

Find Out: 17 Experts’ Predictions on When We Will Bounce Back From COVID-19

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Bounty
  • Brawny
  • Scott
  • Seventh Generation

Product: Chickpeas

American shoppers showed themselves to be pretty savvy survival shoppers in many cases, stocking up on cheap, nutritious items like beans, chicken and eggs. Among that category are also chickpeas, an excellent source of protein and fiber that can be made into popular dishes like hummus and falafel. Sales jumped significantly over last year, pushing the best-known sellers into the forefront of many American kitchens.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Goya
  • 365
  • Eden Organic
  • Nature’s Greatest

Product: Cold and Flu Remedies

People were clearly thinking ahead with regards to their health, and it sent sales for cold and flu remedies soaring in March. A rapid recovery from any illness right now would be ideal for anyone, so shoppers were clearly planning on dealing with any minor illnesses as best they can at home.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Theraflu
  • Vicks
  • NyQuil
  • DayQuil
  • GoodSense

Product: First Aid Kits

Another example of health-conscious consumers thinking ahead was the increase in the sales of first aid kits. Many age-old brands that fade into the background during normal times can jump to the front of mind in troubling times, so some major providers of consumer first aid products are experiencing new levels of visibility and sales.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Band-Aid
  • Neosporin
  • All Health

Product: Rice

There’s a reason why the staple crop of the two most-populous civilizations in human history — China and India — was rice. It’s incredibly inexpensive and versatile, and shoppers were buying it at record rates as they swarmed grocery stores in March.

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Brands That Will Benefit

  • Royal
  • Uncle Ben’s
  • Zatarain’s
  • Mahatma

Product: Bath and Shower Soap

While plenty of people used to bathe at places like the gym with some frequency, so much time at home has people stocking up on soap. And, with so much time around one’s family and/or roommates in the near future, it’s not surprising that people made sure they had what they needed for good personal hygiene.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Dove
  • Irish Spring
  • Aveeno
  • Puracy
  • Suave

Product: Tissues

Another product where you likely relied on the supply at the office, tissues saw sales spike as people thought hard about containing sneezes and coughs. The best-known brands of facial tissues are getting a very notable boost to their public stature.

Brands That Will Benefit

Product: Antiseptic Products

The huge increase in sales of antiseptic products in March shouldn’t come as a shock. The pandemic has presented a huge opportunity for the leading brands of hand sanitizers and similar products. People are relying on their products right now, so they’re both building trust with consumers and seeing their sales surge.

Brands That Will Benefit

Read: 50 Stocks That Have Suffered the Biggest Losses During the Coronavirus Scare

Product: Canned Meat

Many of the goods that have seen the largest spikes in sales year over year share a recurring theme: shelf life. When shoppers took to the stores in mid-March, canned meats were one of the considerations people might have been making for the first time. As a result, brands that sell the product have shown their worth to a whole new group of consumers.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Spam
  • Hormel
  • Compleats
  • Kirkland

Product: Hydrogen Peroxide

Whether buyers were stocking up on hydrogen peroxide for its capacity to disinfect wounds, bleaching your hair blond or some combination of both, the surge in demand was clear. Its best-selling brand names have seen a major surge in sales.

Brands That Will Benefit

Product: Toilet Paper

Perhaps no product was more on display for its lack of availability than toilet paper, with the footage of empty shelves across America reaching the news day after day. Times like this tend to make people reflect on the basics that they so often take for granted, so toilet paper brands are likely building a lasting relationship with consumers right now.

Learn: The Effects of Coronavirus Panic-Buying

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Quilted Northern
  • Charmin
  • Cottonelle
  • Seventh Generation
  • Angel Soft
  • Scott

Product: Bath and Shower Wipes

Home hygiene products have clearly been a high priority for shoppers. Among those, bath and shower wipes saw a big boost in sales, meaning the leading brands in the segment are receiving a lot of visibility.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Cleanlife Products
  • Nurture
  • No Rinse

Product: Dried Beans

Dried beans are an ideal cupboard staple, chock full of fiber and lean protein. Combine that with their low price and long shelf life and their huge jump in sales this March isn’t hard to explain.

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Brands That Will Benefit

Product: Multipurpose Cleaners

Keeping your home clean is at a premium when you’re spending the vast majority of your time there. As such, a lot of Americans were thinking ahead when they rushed to grocery stores in March — stocking up on cleaning supplies.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Mrs. Meyers
  • Puracy
  • Seventh Generation
  • Mr. Clean
  • Lysol

Product: Powdered Milk Products

If you want to continue drinking milk without grabbing a new one from the store every week or so, your options are effectively limited to the powdered variety. As such, it’s no surprise that shoppers rushed to buy up the product in March. For powdered milk brands, this was a chance to put their product into the hands of shoppers they normally would not reach.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Carnation
  • Hoosier Hill
  • Judee’s
  • Meyenberg
  • Nido

Product: Rubbing Alcohol

When it comes to disinfecting wounds, rubbing alcohol is among your most painful options, but it’s also an effective one. Similarly, it’s useful for killing any germs on the surface of household objects. So, using it to soak/store high-use items you’re worried might be at a risk for transmitting the coronavirus could prove a smart option.

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Solimo
  • Healthstar
  • Mountain Falls
  • Swan

Product: Hand Sanitizer

Even the people who typically scoffed at others when they would sanitize throughout the day were probably trying to locate a bottle or two of Purell as the pandemic started to spread. The top brands of hand sanitizers have seen a huge boost in both sales and name recognition.

Check Out: The Coronavirus Is Changing How Americans Spend and Save

Brands That Will Benefit

  • Purell
  • Germ-X
  • Nice ‘N Clean
  • Wet Ones

Product: Thermometers

With a fever being among the symptoms of COVID-19, places around the world have begun using temperature checks as one method of identifying people with the virus who might otherwise be asymptomatic. Shoppers took heed of this information in March as sales of thermometers went through the roof.

Brands That Will Benefit

Product: Aerosol Disinfectants

While all different types of disinfectants flew off shelves throughout March, aerosols were among the most popular. The ease of application helps people cover large surfaces, and top brands are likely experiencing a real surge right now.

Brands That Will Benefit

More From GOBankingRates

Methodology: To find the goods that are in high demand because of the new coronavirus, GOBankingRates examined Nielsen data via NPR. Nielsen looked at the percent increase in U.S. dollar sales versus the same week in 2019 for the weeks ending March 7 and March 14. GOBankingRates looked for the peak increase between these two weeks for all goods analyzed. GOBankingRates, using Nielsen’s report “Key Consumer Behavior Thresholds Identified as the Coronavirus Outbreak Evolves,” looked at the percent increase in U.S. dollar sales versus the same week in the previous year across the weeks ending Dec. 28, 2019, Feb. 1, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2020. All data was collected and is up to date as of April 3, 2020.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Coronavirus Has Made These 100+ Brands More Valuable Than Ever