Even at 6.6 percentage points, market share in some private-label product categories rose year-over-year, indicating that more and more consumers are turning to cheaper options in supermarkets. Now even in those categories where just a year ago the market share of goods under private labels was close to 10% and certainly below 15%, now it is approaching 20%. Typical examples are milk, frozen dough, frozen chicken, with market shares of private label products hovering at over 18%-19% with no signs of declining, at least not yet. .

According to research firm Circana, which now exclusively represents kathimerini.gr in the top 20 supermarket product categories (including sales data from the discount chain Lidl), the share of private label products increased from 2.7 (toilet paper) to 6 a year ago. .6 percentage points (packaged frozen meat). The fact that toilet paper has had relatively little growth in share hides the fact that it is the category with the highest share of private labels, now reaching 73.1% from 70.4% in 2022. And for packaged frozen meat? The share of private labels is now approaching 36% from 29.3% a year ago. In one of the most important categories, white milk, the private label share now stands at 18.1%, up 4.1 percentage points from last year. Over 20% comes from private label products in the following categories: olive oil 21.7% (versus 16.2% last year), incontinence diapers 22.3% (versus 18% last year), ketchup 24 .4% (against 19.2% last year). ), flour 20.2% (against 16.5% last year), bleach 20.6% versus 16.7%, cold cuts 28.7% (against 24.1% last year). More than 30% is accounted for by private labels in the categories legumes (46.1%), packaged frozen meat (35.9%), cream (30.8%), rice (39.1%), dog food (32.9% ), toilet paper (73.1%), canned tomatoes (35.1%).

And the share of private label products in Greece may be low compared to the Nordic and Central European countries, but this time, unlike what happened in the previous decade during the financial crisis, private label products seem to , remained in the “basket”. » many households and in some cases win a permanent place in the closets and refrigerators of homes. It is recalled that the share of private label products in 2022 was 16.3% (excluding Lidl) from 14.8% in 2021, while in Q1 2023 it was 17.70%. And according to NielsenIQ, in 2022 the share of private label products, including Lidl sales, reached 23.8%, while in the first two months of 2023 it already exceeded 25%.

According to the PLMA (Private Label Manufacturers Association), the highest market shares in Europe are registered in Switzerland (51.6%), the Netherlands (44%), Spain (43.3%), the UK (42.7%), Germany (39.5%), in Portugal (39%). According to a recent study by Circana, private label products in Europe currently have a market share of 38% and are valued at 229 billion euros.

Greeks are traditionally considered a brand-friendly people, mostly in the US, but there is also a significant increase in private label share (18.2% in 2022, estimated to reach 22.6% within two years).

Strong inflationary pressures were the main reason why consumers in Greece turned to private label products last year and continue to do so this year. And that’s because, while private label products have recorded larger percentage increases over their respective brands, private label products remain significantly cheaper. According to Circana data, provided exclusively for kathimerini.gr, for the 20 main categories of supermarket goods, the average price deviation ranges from 3.6% to 50.9%.

For milk, one of the most basic product categories that households buy very often, the average price for private label is 1.10 euros, and for branded 1.72 euros / liter, “scissors”, i.e. 62 cents or 36.2% . Even if a household buys milk twice a week, by choosing a private label, it will save 60 euros per year. For olive oil, the price difference is about 3 euros, for packaged bread – 51 cents or 31.6%, for cold cuts – also 51 cents or 20.3%, for frozen dough – 72 cents or 24.9%, while while now bottle bleach costs an average of 0.96 euros if it is a private label, the price of which reaches 1.95 euros. A kilo of flour is 43% cheaper, with an average private label price of €0.86 and a private label price of €1.50.

A ‘basket’ of products from the 60 main supermarket categories costs 206.24 euros if branded, while the corresponding ‘basket’ of private label products costs 138.46 euros, a difference of 67.74 euros, which is insignificant from each other . This largely explains the increase in the penetration of private label products into households in Greece.

Although market participants in Greece believe that the increase in the share of own brands in Greece is a modern and temporary phenomenon, there are signs that now, unlike other periods, the purchase of these products is a more permanent consumer habit. The improvement in content and packaging, the presence of private label codes in almost every category, their differentiation into very cheap but also premium ones, and the fact that young people, especially Generation Z, prefer them, indicate that the situation in this once quite different.