The fall in sales continues unabated Supermarket and 2023, with data from market research firms showing that this decline reached 1.7% in the first quarter of 2023.

At the same time, of course, turnover increases by 8.9%, and the increase is pure. inflationarybecause price increase per item 10%.

However, with the same intensity, consumers continue to make purchases. private label products and at the same time develop new behaviors such as changing product brands more often, looking for products that are getting close to their expiration date (near expiration date) and that are usually sold at a lower price, buying in bulk products and less packaged.

Any purchases made before the first two weeks of the month then very largely disappear, only to warm up again once pensions are paid.

According to the data presented by Panagiotis Boretos, Vice President and Managing Director of the research company Circana (formerly IRI), at the Food Retail Summit 2023, the share of private label products is formed during the first quarter of 2023 at 17.7%. (excluding Lidl), and in the corresponding quarter of 2022 – 16.1%. At the same time, data shows that private label products are growing three times faster than branded products.

In particular, for the first quarter of 2023, their growth rate was 20.2% compared to 6.7% of brands and 8.9% of the total market. Sales of private label goods increased by 4.7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year, while private label sales decreased by 2.7%.

While prices for private label products rose by 14.8% compared to 9.6% for brands (Q1 2023), they are increasingly preferred by consumers as they are still about 30% cheaper. The average supermarket ‘basket’ of branded products of 60 main product categories currently costs 206.24 euros, while the corresponding ‘basket’ of private label goods costs 138.46 euros.

“There is a false impression that supermarkets benefit from private label products. This also applies to other European countries, such as Switzerland, where the Migros network is fully vertically integrated and has its own production.

In Greece, chains are only commercial, with one exception,” Nikos Lavidas, Managing Director of AB Vassilopoulos, said at the same conference. He added: “Private label products and energy costs are putting pressure on profitability. Energy costs at AB have risen to 60 million euros in 2022, including government subsidies, from 30 million euros a year ago.”

“In the second half of each month, consumption decreases and increases on the day the pension is paid. In addition, there has been a decline in sales of products such as organic products. The consumer refuses petty frills and becomes more rational,” said Kostas Antimisaris, General Manager of Metro AEBE.