Private-label growth has overtaken that of national brands in France for the first time in over a year, new data has shown.
According to IRI data for April 2019 (P4 2019), private label grew by 0.7% in the period, compared to 0.4% for national brands.
Closing The Gap
This is a marked difference from the previous period, in which national brands grew by 1.7%, but private label fell by 0.3%.
Indeed, the closest that private-label growth has come to getting on a par with that of national brands was in December of last year (P12 2018), when national brands declined by 0.2% and private label declined by 0.4%.
At the other end of the spectrum, in July of last year, the rate of growth in national brands was 5.0%, while private labels declined by 0.9% – a significant gap.
Analyst Viewpoint
Commenting on the findings, retail consultant Olivier Dauvers said, “The gap is small, of course, but it says a lot: a new era is opening up for retailer brands, whose competitiveness is improving, both through repositioning of the biggest names and a reinvestment in price.
“Over the coming months, there will be, perhaps, exceptions to this trend, but the direction is clear: the return to favour of private label is going to last,” added Dauvers.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
