The Portuguese are spending more money on supermarket purchases, according to Nielsen’s scantrends, with food sales reaching €1.92 billion in the first two months of 2015.
The growth in January was 0.4 per cent, but in February it accelerated to 1.7%, after negative sales throughout 2014.
According to the general director of the national brand association Centromarca, Pedro Pimentel, this growth can be attributed to hypermarkets and supermarkets such as Amanhecer and Meu Super. On the other hand, sales were down by 1.1 per cent at small supermarkets, although they still remain as the preferred shopping channel.
Sales of all products also grew, except for milk products. Home hygiene, non-alcoholic beverages and frozen products are the areas with the most significant sales increases, while the lowest rise relates to alcoholic beverages and groceries.
The FMCG market in Portugal has been under strong promotional pressure in recent years. During January and February 2015, the number of baskets containing at least one article in promotion increased by 55 per cent. Additionally, the average discount now reaches a new record value of -31.4 per cent. Last year, promotional deals allowed average annual savings of €76 per household.
Separately, the latest edition of the Cetelem Consumption Observatory indicates that 91 per cent of Portuguese pay more attention to prices since the start of the EU economic crisis (compared to a European average of 83 per cent); while 77 per cent of Portuguese claim they negotiate more over prices than five years ago. The Portuguese are also among the Europeans who pay more attention to the origin and composition of the products (73 per cent compared to 67 per cent in EU) and the environmental impact of products (68 per cent compared to 60 per cent in EU).
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic
