As part of ESM's annual Private Label Issue, we spoke to Rita Manso of Pingo Doce, part of Jerónimo Martins, about the private label opportunities arising out of the pandemic. This article first appeared in ESM Issue 3 2021.
As a result of the pandemic, price and quality are valued highly by Portuguese shoppers, with private label increasingly meeting their needs. That’s according to Rita Manso, commercial director with responsibility for private brands at Pingo Doce, part of the Jerónimo Martins group, which saw private-label share rise to 36% last year, across its stores.
“In Portugal, the consumer environment was pressured by the effect of the measures implemented to control the pandemic, with clear signs of trading down in food retail observed since the beginning of the pandemic,” Manso explains. “Consumers have changed their habits, and they are even more focused on value-for-money products.
“Companies like Pingo Doce, which have a long-term investment in high quality standards, benefit from this new mindset. We have new consumers across all categories of our private brand, and I believe they will stay loyal, even after the pandemic is over.”
Private-Label Innovation
Despite the challenges of the past year, the group kept up the pace of new-product innovation, with the launch of 259 new private-label SKUs and the reformulation (either of ingredients or packaging) of around 100 items.
“We have a permanent focus on the quality of our ingredients, the nutritional profile of our products, and safety in food preparation, in all the decisions we take to improve our offer,” says Manso. “In short: we work to guarantee food quality, diversity and safety, without ever compromising on taste.”
Notable innovations of the past year include BeBeauty Blue Light cream, which protects skin against photoageing and won a European Private Label Award (in the Non-Food – Personal Care category), as well as ‘bottled fruit’ smoothies that are 100% fruit based.
New Launches
Pingo Doce also recently unveiled the Juliana brand, a new concept that aims to promote both the Portuguese and Mediterranean diet and is aligned with the group’s health ambitions.
“The promotion of healthy eating habits, a fundamental pillar of the company’s strategy, was further reinforced during the year, with the launch of a set of actions, recipes and products under the name Juliana, a project to promote and incentivise the adoption of the Portuguese-Mediterranean diet,” says Manso, who describes the new offering as a “tribute to the heritage and benefits of the Mediterranean diet, Portuguese style.”
Sustainability is also a key part of the modus operandi at Pingo Doce, particularly when it comes to private-label development. It has eliminated microplastics from home- and personal-care products, plastic straws from single-serve dairy and juice products, and introduced a range of household accessories, such as buckets, mops and brooms, that incorporate varying percentages of recycled plastic.
Future Prospects
Looking ahead, Manso sees private label very much as a “strategic pillar” of Pingo Doce’s strategy, and one that will continue to play a key role in the retailer’s value proposition.
“Consumers are more and more aware of the importance of healthy and quality products, and, at same time, demand price, sustainable practices and innovation,” she says. “We can meet all these expectations.”
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Private Label news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
