Austrian retailer Billa’s private-label brand, Clever, is marking its 25th anniversary with the addition of new products to the range and an updated look.
New additions to the range include peanuts, burger buns, fresh egg waffles, party shots, and a limited-edition variant of the Gummibärli energy drink, the company noted.
The REWE Group subsidiary launched the Clever range in 1999, with 40 basic food SKUs, including chips/crisps, fruit yoghurt and fish sticks, among others.
The range currently offers more than 700 ‘daily essential’ grocery items, including cheese, sausages and meat, frozen pizza, ice cream, drinks, household products, hygiene products and pet food.
‘Reliable Price-Performance Ratio’
Billa board member Erich Szuchy commented, “The reliable price-performance ratio has made Clever a reliable everyday companion for people in Austria for 25 years. If you’re too ‘clever’, you’re always guaranteed to buy at a discount price – without having to study price comparisons on the shelf.
“It is not for nothing that, of all the Austrian own-brands, Clever products end up in customers’ shopping carts most often. With a supported brand awareness of 97%, Clever is the number-one private-label brand in Austria.”
The retailer added that the most popular products in the range include kitchen rolls, tea, butter, ham, energy drinks, eggs, Gouda cheese, minced meat, and bananas.
In November of last year, food retailers Billa, Kaufland and Lidl rolled out a series of sustainability initiatives in Bulgaria, to reduce their environmental impact.
Billa Bulgaria replaced all paper labels with electronic labels in its 151 stores. The project cost BGN 15 million (€7.7 million) and reduced paper consumption by 60%, the retailer noted.
