As part of our dedicated Private Label Issue, ESM spoke to industry leaders at a number of retailers across the continent, about why they believe private label continues to set the pace in European retail. This article first appeared in ESM's May/June 2023 edition.
Michael Gscheidlinger
Country Managing Director, ALDI Italia
The current inflationary situation has led many customers to embrace private labels. What trends have you noticed at your company?
The need to deal with the effects of inflation is certainly driving the growth of discounters and broadening the interest of consumers, who, compared to a few years ago, are more inclined to consider new shopping channels and new product types. At ALDI, we are noticing a growing interest in the retailer’s brand. Customers are, in fact, interested in more opportunities for savings without compromising on quality.
This is definitely contributing to an increase in sales volumes in Italy, but the most interesting aspect is to note how we are progressively seeing a breaking-down of the boundaries that, for a long time, have characterised the concept of the discount store.
This is a very positive trend that we are committed to confirming with the quality of our products, an expression of the Italian excellence of which we are proud promoters, and with an ever-growing range of products aimed at satisfying all nutritional needs.
In what product categories have you seen the highest private-label growth, and why?
Private labels represent 85% of our assortment – an extremely significant share – which has enabled us to gain the trust of consumers. We observe consumption trends very carefully in order to align them with customer needs and offer a range that is always in line with the demands of Italian consumers.
Great attention is also dedicated to the fresh products – an important focus of our offer that aims to enhance the territorial specificities of Italy, with a rich assortment of PDO and PGI products.
How are you seeking to adapt your private-label offering to cater to both value-hungry and premium shoppers?
Since its arrival in Italy, ALDI’s key goal has always been to offer consumers a compact, complete, and constantly evolving range of products, to meet all needs, and with the highest quality at the best price. Private-label products are a fundamental pillar of the ALDI offer – the core of the relationship of trust built over the years with our customers.
In particular, for the Italian market, we have developed some private labels that express our connection with the territory.
What new private-label product launches or campaigns have proven particularly successful over the past year?
The intuition of dedicating a product line to Italian excellence – Regione che Vai – immediately met with the appreciation of consumers. Since our arrival in Italy, we have, in fact, built up ongoing collaborations with what are considered to be ‘guardians of taste’, to guarantee the quality and reliability of our products.
An example of this is the result achieved recently, when ALDI Italia was among the winner of the European Private Label Awards in the ‘Ambient Grocery’ and ‘Taste Excellence Award’ categories, with the Crema spalmabile al Pistacchio, from the Regione che Vai line.
Elsewhere, the Pesto al Pistacchio, under the Gourmet Finest Cuisine brand (pictured left), was a finalist in the ‘Sauces and Condiments’ category.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest private-label news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones and Robert McHugh. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
