Pingo Doce has become the first retail distribution chain in Portugal to launch private-label fresh milk, reports suggest.
The supermarket chain, owned by retail group Jerónimo Martins, has also kicked off a new TV marketing campaign to promote the product.
The product is available in lean and half-fat variants and comes in 100% recyclable packaging.
Dairy Processing
The milk is processed at the group’s dairy in Portalegre, which has seen an investment of nearly €50 million.
The facility, with a capacity to process 90-100 million litres of milk, currently processes 65 million litres of milk annually.
It accounts for 5% of the 2 billion litres of milk produced in Portugal, António Serrano, CEO of Jerónimo Martins Agroalimentar, told Dinheiro Vivo.
The dairy produces around 40 milk, butter, and cream SKUs for the private-label brands of the Pingo Doce and Recheio chains (Masterchef and Amanhecer).
The plan is to expand the portfolio, with six new references arriving in January 2020, including unsalted butter and lactose-free milk.
Milk Consumption
However, Serrano pointed out that milk consumption in Portugal has dropped by around 10% in the last six years, which has affected production.
In 2018, Portugal saw per capita milk consumption of 73 litres, above the European annual average of 56 litres, but below the per capita annual consumption figure of 80 litres in 2013.
Jerónimo Martins started investing in the agri-food sector five years ago and has so far channeled €150 million.
Besides milk and milk derivatives, it also produces 2,000 tonnes of sea bream and sea bass (Madeira and Sines) and Angus meat annually.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
