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.
Petr Chvojka
Group Head of Private Label, Rohlik Group (Czechia)
The current inflationary situation has led many customers to embrace private labels. What trends have you noticed?
At Rohlik Group, we are still building a complete portfolio of private-label products, and therefore trends are influenced by the character of the categories in which we have already developed value-for-money private-label products.
However, we can confirm that, in all categories where we have launched new value-for-money (VFM) products, these products are penetrating very well, while they are also fulfilling the objective of being the best-selling products in the respective category.
In what product categories have you seen the highest private-label growth, and why?
The most successful categories in the VFM segment are dairy products and cold cuts, and we expect great potential from the nut and plant-based categories.
How are you seeking to adapt your private-label offering to cater to both value-hungry and premium shoppers?
We have divided our product range into three segments: top (premium farm products), mid (A-brands) and low (entry price segment).
We therefore divide our private labels in the same way, with each of the top/mid/low segments having their own private labels that target a specific group of customers – for example, the premium private label targets price-insensitive customers, and the VFM private labels target price-sensitive customers.
What new private-label product launches or campaigns have proven particularly successful over the past year?
Very successful products include the range of organic plant-based drinks or nuts under the Yutto private-label brand and smoked salmon under the Pappudia brand. These products exactly match the brand promise, i.e. A-brand quality and product design at a significantly lower retail price for the end customer.
Read More: Rohlik Group's Tomáš Čupr Talks Online Grocery
© 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.
