Private-label sales in Italy grew by 4.6% in value during 2017 (compared to 2.8% total growth for the grocery sector), to account for 18.8% market share.
Nielsen data has shown that private-label growth has been achieved across all channels and in all product categories. It also noted that an increase in assortments and promotions has had a positive impact on consumer demand.
Private labels in Italy still have a small share, however, compared to the UK and Spain, where the share is around 40%.
Local Pride
In Italy, private label has been able to exploit trends relating to the origin of products and to sustainability, Nielsen said.
In the 'Made in Italy' segment (2.5% growth), private-label share in each category is as follows: DOCG (5%), IGP (39.6%) and '100% Italian' (28.2%). In the CSR Certification segment (+4.8%), private label has also grown: sustainable by 4.5%, 'Friends of the Sea' by 22.5%, and Fairtrade by 86.6%.
Elsewhere, private-label market share in organic is as high as 41%.
Own-Brand Growth
The growth trend for private label in Italy has also been confirmed by a report prepared by the European House – Ambrosetti (in collaboration with ADM and IRI), which was presented at Marca Bologna. This report indicates that private-label market share stood at 18.7% in Italy in 2017.
Sales of own-brand packaged consumer goods increased by €266 million in 2017, exceeding €10 billion for the first time, with sales volumes up by 1.7% and value sales rising by 2.7%.
The highest growth rate was recorded in the southern regions, where market penetration was lower than the national average.
The number of private label SKUs has increased at different levels, depending on the supermarket type. In supermarkets, it grew by 10%, while in discounters, the range of own-brand products on offer rose by 9.5%. In hypermarkets, the SKU count grew by 5.5%.
The study also found that private-label products are using fewer price promotions than in years past, with the number of private-label products on promotion declining by 0.4% in hypermarkets, by 0.5% in supermarkets, by 0.6% in independent stores, and by 0.8% in discounters.
© 2017 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.
