Private label market remains stable

Private label keeps gaining market share across Europe. In 18 countries, private labels notched up an increase in market share, according to the latest report in the Yearbook of the Private Label Manufacturers’ Association (PLMA). This positive trend also goes for private labels for food and care products for pets. With regard to tonnage, the market share of the retailers’ brands rose in the majority of countries, with Denmark and the Netherlands showing a decline of 1 per cent. In Denmark, retailers’ own food and care brands had a market share of 47.6 per cent for tonnage, while in the Netherlands a market share of 28.2 per cent was recorded for tonnage. There was a marked upward trend in private label products in Germany, where the market share of retailers’ brands increased from 60.5 per cent for tonnage in 2009 to 63.4 per cent in 2010. The growth of private label for dry cat food accounted for a considerable share of this increase. Growth according to quantity amounted to 3.2 per cent in this line of business, rising from 71.2 to 74.3 per cent. Pasta plummets in Italy Private label products also grew in Italy by 1.2 per cent for tonnage to 35.4 per cent in 2010. The big loser here was pasta for dogs and cats, which saw a decline of 14 per cent in market share for tonnage to 48.2 per cent in 2010. In Spain, too, consumers have turned increasingly to private label products. The market share of pet food and pet care private label products rose with regard to tonnage by 3.3 per cent to 68.0 per cent in 2010. Retailers’ brands in the dry cat food segment made the biggest advance in the southern European country with an increase of 5.3 per cent for tonnage to 53.3 per cent in the last fiscal year. The statistics reveal even better news for the manufacturers of private label products in neighbouring Portugal; there the share of retailers’ brands increased by 1.2 per cent for tonnage from 68.8 per cent to a hefty 70.0 per cent. In Austria and Switzerland, on the other hand, the market share of private label products fell slightly. While the share of private label in Austria declined by 0.1 per cent for tonnage to 59.7 per cent in 2010, the manufacturers of products in Switzerland also experienced a small decline of 0.3 per cent for tonnage to 55.6 per cent. In Austria, the biggest loss of market share was for private labels in the dry cat food segment, falling from 67.1 per cent for tonnage in 2009 to 61.7 per cent in 2010. Switzerland also saw a reduction in…