Consistently at a high level

It also emerges from the survey, which includes all the basic product groups available in supermarkets, that this proportion varies considerably between countries. In Germany, Hungary and Spain, private labels account for over 50 per cent of sales, whereas in Italy and the Netherlands they only contribute roughly 20 per cent to the overall sales of pet products. In Sweden, Norway and Finland the proportion of private labels is around 10 to 15 per cent. 
It is notable that the pet product category is in the top 5 of all product groups in most countries. In Norway, Portugal and Hungary, pet products have the highest volume share of all the categories surveyed. The pet product group is also ranked in the upper echelons in some countries with regard to share of sales: it comes second in Slovakia and Germany and even occupies the top spot in Hungary. All the figures provided by The Nielsen Company relate to supermarkets. In speciality retail, branded articles are still out in front, in spite of the growing prominence of private labels.
Even in grocery retailing, it is evident in many countries that private labels have probably peaked. In some countries the market share of private labels in the pet product sector has declined in terms of both sales and volume. In Sweden, for example, while private labels accounted for a 17.8 per cent share of sales in 2015, this figure had declined to 11.5 per cent last year. In volume terms, the share of private label fell from 25.2 per cent to 21.1 per cent. Its share was also static or even slightly down in Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Finland and Norway.

The development of private label in some central and eastern European countries painted a different picture. In Hungary, for instance, the tonnage share of private label grew from 62.4 per cent to 67.1 per cent between 2015 and 2016, while its share of sales increased from 51.8 per cent to 54.4 per cent. The importance of private label also increased in Slovakia (volume only) and in Greece.
In some countries, pet products were even among the goods with the highest increase in sales for private label in 2016. In Denmark and Sweden, sales of private label cat litter increased by 4.7 per cent, and in Finland, sales of private label…