MILAN – It is called a “distributor brand” and represents those products found in large retail supermarkets with the same name as the brand, or in any case as a “line” associated with it. Usually more comfortable products that have gradually established themselves with a range diversified in quality and price. And which are experiencing a boom, just like discounters, mainly due to the need for families to keep their budgets together with the dizzying rise in prices in recent months.
The European house Ambrosetti now presents a number to quantify this success: 25.4 billion in total turnover in 2023, a record for a private label. A number that is worth 31.5% of the entire turnover of the Modern Distribution market in Italy, including discounts. It stopped at 28.3% in 2019, now it is “an essential tool for modern distribution companies to support the purchasing power of families, offering quality and convenience”, according to an analysis carried out on the occasion of the opening conference Marca by BolognaFiere 2024. scheduled for 16. January and which for the first time also takes into account the discount segment.
Mauro Lusetti, President of the Association of Modern Distribution, noted in a note that the industry “has also made a significant contribution this year to supporting the purchasing power of families, curbing inflationary pressures and supporting especially the lower income groups, which are particularly suffering from the increase in consumer prices.” Lusetti claims that since the beginning of 2019, the distribution “has seen an increase in sales prices that are 6 percentage points lower than the branded industry.”
Valerio De Molli, General Manager of the European House – Ambrosetti added additional numbers and considerations. As proof of how private label has gone against the trend, the research shows that in the face of a volume decline of more than 1 billion euros (at constant values) in modern distribution and discount channels in 2023, Mdd is “establishing itself as the only growing channel supporting the entire food retail sector: +332 million euros also last year”.