Household Helpers
Mercadona’s Bosque Verde kitchen wipes are perfumed with lemon and have degreasing qualities; the microwave and refrigerator wipes claim to eliminate grease and odors and clean without streaking; and the furniture wipes advertise bees wax and promises a protective coating that repels dust.
Private label products in Spain help shoppers clean, store and trash items.
The world of Private Label household products is constantly changing in the Spanish market. Retailer Mercadona, with its various private label brands, has recently edged ahead of the giant retailer, El Corte Inglés to become the new king of Spain. Mercadona is now ranked 38th in the world according to sales, slightly above El Corte Inglés at 41 and much above Eroski at 76. Feeling the heat, El Corte Inglés launched a lesser priced option to their El Corte Inglés brand in 2009 called Aliada. They’ll have to act quickly to recuperate their throne, though, because Marcadona’s private label cleaning brand Bosque Verde has an innovative line of disposable wipes to clean bathrooms, kitchens, and the rest of the house. However, across the board, the private label household products were competitive against national and international brands, thus making them all very appealing.
Wraps on a Roll
All of the stores reviewed had PL options for aluminum and plastic wrap, though the options for types of wraps were very limited. Take away food is still not very popular in Spain and many leftovers are saved the old-fashioned way in a bowl with a plate on top. At El Corte Inglés, their “El Corte Inglés” brand products were clearly visible with a green shelf marker stating “quality guaranteed”. The aluminum wrap box with light and dark blue tones has a picture of a fish on it for all three sizes and the trademark green flag logo (30 m for €2.85; 50 m for €4.35; 100 m for €8.65). National brand Albal has similar blue boxes of 30 m for €4.85 and 50 m for €4.85. The Bosque Verde PL offering at Mercadona has lower prices, blue boxes of aluminum in 30 m size for €1.30, 60 m for €2.40, and a thicker sheet - “maximum resistance” 10 m for €1.50. SuperSol comes in on the low end as well, offering competitive prices for aluminum foil, 30 m for €1.35 and 50 m for €2.65 in a blue box with a picture of deli meat and tomatoes on a platter. Albal at SuperSol offers aluminum for 30 m at €2.94.
Though SuperSol does not offer a huge variety of cleaning solutions, it does have private label mop replacements (all under €1.00) and dust rags (ranging €.72 for basic yellow spongy material to €1.32 for micro fiber).
Transparent plastic wrap is used even less than aluminum in Spain, but each private label brand still offers several options. El Corte Inglés has a two-toned green background and the same fish picture as the aluminum box, 30 m for €1.40, 60 m for €1.95 and 100 m for €2.70. National brand Albal has a similar green box with tomatoes pictured on it, 30 m for €2.35, 50 m for €3.35 and a “stronger and thinner” plastic wrap, 15 m for €3.65. Bosque Verde at Mercadona has simple green boxes, 60 m for €.80, 100 m for €1.25 and a “triple use” plastic wrap that claims to be microwave and freezer resistant, 30 m for €1.20. SuperSol weighs in with their transparent film in a green box, 50 m for €1.11 as compared to national brand Albal, 30 m for €1.76.
In the Bag
Food storage bags and especially freezer bags are on the rise in Spain as many people are dealing with small fridges and money-saving techniques like preparing food and then freezing it. El Corte Inglés has their green flag brand in three different options - 20 zipper seal bags in a blue box with a picture of fish, corn on the cob and raw steaks for €2.79, 20 “air tight with zip seal” (written in Spanish, Portuguese and English) bags for €2.70 and 30 freezer bags in three sizes in a blue box featuring various food tied up in light blue bags for €2.79. National brand Albal has teamed up with Ziploc for a blue box with a bag of fresh vegetables in two sizes, 15 small and 15 medium for €5.40. SuperSol offers a very Spanish storage bag - for a bocadillo sandwich, which is a long sandwich made on crusty French bread.
The bags are special because they have tiny holes to keep the bread crunchy (40 bags, 22x35 cm for €1.93). For freezing options, SuperSol has 20 zipper bags that say “easy to close and safe” and feature a piece of meat with a sprig of rosemary and a graphic snowflake pattern across the box. For their no frills option, there are blue freezer bags with no zipper closure (30 bags for €1.93). Mercadona also has the bocadillo bags, 40 for €.80. For freezer bags Bosque Verde offers 30 big freezer bags for €.95, 15 super large bags (25x35 cm) for €.90 and 20 zipper-close bags for €1.00. In addition to being very economically priced, Mercadona also has Bosque Verde reusable containers similar to Tupperware. The containers are stacked inside of each other and loosely held with a cardboard label - two units of one-liter sized square containers and three units of 1/2 liter containers are both marked €1.85, while a 5 pack of sandwich-sized containers is €1.95 and a big wide container is €1.95 for a four-pack.
Trash Task
Across all of the stores visited, trash bags are on the forefront of ecological packaging with virtually none! The bags are sold in rolls and bound with a label. El Corte Inglés has a variety of options in their El Corte Inglés brand with the green flag, but they also offer their more economical option, Aliada, for some of the bags. Also of note, national brand Albal is more expensive, but their bags all advertise “resistant to bacteria”. El Corte Inglés bags come in auto-close options, heavy duty for construction projects, large sized for community garbage cans, perfumed for the kitchen and bathroom and green for the garden. Mercadona’s Bosque Verde bags are also varied and packaged ecologically - they even have a recycled bag made specifically for organic garbage, encouraging people to recycle as much as possible. The recycled bag is brown in color and has a drawing of an apple core on the label. For the kitchen and bathroom, there are lavender-scented antibacterial bags, while for the garden there are green bags with leaves drawn on the label. As most Spaniards do not own clothes dryers, Mercadona has an ingenious sheet of plastic (150x280 cm) to cover your clothes line should it start raining (€1.70). SuperSol has fewer options compared to national brand options, only offering a perfumed “domestic” bag and large dark blue community garbage bags.
Cleaning Up
Most private label brands are easy options next to pricey Don Limpio (Mr. Clean) and other international products - they are more economical and just as appealing in their marketing tactics. Many use citrus scents or natural oils to optimize ecologically-sound cleaning solutions. El Corte Inglés offers many simple options with no frills - a glass cleaner in a spray bottle (€1.95 for 750 ml) and a refill bottle (€1.73 for 750 ml), both featuring a drawing of a sparkling window and “window cleaner” written in English. For the floor, there is a lemon-scented cleaner in a yellow bottle, a bleach option for the bathroom and for delicate surfaces, a pH neutral cleaner advertised in English and Spanish (all 1.5 l for €2.05). National brands range from €2.25 to €2.49 for 1.5 l, however El Corte Inglés has no PL options for cleaning wood surfaces. SuperSol’s PL brand is very economically priced, but even simpler in the options. There is a product called “house cleaner”, €1.61 for 1.5 l, the bathroom cleaner says “3 in 1” with pine freshness, cleaning perfume and anti-calcium effect (750 ml for €1.62) and the glass cleaner claims “anti-rain and anti-vapor” (1 l for €1.48). For the kitchen, SuperSol has quitagrasa (degreaser) with citric essences, 1 l for €1.76. Mercadona, on the other hand has a huge array of mopping supplies, and thus, a variety of cleaning products; a purple bottle of “mirror effect” floor cleaner (1 l for €1.79), “shine rejuvenator” (1 l for €2.05), a “hygiene complete” cleaner (1.5 l for €1.58), a concentrated wood floor cleaner with aloe vera (1.5 l for €1.98) and a bleach option (1 l for €1.19). Bosque Verde also has a whole line of special floor cleaning products including a parquet floor cleaner (1 l for €2.25), a dry mop spray (1 l for €3.10) and several wax options for various Spanish tiles.
Wipes
Prominently featured in the middle of the cleaning aisle, there are many packs of Bosque Verde wipes to make cleaning even easier. Most wipes come in packs of 30 for €1.32, including wipes for cleaning leather, furniture surfaces, microwaves and refrigerators, windows, kitchen (50 wipes), bathroom and floors (€1.57). The kitchen wipes are perfumed with lemon and have degreasing qualities; the microwave and refrigerator cleaner claims to get rid of dried food residue, eliminate grease and odors and clean without streaking; the furniture cleaner advertises bees wax and promises a protective coating that repels dust.
Ease and Shine
Private Label products are playing a huge role in how the household market is developing in Spain. Though SuperSol does not offer a huge variety of cleaning solutions, it does have PL brand gloves, sponges, mop replacements (all under €1.00) and dust rags (ranging €.72 for basic yellow spongy material to €1.32 for micro fiber). Mercadona goes even further with micro fiber dust rags, dust mops, sponges and mop replacements for wet and dry mops.
Mercadona’s Bosque Verde line of wipes is definitely unique in the Spanish market for now, there is no competition and it is a clear sign of gearing towards the ease of cleaning. The Mercadona network has grown to 1,264 supermarkets across Spain, proving that its family management and dedication is a recipe for success for the 32-year-old Valencian store and that there is a clear plan for the future. El Corte Inglés still has strong PL options for household products, but in many cases the prices in comparison with national or international brands are not convincing. The good news is; cleaning is getting easier.
