Market Reoport

Loblaw Expands PL Meat

Canadian chain Loblaw’s PL range President’s Choice is expanding its fresh meat lines with an increased focus on innovation, quality and value, in celebration of ‘25 Delicious Years.’ The range will include new fresh meat products such as the PC Tender and Tasty line and PC Free From products raised without the use of antibiotics, as well as more Canadian-sourced meat overall. Loblaw says the revitalized instore experience features product lines sourced with integrity; improved signage with more information on cuts of meat and how to prepare them; and more knowledgeable service available – “truly transforming Loblaw stores into Canada’s one-stop meat destination” from coast-to-coast.

Carrefour To Roll Out Discount Line

Carrefour has officially announced the launch of Carrefour Discount, its new range of low-priced products, which will be in stores in France and Belgium by the end of May. The line will be available in all Carrefour hypermarkets, Champion and Carrefour Market supermarkets, Carrefour City and Carrefour Contact convenience stores, as well as at Ooshop, Carrefour’s online supermarket.

According to reports, Carrefour Discount will come in simple, white packaging. The name “Discount” will be handwritten. The retailer hopes that the new brand will help it compete with discount operators and, particularly with Schwarz Group-owned discounter Lidl. The first 180 SKUs are expected to be introduced in mid-May, then 400 by the end of the year. The retailer aims to launch 1,000 SKUs. The Carrefour Discount line will comprise essential everyday products with the first 400 SKUs being: 170 ambient SKUs, 80 fresh/self-service, 70 hygiene and beauty as well as 30 for drinks.

COOP Launches Dermatologically Tested PL Cosmetics Line

Swiss Coop (CH) has launched a new private label line, called Dermasens, which consists of dermatologically tested skin cleansing and care products, targeted at people with sensitive skin and skin problems, according to Planet Retail. Dermasens is significantly cheaper than comparable branded products. Similar products are so far only available in specialized stores, in pharmacies or drugstores. The new skin care line initially comprises 12 products for face, body and hair. They have been developed and tested in close cooperation with leading Swiss pharmaceutical companies and the Dermatology Clinic of the University Hospital of Zurich. The products bear the seal of “Successfully tested at the Dermatology Clinic University Hospital of Zurich.” which is a novelty in the cosmetics sector. Currently, the Dermasens line is available in Coop’s larger formats such as Coop Megastores, Coop superstores, Coop supermarkets, Coop City department stores as well as via Coop’s grocery e-commerce business coop@home.

Metro Cash & Carry to Expand HoReCa PLs in India

Metro Group Metro Cash & Carry recently announced that it will launch a number of private labels to target the HoReCa industry in India, reported Planet Retail. The private labels will cover both food and non-food. Some Metro private labels have already arrived in India, including Aro, H-line, HoReCa Select and Fine Food. The company plans to widen the ranges under these private labels. For example, Metro has launched nine flavors of tea bags under the H-line brand. The German wholesaler also plans to customize its store brand offerings to meet niche requirements of the Indian hospitality industry. It has already entered the frozen seafood sector under its Fine Foods and HoReCa Select brands in India.

Lidl to Limit SKUs

Lidl plans to reduce its product range in order to improve productivity and limit complexity, according to published reports. “The complete assortment is under close scrutiny,” Lebensmittel Zeitung, Germany's leading food production and distribution newspaper quoted a source close to the retailer. “Lidl has learnt that additional listings have not always generated additional turnover,” a source said. The discounter has been pushing sales by gradually extending its ranges in many markets, especially with more manufacturer brands.

The discounter also is making changes to its marketing strategy in Finland. Lidl will increase promotions for its private label and upgrade product quality. Lidl Finland’s Managing Director Antti Tiitola told a business publication that the recession is the right time to make these changes.

Migros Launches M-Classic

Migros in Switzerland is launching the M-Classic brand for basic food products such as pasta, grains and flour. The range will initially comprise around 300 items, but Migros plans to have approximately 600 items by the end of this year, extending the line to fresh food, and nonfood. The retailer now has one umbrella brand, M, which stands for Migros, with three sub-brands including its existing economy line M-Budget and the M-Premium range, which has not yet been launched. The premium private label ‘Sélection’ will still remain. The new M-Classic brand will be promoted nationwide under the slogan “Ein M besser” (“One M better”).

Metro Revamps PLs

Canadian retailer Metro Inc. has revamped its private label brands with a new look and new formulations and is rapidly ramping up the number of offerings in the lines, reports Supermarket News.
Currently the company offers 1,500 private label items under two brands: a premium line called Irresistables and a national brand equivalent called Selections, but plans to expand to 3,500 items in those lines by the end of the year, Richard Dufresne, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said at the CIBC Retail & Consumer Conference in early March. He said sales of private label items have been very strong at the Montreal-based retailer, although he noted it was unclear if the growth was due to the soft economy or to the product-line relaunches.

Casino Plans to Expand Bio Line

French retailer Casino is looking to expand its Casino Bio organic range from 130 products to 170 this year, reports Planet Retail. It plans to introduce organic products to its frozen food section, with the addition of organic frozen beefsteaks and will be launching the first AB certified mozzarella in France. Casino claims to offer organic products at prices 30% cheaper than organic brands. The company has not revealed its turnover from organic lines but said that it has shown double-digit growth at constant exchange rates.

Co-Operative Increased Buying Power

The first signs of UK retailer the Co-op’s increased buying power following the acquisition of Somerfield are starting to become apparent, with the launch of a range of deep promotions, reports Planet Retail. Featured deals include the launch of £1 ($1.48) offers including items from its premium store brand range Truly Irresistible as well as selected brands. The chain is continuing its Easter meal deal for £4.99 ($7.423) and items in its Truly Irresistible range are reportedly 20% off. The Co-operative Group’s Food Managing Director said in September said: “By far the biggest benefit to the Somerfield acquisition is that we will be able to improve our buying terms.”

Tesco Challenges Discounters in Poland

According to PLMA’s International Scanner, Tesco is taking steps to meet the competitive challenge by discounters in Poland. Tesco Polska’s chief executive Ryszard Tomaszewski, said: “According to market research, the highest share of turnover from supermarkets and hypermarkets is taken by discount stores. As a result, we have decided to put on sale 700 ‘first need’ products at discount prices under 40 newly created brands by Tesco.” The UK-based retailer also will look to increase its premium business by changing the product offer in some of its Savia supermarkets.

Reliance to Expand PL Business

According to Just-Food.com, Indian retailer Reliance Retail plans to expand its private-label business nationally.

The company’s products, those under the Reliance brand and those that are not, will be sold nationally through other retail chains.

Reliance Retail uses two brand names for its food products – Reliance Select and Reliance Value, as well as Reliance Tea and Reliance Honey for specific products.

Earlier this year, the company formed a separate division for its private label business, headed by Gunender Kapur, formerly CEO of convenience store chain Reliance Fresh.

The company is said to be considering developing a private label business by branding and selling through other retail stores, as well as entering into the outsourcing business by offering to create private labels for other retailers.

In March, it was reported that the company was planning to close 25-30 unprofitable Reliance Fresh stores in Rajasthan, Ahmedabad and in India’s National Capital Region.