Private label gains ground across Europe

Widespread gains

Retailer brands keep gaining popularity across Europe. The latest Nielsen data shows that market share for private label increased last year in twelve of the nineteen countries tracked for PLMA’s 2018 International Private Label Yearbook, and now stands at 30% or above in seventeen countries.

Private label reached an all-time high in Europe’s largest retail market, Germany, with its market share there climbing to over 45% for the first time. Market share also increased to its highest levels ever in six other countries: The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Hungary and Turkey.

The gains came even in countries where private label already had very high penetration. Market share for retailer brands climbed in the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Portugal, where share was already more than 40%.

Marked growth in the UK

In the United Kingdom, where supermarkets are investing in their private label programmes to meet competition from the discounters, market share rose to more than 46%. Private label’s share has remained above 40% there ever since Nielsen began compiling data for PLMA in 1997.

Across Europe, the biggest market share gain was posted in Turkey, where private label climbed by 3 points from a low base to nearly 26%. 

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