Sales of private labels, up 43.2%

Sales of private label products of large retailers (excluding cash & carry stores) increased by 43.2% in the second half of last year against the same period in 2005, according to a study conducted by the market research company MEMRB Retail Tracking Services. Products such as Clever (from Billa), Winny (from Cora), “365” (from Mega Image) or “Marca 1” from Carrefour are produced locally, through a partnership, which includes retailers and established producers, or are imported directly by the store networks. The total market of FMCG increased by just 7% in terms of volume, while the total sales of FMCG in the international hypermarket and supermarket networks witnessed an increase of around 18%, according to MEMRB data. As a result, private label products accounted for almost 7% of volume of consumer goods in key account stores in the second half of 2006, and over 8.5% in food sales departments of the same stores.