The best-selling private label dairy products are Lidl’s Pilos and Kaufland’s K-Classic, according to a survey by market research company GfK. According to ZF’s calculations, sales of private label dairy products stand at more than EUR200 million.
“The retailers with the most developed private labels on the dairy product segment are Lidl (Pilos) and Kaufland (K-Classic) and far behind them is Billa (Boni). The ranking takes into account sales in lei,” said Diana Scaunasu, client service manager GfK Romania.
The dairy market put at about EUR1 billion has been feeling the private label product pressure for a number of years now. Private label products have also gained a sizeable slice of the entire food market.
According to prior GfK data, private labels of all types had grown to 10% of the fast-moving consumer goods market in the first quarter of last year and to almost 20% of the food market.
Jan Willem Kivits, managing director of FrieslandCampina Romania, the third largest dairy products company in this country, says private labels consolidated their position last year after the significant growth of 2012-2013.
“The year 2014 was clearly a year of private label consolidation.”
The percentage of private labels depends on category, but judging from the data FrieslandCampina Romania has, they account 15% to 25% of the total. The highest percentage of private label products can be found on the milk segment, because products are easy to make, the company official says.
GfK research confirms milk is the most popular segment for companies establishing private labels.
“The categories where the private labels have the highest market share (above the entire dairy segment average) are: fresh milk (the highest percentage of private labels), sour cream, process cheese, cream cheese and butter,” Diana Scaunasu said.
There are three main forces at play on the dairy products market: the major producers, the private labels and the homemade area (the untaxed market, products sold by small farmers in markets), Scaunasu explains.
The private label survey only considers the tax-paying market (stores).
The leader of the (UHT and pasteurized) milk market is Zuzu, a brand of Albalact – one of the top three dairy product companies in Romania. FrieslandCampina, which sells Oke and Napolact packaged milk brands, ranks second and third on this segment, according to the data previously supplied by the company.
Pilos and K-Classic accounted for 29% of the packaged milk market in 2013, according to GfK data.
The GfK survey showed that private labels had reached 43% of the packaged milk market by volume in 2013, while the established brands accounted for 57%.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)