With many brand name labels refusing to lower prices – or raising them – during Greece’s crushing economic crisis, customers are fleeing toward supermarket brands to take advantage of far cheaper costs and say they haven’t noticed any difference in quality.
That could spell bad news for the big companies who may never get back many of those who pick other brands, and good news for the supermarkets whose sales have been falling during the crisis and can pick up revenues from marketing their own labels, similar to selling generic drugs instead of brands.
Greeks are buying a record amount of own label products at supermarkets, according to a new study carried out by the Marketing Department of the Athens University of Economics and Business (AEUB), which found that more than 27 percent of goods bought now carry private labels.
The survey found that 27.4 percent of products bought were private label goods. Just two years ago, this figure stood at 21.5 percent. Own label products now account for 21 percent of supermarkets’ turnovers.
The study found that the move toward private label goods was not driven just by financial concerns. Researchers indicated that 60.1 percent of respondents said they saw no difference in quality between established brands and private labels.
Greece has one of the highest price indexes for foods in Europe, especially for dairy products amidst charges that the big dairy companies collude to keep prices high.
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