For a few years, supermarkets have given priority to the products that they themselves put on the market, leaving aside the long-standing brands, which are the ones that invest the most in innovation, and this ends up increasing the final price of these.
We all use private label or private label products more or less frequently . And it is that many supermarkets give much greater visibility to those that they themselves put on the market on their shelves 'hiding' those of their competitors. In addition, they prefer to increase the profit margins that they apply to the latter, which means that their own brands are much cheaper. So the consumer tends more and more to forget about the big brands because they consider that they offer the same at a higher price, when the reality is quite different.
Is it bad that big brands are less present in our lives?
Yes, they are the ones that invest the most in creating new products that satisfy all kinds of needs. For example, without them there would be no gluten-free or lactose-free products for those intolerant to these foods, low in fat or salt indicated for people with certain diseases of the circulatory system; There would not be adequate cosmetics for each specific skin problem or hypoallergenic detergents to avoid reactions.
Every time they innovate less
Ignacio Larracoechea, president of Promarca, warns that manufacturer brands are investing less and less in creating new products. According to the study “Analysis of consumer access to innovation in the Spanish FMCG market” prepared by ESADE Creápolis, innovations by major brands have fallen by 23% between 2012 and 2016 (the latest year for which data is available). “It is not only due to the economic crisis. I think it is a brand strategy. The trend is the same throughout Europe but Spain is at the tail end of innovations ”, explains Larracoechea.
Food is still the most innovative sector
Manufacturer's brands are responsible for 88% of innovations. Seven of these are the ones that account for 48% of new launches, according to this study. Among the private brands, the most innovative are those of Lidl followed by those of Mercadona. The sector that innovates the most continues to be food; Yogurts are the type of food from which the most new products are launched each year, followed by chocolates and soups. And it is that every time we take care of ourselves more and brands have to satisfy the needs of a market that is aware and concerned about what it eats.
Successful Products
Of the large number of new products that manufacturer brands launch on the market each year, only 45% of these manage to be accepted by the general public, a rate considered very low in the sector. Making these innovations known to consumers is the most complex task since more than half of them arrive at the supermarket without having heard of them and depend on the distribution of products on the shelves to know their existence.
On the other hand, the advantage that innovative brands achieve lasts less and less. According to the aforementioned study, the rest of brands (both those of other manufacturers and those of distributors) take between 4 and 36 months to copy them. In addition, manufacturers have another disadvantage and that is that in supermarkets they tend to give their new products less visibility than the rest, or they do not even include them in their catalog, so the consumer does not have access to them. It is easier to find these types of products in hypermarkets.
New products, greater benefit to society
We live in a consumer society, which implies that our economy, both domestic and that of the country, depends on people buying. The less supply there is for, the less expense which would also imply fewer jobs. Manufacturer's brands make a 7.4% contribution to Gross Domestic Product and, in addition, they generate more than one million jobs according to another study prepared by ESADE. It is true that sometimes the products of these brands can be a little more expensive but it is that they support a greater number of workers dedicated to researching new formulas and on many occasions, they offer higher quality jobs.
