Quick Take — The retailer’s brand reaches 50% in the main European markets, setting a new record. In Italy, however, it remains at 36%

According to Circana, growth is set to accelerate in 2026: inflation and Ai-driven shopping will favour the cheapest products for the same benefits …

circana’s analysis finds that retailers have managed to keep prices low and quality high. MDDs are intercepting health and lifestyle trends, offering premium offerings and innovative product launches with more dynamism than national brands. Retailers’ strategy of targeting social media content at younger shoppers who are less loyal to traditional brands is also playing a key role in sustaining demand…

Below: Esselunga, under my leadership, was already at around 35% private label in 2003 (thanks to the Esselunga, Naturama, Esselunga Bio and Fidel brands, the first price created to combat discount stores).

Quick Take — Mastrolia on the short-sightedness of leading brands is absolutely right

The aim is to reach 50 per cent Mdd products, while NewPrinces’ products will occupy 20 per cent.

Only 30% of the shelf space will be dedicated to industrial brands. ” Big brands tend to maximise profits by exploiting the recognisability of their products and customer loyalty in order to raise the price to the maximum,” Mastrolia argues.

I believe this is not only unethical but also a wrong strategy because, beyond a certain price limit, you lose even the most loyal consumer otherwise, how else would you explain the constant decline in market share of multinationals and big brands to the advantage of private labels and discounters?”

The big brands have raised prices disproportionately during Covid, creating inflation and disaffection: an autogoal, as can be seen from the evolution below.

Giorgia Meloni and Coldiretti put the brakes on the development of solar energy in Italy

The government, on energy, is in a huge conflict of interest, which is why prices do not fall: Snam, Italgas and Terna beat Microsoft, Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook). Italy’s publicly controlled companies that transport or distribute gas and electricity to citizens and businesses are more profitable than some of the world’s largest, most technologically advanced and important companies in the business of the future: cloud, data centres and artificial intelligence. In short, Big Energy beats Big Tech

Quick Take — The fertiliser factor: why bread, pasta, meat and eggs are at risk

It is no exaggeration to say that about half of the world’s population meets its food needs through the use of fertilisers. In this scenario, Iran plays a crucial role as the world’s fourth largest exporter of urea.

We are talking about a vital substance to ensure abundant harvests of wheat and cereals, the mainstays of our diet. With the war in Iran turning the straits into a shooting gallery, the situation has become critical. Prices are out of control: urea has risen by 25% in just one week, putting spring sowing at risk If with the Russian invasion the problem affected wheat and sunflower oil, the war in Iran shifts the critical issues to fertilisers.

‘If the situation continues, consumers could see higher prices for bread within six to ten weeks, for eggs within a few months, and for pork and broiler chicken within six months, estimates Raj Patel, a food systems expert at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs’.

Source: the Financial Times, which adds:‘The Middle East is one of the world’s biggest fertiliser producers, while the Strait of Hormuz is a crucial sea route for exports.

According to CRU data, about 35 per cent of global urea exports pass through this waterway. Urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertiliser, which in turn supports about half of the world’s food production.

The route also handles 45 per cent of global exports of sulphur, a key ingredient used to produce phosphate fertilisers, as well as significant volumes of ammonia, a key ingredient for nitrogen fertilisers,’ he says. Moreover, according to recent work, oil and gas price increases of similar amounts to those observed so far, if sustained over time, would lead to a price increase of 1.4 per cent one year from now, compared to a scenario without the shock.

In the article in Il Sole 24 Ore of 6 March below, the problems of the fruit and vegetable sector are highlighted.