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.

Quick Take — Cibo e vino: come si stanno modificando i menu e le abitudini alimentari negli Stati Uniti

Cibo: un terzo degli acquirenti mangia di più a casa, compra più prodotti a marchio del supermercato e fa acquisti all’ingrosso Progressive Grocer.

Vino: i rivenditori o grossisti di vini e liquori statunitensi stanno riscrivendo i menu o rifornendo gli scaffali dei negozi con opzioni più economiche a causa dei dazi imposti sulle importazioni provenienti da regioni produttrici di alcolici come l’Europa a partire dallo scorso anno Reuters.

Sotto due prodotti della “private selection”, gamma premium di Kroger, quarto distributore degli USA.

In estrema sintesi è un brutto momento per le marche leader e per i grandi vini che rischiano di essere spodestati da prodotti che costano di meno dei loro. Ciò spiega, almeno in parte, alcune cessioni, avvenute ultimamente in casa Nestlè e Unilever.

Quick Take — Discount: worldwide growth exceeds the grocery market

According to IGD’s most recent analysis, the discount channel is confirmed as the physical food retail segment with the strongest growth globally by 2030, reinforcing a positioning that in recent years has progressively evolved from a simple price lever to a highly competitive and innovative retail model. In fact, the “Global discount trends 2026” report shows that discounters will register a compound annual growth rate of 4.8%, almost one percentage point higher than the 4.0% expected for the overall grocery market, a sign of a structural dynamic that continues to reward efficient formats, streamlined assortments and a strong value orientation.

Underlying this expansion are several converging factors, including persistent consumer demand for convenience, expanding sales networks, and a growing capacity for innovation in both product and operating models. As Dan Butler, insight partner at IGD, points out, discounters are no longer perceived as…

In this scenario, operators such as Aldi and Lidl will continue to play a dominant role, with combined sales estimated at $334 billion by the end of the decade, supported by private label investments, international expansion and advanced pricing and loyalty models. In parallel, the report points to even faster growth for so-called variety discounters, such as Action and Dollar Tree, which could reach a CAGR of 6.3% due to strong demand for low-priced non-food products and increased impulse buying…

Source

Quick Take — Banana cultivation: a pesticide paradise

Banana plantations stretch across Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, the Philippines and Colombia: territories where the climate is perfect for growing the fruit… and pests. To protect the crops, pesticides and herbicides are used in quantities that a European farmer would not see in an entire career.

All companies claim to follow ‘sustainability’ programmes, but the truth is that a banana at 1.49 €/kg cannot guarantee fair wages, cover ocean transports and ensure clean agriculture. Someone along the supply chain always pays the price: often the health of those who work… and those who consume

Below:

1 some of the pesticides mentioned by ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner’ (Rai3) were also found in organic bananas and are banned in the EU but enter it because there are no reciprocity clauses between South America and Europe.

This problem could be changed by a proper implementation of the Mercosur treaty .

2 the label of the Esselunga Bio Ctm Altromercatobananas.

Read also this article on Esselunga private label bananas and in the GD, in general. On pesticides you can read here.

Compiled 10 December 2025, updated 19 March 2026

Quick Take — How to go from the current 24% incidence of Carrefour’s retailer brands to 50% of GS Mdd in three years? Mastrolia (GS, formerly Carrefour) answers

Question: How is it possible to go from the current 24% incidence of Carrefour’s retailer brands to 50% of GS Mdds in three years?

Answer : To do this I think it is sufficient to look at international experiences and the standards achieved by several Northern European retailers. Those who have reached these standards are even accelerating the development of Mdds. That is what we also want to do. Let’s be clear: today there is no difference in value between the products of Idm, Brand Industry, and those of Mdd, our products. It all depends on how you communicate them and how you bring them to life on the shelves.

Question: Sure. But how do you go from 24% to 50%?

Answer: It is a question of will, strategic and operational. In Italy many consumers are still keen on brands, on industrial brands. But if they were to compare them with Mdd they would realise that they are essentially equal, especially in quality…

Then certainly, as both Luigi Rubinelli for private label and Mario Gasbarrino for ‘big brands’ argue, a selection should be made, with a more focused assortment. This was discussed on 18 March 2026 in Parma.

On private brand shares in Europe read here. Below is a question on LinkedIN and my response to it.

Published on 18 March, updated on 19 March 2026

Factory Positioning: ‘MDD – IDM Strategies and Market

My speech will also start from some of my experiences at Esselunga, where for many years I worked on the development of projects that accompanied an important phase in the evolution of Italian distribution: the Superstores, the Fìdaty card, Esselunga at Home, the ESD purchasing centre, the development of organic products, together with the introduction of the company’s first social report. The aim, of course, is not to look back. Those experiences serve above all as a starting point to reflect on how distribution, the role of retailer brands and the relationship between industry and retail are changing today.