A few days ago, Fernando Sáenz, one of the best ice cream makers in Spain (and, quite possibly, the world) gave an interview that left everyone confused. It’s not just that Mercadona “has its clientele totally dedicated,” it’s that they have “modified the palate of the Spanish.”
Coming from an ice cream maker famous for its strange gourmet flavors like ‘fig shade’, one might think this is a typical “elitist chef vs. super normie” outburst. And it is possible, yes; but what if it’s true? Can a single chain shape what a country eats?
Who Fernando Saenz? An ice cream authority: the head behind sellaSera, in Logroño and one of the key suppliers of the best elite restaurants in the country (from Mugaritz to El Celler de Can Roca through Quique Dacosta or Eneko Atxa). Best Pastry Chef in Spain from the Royal Academy of Gastronomy, Best Sweet Space in Madrid Fusion and Prix Chef Pâtissier 2025 of the International Academy of Gastronomy.
In other words, not only is he someone who knows the world of ice cream deeply, he is someone who thinks about it deeply. Therefore, such a harsh statement is worth examining.
Because Mercadona has a lot of power. After all, almost one euro out of every three spent in supermarkets she takes it. Not only that, between 2018 and 2023, the manufacturer brand references on their shelves fell 45%. Increasingly, Mercadona is judge and party in what is sold or not: its size allows it to do something that almost no competitor achieves and that is to convert each assortment decision into a change in habits on a national scale.
And how does that change the “taste” of an entire country? It doesn’t just happen with ice cream, of course. But the sustained strategy of “short assortment and dominated by own brand” reduces the number of flavors, formats and recipes to which the regular buyer ends up being exposed.
It’s not so much that ‘taste’ gets worse, as that the frame of reference becomes narrower and more homogeneous. In fact, some experts such as Howard Moskowitz talks about “hijacked palate” due to industrial dynamics.
Can’t we do anything? We are trying to do it, in fact. In recent years the National Reformulation Plan has managed to reduce sugar, salt and saturated fat in most packaging categories, according to a study from the CEU San Pablo University; and Mercadona has reformulated its own products downwards.
Ironically, Saénz puts his finger on the sore spot because one of the few categories where reformulation has not yet worked is ice cream.
A palate at two speeds. The reduction in assortments is causing the industry to begin to concentrate on two levels: large stores and specialty stores. The “middle class” is dead and the problem may come in the long term: a generation raised on a narrow menu sets expectations that are difficult to move.
Image | Fernando Saenz | DAP
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