For years the white label was the ugly duckling of the super Spanish. Now it is slowly eating up the market

The white marks continue to get stronger in the retail Spanish. And clearly, with resounding growth both in the ‘short assortment’ chains that have traditionally opted for them (Mercadona, Lidl or Aldi) and among others that have chosen to adapt their offer and give them greater prominence, in the case of Alcampo, Eroski or Carrefour. The trend as such has been seen since some time agobut the latest data published by Worlpanel by Numerator (advanced today by elEconomista.es) are especially forceful.

What does the data say? That in recent years the weight of its own brands has clearly grown in the country’s main supermarkets, including Mercadona, the chain that owns higher quota of market in the sector.

If in 2023 Mercadona’s white brands (with Hacendado at the head) represented 72.9% of its sales, the latest data from Worldpanel show that this percentage now stands at 77.8%. It is a high figure, but not the highest in the sector. It is surpassed by Lidl, where private labels account for 80.7% of sales. In your case, yes, a slight drop has been recorded: the percentage improves on that of 2023 (79.7%), but reveals a slight decline when compared to that of 2024.

And the rest of the chains? They have also seen the white label imprint grow. Let’s see. In Aldi it has gone from 68.8% in 2023 to the current 74.5%, in Dia from 54.2% to 65.1%, in Consum from 33% to 37.4%, in Carrefour from 29.3% to 33.3%, in Eroski from 25.6% to 31.2% and in Alcampo from 21.5% to 23.8%. Its quota has not only expanded, it has also done so in a practically sustained manner. The only chains that have recorded a decline or stagnation between 2024 and 2025 are Lidl and Alcampo. The latter is also the only one that remains below 25%.

Is there data from the entire sector? Yes. The latest data from Worldpannel by Numerator allows us to go into detail about the main chains, but the picture is not very different if we analyze the sector as a whole.

another report Recent research by the consulting firm NIQ shows that, if we talk about food, the market share of distribution brands is around 54%. That was the data at least for September. That of the annual accumulated (first nine months of the year) marks 53.5%. The percentage is interesting because it shows a clear growth trend and is at values ​​never seen before.

What is the reason? As is usually the case, the rise in private labels does not respond to a single factor. Multiple causes come into play, although there are two particularly interesting ones. The first is the growth of those known as short assortment chainssupermarkets with a limited selection of products and a strong commitment to their own items. The clearest example is Mercadona, which has managed to achieve a market share of more than 27%but there are others, such as Lidl or Aldi, which according to Worldpanel bring together a 6.9% and 1.9% of quota.

And the other reason? The commercial strategy. Supermarkets have been laying the groundwork for years to promote their brands. This is what I suggested in 2024 a Kantar study. Their data must be handled with caution because they are presented by Promarca, a representative of manufacturers and therefore an interested party, but they are curious: according to the report, between 2018 and 2023 the supply of private label products increased by 13% on shelves while that of external items decreased by 23%.

That is the general data, if we go down to detail and analyze chain by chain, noticeable variations are observed. In the case of Mercadona for example the study reveals that the presence of manufacturer brands was reduced by 45% in just five years. In the case of Dia the collapse was 42% and in that of Eroski it was almost 31%. An analysis by Kantar and The Battle Group also shows that this loss of footprint was accompanied by an increase in rates: third-party items are sold at prices between 5 and 160% higher than those of private labels.

Are there more factors at play? Yes, there are. The prices, the offer and especially a cultural change which has favored private label brands, stripping them of the stigma that weighed on them for years. Mercadona once again sets a good example: Hacendado competes with premium brands and has some products that customers demand, prioritizing even other brands.

The big question is how far brands like Hacendado, Auchan or Seleqtia (to name three examples) will be able to expand their share, as they find it very difficult to compete in certain niches in which traditional brands succeed. It is something that Worldpanel already warned about in one of your latest reportsin which he pointed out a certain “slowdown” in the growth of the value share of own brands.

Images | Eroski Group (Flickr)

Via | elEconomista.es

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