supermarkets

There was a time when we went to supermarkets to fill the fridge. We do it more and more to eat in them

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There was a time when people went to supermarkets to fill their pantry. Not anymore. Or at least not only does it for that. As The tastes changedhabits and especially Rhythm of life It has also been doing our relationship with retail chains. When today we go to a super we can do it to take food that we will then cook at home, but also to buy already prepared dishes or even (increasingly) stay lunch inside the premises, as if we were in a bar. In 2025 the super do not compete only with neighborhood stores, they do it with restaurants to which every time They cost them more Offer profitable menus. What happened? That our way of consuming is changing. And with her the super. Black left over white A report of the consultant Worldpanel by numerator Efe revealed that it confirms that hypermarkets are no longer just places we go to food to prepare food at home or already prepared dishes. In addition to all that, every year hundreds of thousands of people cross their doors to do something else: breakfast, lunch or snack right there. Yes, as if they were in a restaurant or a bar. What do the figures say? According to Veronika Khurshudyan clarifiesspokesman for the consultant, throughout the last year (at the end of July 2025) 6.9 million people have gone to hypermarket and supermarket coffee shops to buy food they have then consumed away from home. The data is interesting, but the report includes another that is still more: about 1.3 million customers chose to stay in the establishment and eat food in situ. The data is significant for two reasons. First, its reach. Second, the trend. Those 1.3 million consumers double the figure of the previous year. “Shows an increasing interest in enjoying the experience within the establishment itself”, Notice Khurshudyan. The most common is still that we buy food to consume it at home (31% of the time) or in the place where we work (16%), but the data reflects a growing business for large chains. “The coffee shops in the hyper and super begin to consolidate as a flexible point of consumption that combines the practical ‘to carry’ with the possibility of staying and enjoying at the time,” insists the consultant’s spokeswoman. Is there more data? Yes. And while they are not so clear about where we eat and if we do it inside or outside the hypermarkets themselves, they show a clear trend: we are increasingly going to the super search of cooked food. No paste packages, tomatoes or minced meat trays. No. What we want is the ration of carbonara spaghettis already prepared. Dishes that we can devour instantly. Another report by Worldpanel by numeraton, Posted in August by Five daysshows that food sales ready for consumption have shot in the last three years in the Spanish premises 49% in terms of value. Where do we eat? The report reflects that although in most cases (80%) we realize those dishes already ready in our own homes, it is increasingly common for us to consummate them, far from the table of our living room or kitchen. That study Specifically, I did not delve into details, but it did slide that the ‘extra -adomatic enjoyment’ was growing double digit: with the data and April in the hand it was 15% if we talk about frequency and 29% in terms of sales value. Worldpanel is not the only one who has found the growing interest in already cooked dishes. In his Sectorial Report In March, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Map) points out that the consumption of prepared dishes increased 6.4% in the last year until leaving the average consumption per person in 17.47 kg. Not just that. If we take into account that indicator (the average per capita intake) the prepared dishes are the ones that grow the most between the categories identified by the map. While the food set was reduced by 0.5%, with falls in the case of fish and vegetables, already ready foods grew by 5.4%. Why do we do it? For comfort. Or rather, changes in priorities to Manage our time. Worldpanel and the Promarca association contributed Some keys A while ago with a survey that reflects that 47% of Spaniards consider that they lack time throughout the day, which provides a golden opportunity to those known as “convenience” products, those who focus on the ease and comfort for the consumer. According to The same study “convenience” is the main motivation that moves customers in 45% of the occasions when they demand food and drink. It may seem little, but it exceeds other reasons, such as health (18.6%) or pleasure (22.6%). The trend is clear enough to A few months ago The president of Mercadona, Juan Roig, recognized his conviction that in not much time the Spaniards will feed ourselves with the food we bought outside the home. Not with the ingredients, no, but with the already prepared dishes that we take to our home. “I said and kept it: in the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens”, He settled. The data of prepared dishes manufacturers suggest that it is not disenchanted: in 2024 its consumption increased in Spain 6.6%. How do companies respond? Roig has not only shared his forecast. His chain has been preparing for that stage (gastronomically speaking) apocalyptic with his line ‘Ready to eat’a branch of the company whose origins can be traced to 2018 and that is committed to the sale of dishes, from incoming to pizzas, lentils, or meatballs, between a long etcetera. In your last Annual Report Mercadona pointed out that last year the service was extended to a hundred and a half of premises, which raises the network to 1,260 supermarkets, 1,200 in Spain and the 60s of Portugal. Moreover, the chain ensures that the section “has not stopped growing” and Keep incorporating it to more premises. And Roig’s company … Read more

Mercadona has been filled with gels and shampoos that mimic luxury products: the silent revolution of supermarkets

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A light texture cream and minimalist container that could go through a Sephora launch, a Bombonera type bag that Remember Loewe or Jacquemusand a colony whose aroma evokes Carolina Herrera or Issey Miyake perfumes. All this coexists, at reduced prices, in the same place where fried and softening potatoes are sold: the supermarket. Between clonations or inspirations – not to open the legal melon – you can find global cosmetics and perfumery trends, including Korean skincareas well as viral accessories in a daily and massive context. A phenomenon that arouses passions on social networks and that, in Spain, has Mercadona as one of its main protagonists. Imitation as a strategy. According to Business InsiderMercadona, through its own Deliplus brand, accurately mimics makeup products and personal care of firms such as Mac, Benefit, L’Oréal or Urban Decay, with containers and textures that remind the original but at prices that rarely exceed six euros. Among the best known examples are the Maxi Volume mask (inspired by L’Oréal), the silicone base similar to Benefit or Illuminator and Coloretes that refer directly to The Balm and Nars. The formula works thanks to the massive distribution and indirect marketing that generate users and influencers by viralizing findings such as bath gel with amber and vetiver for 1.50 euros, described by the confidential as “a gel that smells of gods” and compared to high -end perfumes. In Xataka A feeling is growing in Europe and Canada: Boicote "National" The hole that leaves inaccessible luxury. This “corridor luxury” blooms at a time when traditional luxury has become more expensive until its clientele concentrated in the richest 1%. According to the avant -gardethe average price of luxury products has risen 25% since 2019, displacing the aspirational consumer that previously saved to buy a perfume or accessory. Today, more than 40% of the sales of many brands come from that 1% of greater purchasing power. The consequence of all this is a market hole that fill legal imitations, inspired products and, in the illegal field, falsifications. According to the countrydigital copies trade has exploded with apps and channels in Telegram, where young people buy and exhibit replicas without complexes. 54% of the B buyers see with good eyes that others carry falsifications, and 37% admit that it carries or carry them. In this panorama, legal clones such as those of Mercadona are positioned as an “safe” alternative, although they are part of the same conversation about value, authenticity and saturation. The origin of luxury by hand. The mixture of luxury references and daily consumption is not new, but in the last decade it has been normalized and even turned into a statement of style. The figure of the “luxury choni” – who combines gold logos with basic garments and low cost makeup – has permeated in artists such as Bad Gyal, capable of dressing in Versace and Use Mercadona Profiler. Also Rosalia, in its beginnings, sang in Aute Cuture: “In the Palace and in the Chinese”, encapsulating the coexistence of two consumption universes in the same aesthetic identity. This symbolic cross has found fertile ground in cosmetics, where the price does not always determine social recognition. An effective clone can grant the same symbolic capital as a luxury product, especially when social networks amplify the finding. The era of “dupe”. In networks like Tiktok, the term Dupe It has become a generational flag. Vogue Business has documented How gene generation has stopped hiding that uses imitations: finding and showing them is a source of pride. Brands such as Mcobeauty in Australia have grown thanks to this movement, while firms like Charlotte Tilbury have launched campaigns to claim their “original formula” and differentiate themselves from copies. In other markets, the line between inspiration and copy has been tested in court. According to Vogue BusinessBenefit’s demand against Elf Cosmetics for a mask similar to his Roller Lash failed: justice considered that packaging and components differ enough not to confuse the consumer. On the other hand, Mercadona does not fight on that forehead: its strategy is to identify and produce quickly, benefiting that in Spain, as in many markets, copying formulas or aesthetics without violating patents is perfectly legal. Beyond beauty: edible luxury. This phenomenon is not limited to cosmetics. According to Delishgeneration Z is moving aspirational consumption to food. In the United States, chains like Erewhon sell $ 20 with superfood and collaborations of Celebritieswhich are both a well -being product and a content for social networks. Logic is similar: to make daily consumption (makeup, breakfast, hydrate) into an act of visible and replicable status. Luxury is no longer alone in marble boutiques: it is in the glass Take Awayin the design bottle of design and, in Spain, in the supermarket perfume line. The debate: democratize or dilute. He Dupe It can be understood as democratization: put aesthetic and sensory codes available to a few people. But it can also dilute the value of the original and its promise of exclusivity. Marc Chaya, CEO of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, warned in Vogue Business: “Duping is a serious matter … some serve to remind brands that cannot abuse the price, but others flood the market without providing utility or purpose.” For the consumer, the dilemma is different: pay for history and prestige or for the effect and similarity. For brands, the question is how to maintain relevance when desire is satisfied with cheaper alternatives. {“videoid”: “x85k87i”, “autoplay”: fals, “title”: “Black Friday: how to know if an online store is reliable ️ Buy with internet security”, “Tag”: “”, “Duration”: “562”} Cart as a global showcase. It is not about replacing the traditional luxury experience, but about appropriating its symbols in times of inflation, precariousness and digitalized consumption. The “hall luxury” is a symptom of an era where the barriers between high range and mass consumption are increasingly diffuse. And there, in that hall where glamor coexists with the softener, a new chapter is being written in the history of consumption: one where a … Read more

“Ready to eat” are sweeping supermarkets. It is because we no longer buy products, we buy time

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Juan Roig He said it And half Spain was thrown on him: “In the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens.” Discussing whether it was a prophecy or a simple interested provocation, eight million Spaniards were already giving him right. Those who were buying prepared dishes, according to someone so little suspicious of having an interest like the EFE agency. Not that Roig is a visionary guru, he was simply reading the data that others wanted to ignore. The numbers speak for themselves: the consumption of dishes “ready to eat” bought in supermarkets (or in that genius of Naming‘Merchants’) It has grown 48% in just two years. Mercadona has this section In 1,260 storesbut Lidl also launched its own rangeAlcampo sells Up to 200 different dishes according to the store and Day has 180 products like this. Even Ikea has climbed to that car: to sell, more than ingredients, solutions. AND We are not talking about junk food or commitment solutionslike those packaged potato tortillas that made Belcebú cry. Now we see paellas, homemade croquettes, lentils, lasagers or potato tortillas themselves that know exactly what we hope they know. The trend goes beyond the supermarket: in the last twenty years the consumption of this type of dishes has multiplied by five. Supermarkets are simply integrating it into their offer and taking advantage of the fact that they are a usual place of passage, not a concrete destination such as the food houses. The nuance that explains this boom is that We are not buying exactly food, we are buying time. It is a symptom of change of our priorities. We are not stopping cooking for lazy, but by exhausted. Maybe also because we have more options what to do with that time recovered. Our parents had three television channels and the bar dominoes; We have platforms of streamingvideo games, Yoga online classes, cheap Ryanair tickets, establishments oriented towards “experiences” and an infinite offer of stimuli competing for our attention. It may simply Let’s be less willing to give up those two hours of kitchen when we know everything we could do with them. If we add the paid work, the domestic, the displacements and the care, the royal days exceed the 60 hours per week, according to the National Survey of Working Conditions of the INE. What we buy with each prepared dish is not just food: it’s a break. Returned time. A truce. And that’s why they succeed. In Xataka | Spain has become a country addicted to something that some years ago enjoyed little prestige: the white brand Outstanding image | Mercadona

Online trade was supposed to retire supermarkets. The reality is that in Spain they do not stop opening

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Despite all its uncertainties and The unknowns sown by the tariff war, 2025 promises to be a good year for the supermarket sector. At least if we trust Growth forecasts and shared figures A few days ago by Asedasthe Spanish Association of Distributors, Self -Services and Supermarkets. According to their estimates, during the first four months of the year 244 stores have opened in Spain, 25% more than during the same period last year. Not just that. The sector expects to say goodbye to 2025 with 850 new establishments. If confirmed, the map of establishments distributed throughout Spain could exceed the 26,000 barrier. A figure: 778. He arrives at the majority of cities and large municipalities in the country to verify the trend, but besieged, the employer of the sector, has put figures: In Spain there are more and more supermarkets. According to their latest annual report, in 2024 they opened 778 new stores that raised the total map of points of sale of the country (self -services, super and hypermarkets) to 25,585. Once the closures are discounted, that leaves a “Net growth” of 352 businesses with respect to those operated in 2023. And how will this year go? Although 2024 closed with a map of the sale map, the inaugurations rhythm was somewhat lower than that of recent years. In 2024, 778 openings were registered, but in 2023 they were 787 and the previous year 889. Asedas, which Agglutina To companies such as Savoramas, Aldi, Covirán, Día, Lidl or Mercadona, hope that this “slight descent” is “passenger”. The reason: So far this year the association has already registered 244 openings, 25% more than during the same months of 2024. Their forecasts pass because the year ends with 850 new premises. Changes in the sector. Beyond its opening data or the size of the National Park, The report Asedas is interesting because it leaves some ideas about the trends that govern in the sector. The most interesting probably is that the supermarket format “strengthens itself as the most successful”, compared to others such as self -service or hypermarket. The association also requires that more than half of the stores (about 50.6%) “They are framed in proximity and coexistence formulas.” Interesting is also the speed with which the market changes. Asedas estimates that since 2021 almost a quarter (23%) of the network has been renewed or renovated. For the collective the key to that “dynamism” connects mainly with associative trade, such as franchises and cooperatives, which in 2024 were behind approximately 60% of the openings. “They have a great impact on the rural world, since a third of these inaugurations occurred in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants,” They emphasize. “Regional leaders”. Another of the keys to the growth of the sector is, In Asedas opinionin the “regional leaders.” In fact, in its report, the focus on 25 companies (audited in total 320 companies) that increased their average commercial area from 2021, which far exceeds the general tendency of the sector, which also grew, but only 4.3%, were audited. It is not the first to point in that direction. In 2024 Kantar He already pointed out in Another sectorial study How the super regional were planting the white brands and large chains. “In a context of market stability, the organized distribution sector has registered a 0.6% growth in volume during 2024, mainly driven by short assortment chains and regional supermarkets,” Kantar collected in February, in February Another report in which he calculates that regional ones have reached a quota of 18% after having grown 0.7 points. The reason: its supply of frescoes, personalized service and expansion to new geographical areas. Pending rural. Asedas slides another interesting idea: despite the urban exodus, their data shows that in Rural the retail Food continues to register more openings than closures. Between 2020 and 2024 he estimates that they have opened their doors 1,117 new stores In municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants, which means that almost a quarter (23.6%) of the openings were concentrated in rural environments. The employer also highlights the role of small businesses and family chains with networks of 10 or even less stores, although the truth is that smaller businesses do not always endure the thrust of the chains. Kantar slides That the growth of the “organized distribution sector”, including regional supermarkets, has been achieved in part by the “volume transfer” from the “traditional trade”, which has punctured almost 4%. Their February data They corroborate that operators with the highest market share in value are Mercadona, Carrefour, Lidl, Eroski, Dia, Consum, Alcampo, Aldi and IFA. Among the nine bind a quota that touches 70% of the market. In total Asedas estimates that the sector set has 25,585 active establishments (14,486 supermarkets, 10,589 self -service and 510 hypermarkets) that give direct employment to about 414,100 people. The annual investment in new construction of the Round collective between 1,000 and 1.3 billion of euros. Are all opportunities? No. Despite the opening data or the increase in the benefit (together the main companies added 2,141 million of euros in 2023, with an ascending profitability curve), the sector also faces challenges. The main one: although the business expect to growwill do it in a very competitive scenario. “In a market that barely grows in volume, the challenge is to gain share of other competitors. It requires having a clear and differential value proposal, which attracts and fidelize better to consumers and exploit roads of inorganic growth,” Comment to The avant -garde Enrique Porta, consumer partner and retail of the KPMG audit. Another key is to adapt to new market trends, such as less and less weight relative of the hyper, or adjust the size of the network to the demand. After all, although the sector expects to register hundreds of new openings throughout the year, which could even raise the points of sale above 26,000, Nor is it alien to closures, layoffs and readjustments. Images | Alcampo and Eroski In Xataka | In … Read more

The price of olive oil in origin has returned to “normality.” What everyone wonders is what happens to supermarkets

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Every week, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food publishes the price of oil at source and The last bulletin is full of good news. The price of ‘liquid gold’ before reaching bottling, distributors and supermarkets has returned to the levels prior to the ‘boom’ of recent years. Now the most difficult is: this reaches supermarkets. When did the oil price start uploading? Actually, the price of oil began to rise erratically from the beginning of the Ukraine War. The explanation is simple: Ukraine was one of the largest producers of vegetable oils in the world. As soon as the problems began, manufacturers around the world went to other types of oils and that raised the price of oil (also driven by the increase in energy, fertilizers and oros agricultural inputs). It was, however, a conjunctural price increase. However, like Cristina G. bolinches pointed at eldiario.esthe situation began to complicate in autumn of 2022, when the Ministry of Agriculture warned that the harvest was going to be abnormally low. From that moment on, a roller coaster of ups and downs that now, finally, reaches its term. What price do we talk about? According to the Ministryon March 16, the 100 kilos of oil in origin were at 406.04 euros. A little (very little) above the traditional profitability threshold of the dry land. Before the war, the price became lower, but to this we would have to discount the inflation and rise of costs. In addition, the trend (although slowed) remains positive. In Italy, for example, the price Still still in the clouds. The price in supermarkets. In the lines of the stores the price has also dropped. Above all, if we take as a reference the 12 euros per liter of virgin oil of extra olive that was requested in the worst moments of 2024. Right now, the liter (in white marks) can be found at 5.80 euros, according to Bolinches. The problem is that in October 2022, just when the price of oil was at these prices, the liter You could find 3.2 euros per liter. Rockets and feathers. It is, however, a well -known phenomenon in other goods. When the Brent barrel rises in price, the fuels experience strong and almost immediate growth. On the other hand, when you go down, prices They fall much more moderate. In the case of oil, in addition, it is logical. It is enough to remember that the largest distributor in the world, deoleo, lost 34 million euros Only in 2023. All that entity that has some power in the market will try to soften the price drop to square the accounts at the end of the month. In this sense, the fall in origin evidence that producers are still the weakest leg of the entire framework. After years walking on the tightrope, they need income to stay alive. Above all, in an environment in which prices can fall even more. When will ‘normality’ return to the supermarket? A priori, it’s a matter of time. The rains of the month of March They predict good conditions for the next harvest. It is true that everything can still be twisted, but it is the stimulus that the market needed to assume that they don’t have much time. Of course, the months of March They are becoming more wet And that has long -term implications. It will be necessary to see how all these climatic changes affect the Olivos Sea and, by extension, to our diet. For now, everything seems to indicate that the sector is getting interesting. Image | Fulvio Ciccolo | Eduardo Soares In Xataka | For centuries, olive leaves were used to feed cattle. Now some grenadines want our nutrition to revolutionize

Years ago the main “drug” against depression was sold massively in supermarkets: 7up

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It is a more or less known fact that The origin of the Coca-Cola is in the development of Medicinal tonic by the American pharmacist John Pemberton. However, this drink is not the only soda in having an origin linked to the world of pharmacy. Nor are we talking about the tonic, but of 7up. The history of this drink is prior to its name and its current formula and begins in 1929. The soda began to be marketed with the name of BIB-LABEL LITHIATED LEMON-LIME SODAbefore being renamed as 7 UP LITIED LEMON SODAand, finally, 7up. However, it is not the change of name of the soda what most usually attracts the attention of its history, but the change in its formula. And, as these names already pointed out, the original formula of this soda contained no less than lithium (Li), The third element of the periodic table. Before the alarms jump, it should be clarified that it was not elementary lithium (remember that this is a very reactive alkaline metal), but Lithium citratean organic compound, salt of lithium and citric acid. To understand the reason, we must know what is the use of this compound. For decades, lithium citrate has been used as Drug in psychiatric treatments. It is a compound considered a mood stabilizer and is used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, depression and mania. The soda would have been marketed in origin not as a drug against these problems but as a kind of tonic, a remedy for hangover To settle your stomach. It is unknown what is the origin of the name 7 UP but, among the various theories, one points out that It is a reference to lithium. The reason is that, although the atomic number of this element is the three, its atomic mass is approximately seven (6.94 to be more precise). As we indicated at the beginning of the article, this It is not the only soda whose history has a close link with the pharmacy. Coca-Cola also has An origin as a reconstituent tonic. In this case it is also an ingredient already disappeared from its formula (cocaine) the one that most usually calls attention to the history of the soda. The contemporary tonic still counts in its formula with the “active substance” that made it a treatment, the quinineused among other uses for Malaria treatment. Of course, the current content we can find in this soda It is very scarceso again we cannot talk about therapeutic properties in the soda we find today in supermarkets. In Xataka | Monster has conquered a generation. And along the way it has become one of the most profitable brands in the world Image | Mike Mozart, CC by 2.0

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