Interview with distribution Conad, private label is the key

FRANCESCO AVANZINI, CONAD MANAGING DIRECTOR, TAKES STOCK OF THE CURRENT SITUATION WITH PL MAGAZINE

Conad,

private label is the key

PRIVATE LABELED PRODUCTS HAVE A SHARE OF OVER 10 POINTS ABOVE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. MORE THAN 5,000 REFERENCES DIVIDED INTO 13 LINES.

The incidence is really high. What’s the trend? Conad brand products, in addition to having a share of over 10 points above the national average, continue to grow. However, the growth of private labels, and, in particular, that of Conad during the Covid year, is not only due to greater convenience. In fact, quality control and the link with the territory have also played an essential role.

What are, in your opinion, the most strategic sectors for private labels? Rather than identifying single good categories, I prefer to underline how it’s important to adopt a renewed strategy of product positioning, together with a segmentation of the portfolio category and an architecture of well-structured and an ever-evolving label, based on the analysis of consumers’ needs and their further segmentation by age, residence, education and household. Anyway, let me say that Conad Private Label is among the first most sold labels in 76% of categories. In fact, in cold cuts and grana cheese, it accounts for 70% and in many other baskets it exceeds 50%, speaking of fruit nectars, fruits and dry legumes, eggs, butter, vegetables, and frozen food, for example.

Which categories are you thinking of for future development? We’ve noticed a great increase in green private label products, with a 12% growth. This sector has interesting potential, with new proposals, suitable to meet the need of customers, who are increasingly conscious of this issue. And this is through the innovation of both the product, with more quality and selection of raw materials, and new packaging, using increasingly sustainable and high-performance materials. Leading the Italian large- scale distribution, Conad is also a market leader in private labels, whose share market is equal to 30.9% on packaged large-scale sales, with a selection of about 5,000 references divided into 13 lines. Francesco Avanzini, Managing Director, goes into details with PL Magazine.

‘Sapori&Dintorni’ is your crown jewel. Let’s talk about it... With a 17% growth in 2020, the trend of Sapori&Dintorni label is extremely positive and encouraging. This is a clear sign of consumers increasing interest towards private labeled products of premium quality. So, at the end of last year, we also launched the new Sapori&Idee Conad line, which offers a more contemporary product range, for those who love innovation and new proposals.

What can you tell us about suppliers? Suppliers are always carefully selected, but in particular, I’d like to underline that, when it comes to Conad products, we have always paid attention to the enhancement of local specialities, cooperating on a long-term basis with thousands of small and medium Italian enterprises. At the end of 2020 we recorded about 7,000 local suppliers, whose turnover is equal to 2.6 billion euros.

Why are Conad private labels also sustainable? From the environmental point of view, thanks also to the development of new technologies for designing compostable packaging, now we are able to maximize the usage of recyclable or recycled packaging in our Conad products. Furthermore, we also adopt product certifications that certify our respect for the environment and ecosystem. But sustainability, for us, has also an important social and economic value, which is reflected, in particular, in the support of SMEs in the food supply chain, as well as, in the enhancement of typical local productions.

Bassi&Fissi, Private Label and many other initiatives on the side of convenience. What’s the savings for the consumer? Savings is substantial for Italians, but we’d like to specify that our products in the “Bassi & Fissi” basket are definitely goods at a competitive price, and of unequaled quality for their price, which are able to compete, on a level playing field, with the leading brands of the same category. With 700 products in more than 100 good types, we estimate savings of up to 1,500 euro a year per household.l

Luca Salomone, professional journalist specialising in consumer goods, distribution, shopping centres and finance.