It is estimated that approximately a third of the products in Poland are created for private labels of trade chains. This means that in comparison with such countries as Spain or Switzerland, where this ratio amounts to 50%, the Polish private label market shows a potential for growth. Further development of private labels in our country is affected by changing consumer trends. Customers have stopped identifying these products with lower quality and less technologically-advanced production. In the long-term perspective of market development, the composition and regionality of products will gain importance.
Among Polish customers, the awareness of buying healthy goods is gradually growing as well. Carrefour Polska constantly seeks to satisfy this need through the expansion and enhancement of the assortment. The best example of cooperation with Polish vegetable and fruit suppliers under a private label is the “Jakość z Natury Carrefour” (Carrefour Quality by Nature) product line, developed since 1997. In this range of products, the company’s priority is to promote tasty local products. The “Jakość z Natury Carrefour” assortment comes from small local farms in Poland’s cleanest areas, and due to the natural seasonal cycle being preserved, these products have valuable nutritional values. They are created in cooperation with thoroughly selected and often long-term partners.
Since 2015, the offer has been expanded to include tomatoes, pears, free-range chicken, butter, as well as juice pressed from fresh apples. The remaining products in this line include: quark, trout, carrot, potatoes, onion, apples, honey, as well as imported products: serrano ham from Spain and salmon from Norway. The “Jakość z Natury Carrefour” product line includes between 10 and 20 products from 56 predominantly Polish producers. Carrefour Polska is also in constant search of new suppliers to meet the criteria of the “Jakość z Natury Carrefour” line.
A separate trend is the development of private labels in the premium segment. They can include both imported products and those acquired from regional suppliers. Polish consumers increasingly reach for new tastes and traditional products from other countries, as well as top quality products. In 2016, Carrefour Polska enhanced its premium private label assortment with two new products: Montmartre coffee and Nello children’s hygiene products, as well as a new range of Spanish products: De Nuestra Tierra. The new offer has enriched the hitherto available brands, Reflets de France and Terre d’Italia.
At Carrefour Polska, private label products are made for customers who pay attention to quality but do not want to overpay. They are less expensive than their brand counterparts, while simultaneously preserve quality at least equal to comparable brand products. In 2016, the assortment of all private labels available in the Carrefour chain amounted to approx. 3,000 references in such categories as: food products, beverages and alcohol, traditional fresh products (vegetables, fruit, cheese, cold meat, fish, poultry, bread, etc.), drugstore, perfumery, industrial products, household products, sports goods, toys, seasonal products, audio-video and household appliances, as well as textiles.