“The competition in Spain is the biggest in Europe”

the Supermarket contestHowever, the s is in Spain The largest in Europe. Although it is true that there are very prominent operators, the share they add to each other is less than that of large operators from neighboring countries. Landing in the Spanish case, Mercadona is the clear leader in the pie, with a share of 25.3% according to the latest data from quintal. Behind Valencia Co. Carrefour (10%)And Lidl (6.6%)And Today (4.6%) And Eroski (4.4%). is this you Five strings together add up to 50% of market share.

Thus, the focus of the main operators is less than those produced in other European countriesas evidenced by the data he deals with aecoc ABC consulted. The lighter case is Italianwhere five is greater (Conad, Selex, Coop, Esselunga, and VéGé) filled approx 60% of fees. The number is higher if we look at a case United kingdom, where Tesco is the leader with 27%, and with the top four competitors (Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Aldi) More than 74%.

in Portugalfor his part, Sunai – Owner of supermarkets – and Jerome Martins -which works Pingo Doce- has a stake Similar or superior to Mercadona In Spain it is 26.8% and 22.9%, respectively. Behind them are Lidl (11.3%), Intermarche (8.8%) and Auchan (5.6%); Among the five above 75%.

France gives great importance to lecrerc (22.5%) and Carrefour (19.3%), but with Intermarché and System U (11.5%) and Auchan (9.3%) dominating. 78.9% of the share market. In case Germanyoperators take the big five about 80% of cake with edica group (27.2%) and Rewe group (20.6%) as leaders, and with the list completing the Schwarz Group (17%), Aldi (10.9%) and DM (3.5%).

Spain, therefore, andIt is the country in Europe where the five largest supermarkets have the least market share. “It should also be taken into account that no country in our environment offers a network local trade And the variety that the Spanish consumer has at his fingertips, adding to the option and decision power,” they point out from the Big Consumer Employers Association.

In this scenario of rising prices in the supermarket, the latest reports from industry experts (Kantar, Aecoc and Nielsen) confirm that Consumers change stores regularly and explore new options Shop around for the best price or private label. In fact, most of the Spanish chains have already detected a decrease in the volume of baskets at the beginning of the year: each customer entering their stores takes less products.

“The data indicates that the development of spending per purchase ticket, which grew by 6% in the last quarter of 2022, does not bear a direct relationship with the consumer price index for food, and this is due to the great choice enjoyed by consumers. When you have a choice between many Organizations, products and brands to contain the cost of your shopping cart», already in February, Rosario Pedrosa, Director of Commercial Strategy and Marketing at Aecoc, commented.

Supermarkets launch a price war

This is why, in context rivalry Located in between, the distribution companies have in recent months been embroiled in a price war, with the aim of attracting the consumer who is looking for the cheapest products and changing stores to find it.

Since the beginning of the year, most of the large supermarket chains have introduced Green light for new promotions To try to attract new customers to their stores and to compensate Decrease in sales volume. A recent Kantar report also includes that, during the month of January, supermarkets ran more promotions than ever before; Specifically, 10.2% of all food items were products that had offers on the packaging itself, were included in advertising brochures or had direct price reduction applied.

In addition, the white brand continues to grow: only in food baskets it accounted for 44.5% in the first quarter, compared to 41.8% in the same period of 2022 or 38.7% in those months of 2021.