MADRID – Besides price, quality and location, the private label is an important consideration for Spanish consumers when choosing a supermarket. The Spanish consumer organisation OCU recently awarded the ‘gold medal’ for the best private label.
The supermarket war in Spain has intensified in recent months. Especially in this atypical year, keeping existing customers as well as attracting new ones is essential for supermarkets. Often, they choose to perfect their private label, which is an important quality indicator for consumers.
In the lead
The ‘gold medal’ for the best private label this year went to Aldi, the German supermarket chain. Aldi leads the pack with a score of 8.3. The OCU took into account the quality of the products and general customer satisfaction in its assessment. Aldi is mainly active in the South of Spain. Whereas, Mercadona and Lidl are the only supermarkets that are active throughout the country. They also have a label comparable to that of Aldi. As with Aldi, the good quality of private label products at Mercadona and Lidl was decisive for growth. They both scored 8.2.
General ranking
In the general ranking, it looks at how they treat meat, fruit and vegetables. Aldi is also number one in this area at 8.2. The chain shares this position with Hipercor, the large supermarket which is part of El Corte Inglés. This scores best on meat and is second best on fruit and vegetables. But in terms of private label, those of the El Corte Inglés hypermarkets do not come close to Aldi.
Catalan chains
If only regional Spanish chains were included in the assessment, the Catalan BonÀrea would be the undisputed leader. With an 8.5, the house brand scores the highest. And only Costco, which has branches in Las Rozas and Getafe, comes close with an 8.4.
