Musgrave to launch SuperValu own brand products in the UK
Musgrave aims to make SuperValu's own brand lines a "billion euro business by 2014" and introduce its own brand products into Budgens and Londis in the UK
Print18 November 2011
SuperValu own brand products are to be launched in Budgens and Londis in the UK, it was revealed by Chris Martin, CEO of Musgrave during an interview with ShelfLife.
Martin said that at the recent SuperValu Supplier Conference, plans for the own brand range to be launched in Britain were announced.
“One thing that they talked about at the supplier conference was that the Supervalu own brand will be rolled out into Britain and that’s being done for a couple of reasons,” he said. “One is because the SuperValu own brand range is a very good catalogue of products, and the reality is that own brand is clearly growing substantially. I mean some of our brands would see own brand participation growing towards 40% and if you look at the British statistics, own brand participation is predicted to soon be at 50%, so it is definitely being seen by consumers as a way of managing the grocery basket in terms of value, and own brand quality has improved substantially.”
Martin went on to say that although Musgrave’s Northern Irish and British businesses combined were worth over a billion and a half euro, relative to the whole British grocery market, there was more to do to increase its presence.
“Our ambition here is that this own brand business will be a billion euro business by 2014 and that’s a real opportunity for the suppliers behind the own brand, particularly Irish suppliers.”
“In Ireland local is very important from a jobs point of view, and it’s a growing issue in Britain. In Ireland being able to relate a product to the locality and jobs is very, very important.”
He also revealed that the group has just rebased its products in Budgens in the UK in order to directly compete with Tesco. “We’ve done a Tesco price match and that’s been a significant investment for us. Together with our own brand we’re making ourselves the independent symbol of choice because we’re providing the real mechanics to compete with the multiples.”
The SuperValu own brand range will be rolled out in the UK in Q1 of next year.
Online
Martin also spoke about SuperValu’s online presence. He said they would hope to have 80% of SuperValu stores online by June of next year.
“Supervalu already has the biggest home delivery network in the country because all our local retailers are doing home delivery. What the online solution brings is the really good front end. The early signs are good. The retailer is acting well and the consumer is reacting well but online is part of a broader strategy where for instance we are also working on an online solution for the cash and carry in Musgrave Wholesale Partners.
“On top of that we’re looking to roll out an online solution for Londis in Britain and that’s part of a growing agenda that we see on the technology side in terms of becoming much more multi channel and accessible.”
In Britain online penetration is only at 3% of the grocery market but the predictions are that it will move between 6-9% in the next three to five years. “Whilst it looks like a fairly mature business at the moment it hasn’t really been taken up by the consumer. However one of the trends that really is important and that will drive online is the issue of fuel costs. A lot of people are now looking at online as a substitute for getting in the car, especially in Britain, where paying the delivery charge is cheaper than getting in the car and going to the shop.”
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