Interesante estudio de la Universidad de Wageningen “El impacto de la marca blanca en la competitividad de las pymes”. España destaca como único país de la UE que registra un freno en el lanzamiento de nuevos productos al mercado.

1. The impact of private labels on SME
competitiveness
Frank Bunte

2. Contents
 Terms of reference
 Analysis
 Conclusion

3. Terms of reference
Objectives
 The impact of private labels on the value of
industrial brands
 To identify a possible gap in legislation or
enforcement
 Producer indications on private labels

4. Terms of reference
 Description of the state of play
 Analysis
 Synthesis

5. Terms of reference
Translation of pros and cons in hypotheses
 H1A: Consumer choice decreases
 H1B: Consumer choice increases
 H2A: Due to private label growth, sales,
profitability and number of suppliers decrease
(both PL and brand suppliers)
 H2B: Due to private label growth, sales,
profitability and number of private label suppliers
increase

6. Analysis
Outline
 Supply chain structure
 The impact of private label on industry structure
 Innovation
 Legal analysis
 Synthesis

7. Analysis
Supply chain structure
 The number of SMEs goes down, but not in all
subsectors and countries
 Food processing and food retail are concentrated
with some exceptions (e.g. Southern Italy)
 Industry profits are more or less constant in food
processing, most subsectors of food processing,
and food retail

8. Analysis
Supply chain structure: Number of SMEs in food processing
1.10
1.00
DE
ES
FR
IT
PL
UK
Small countries
0.90
0.80
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

9. Analysis
Supply chain structure: profitability in food processing
31.0
26.0
EU
21.0 DE
ES
FR
NL
PL
16.0 PT
RO
11.0
6.0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

10. Analysis
Supply chain structure: profits in food retail
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
DE
6.0% ES
FR
IT
PL
4.0% UK
Small countries
2.0%
0.0%
-2.0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

11. Analysis
Private labels
 PL market share increases rapidly in Spain and
Central Europe
 PL crowds out secondary brands

12. Analysis
Private labels
 In France, the share of SMEs decreased in
industry turnover decreased, but increased in PL
production
 In Italy, the number of brands increased in the
most innovative sectors; and
 In Italy, PL production grows due to line extension
and a decrease in relative prices

13. Market share of SMEs in France
Firms with less than 100 employees
Year PL penetration Market share of Market share of
rate SMEs SMEs in PL
production
1999 22.3 24.8 19.6
2006 29.1 22.4 21.6

14. Number of brands and suppliers in
Italian dairy and cereals industry
Brands Companies
2004 2008 2004 2008
Refrigerated milk 368 413 + 148 182 +
UHT Milk 398 433 + 181 211 +
Butter 333 314 - 50 46 -
Whole yogurt 366 345 - 187 197 +
Functional yogurt 44 102 + 30 66 +
Breakfast cereals 215 244 + 130 178 +

15. Analysis
New product introductions
 The number of new product introductions grows
in most countries
 One exception: Spain
 The share of PL grows in most countries
 One exception: UK

16. Analysis
Number of innovations in dairy
350
300
250
France
200 Germany
Hungary
Italy
NL
150 Spain
UK
100
50
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

17. Analysis
Private label share product introductions dairy
70%
60%
50%
France
40% Germany
Hungary
Italy
NL
30% Spain
UK
20%
10%
0%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

18. Analysis
Interviews
 PL production benefits industry innovation
through two mechanisms
 Resources
 Impact on manufacturers’ efforts
 But, in some cases retailer practices hurt
manufacturers’ efforts

19. Analysis
Interviews
 Producer indications
 Provide information to consumers
 May lead to segmentation of the market
 Is not going to change bargaining relations between
suppliers and retailers
 Some retailers in Northern Europe oppose
producer indications

20. Legal analysis
Roadmap
 If market imperfections are perceived the
following roadmap may be followed:
 Voluntary code of conduct
 Creating countervailing power
 Legal requirements and access to court
 Public law inspections and sanctions

21. Conclusion
 Innovativeness is not at stake
 SME competitiveness is not stake
 The results illustrate the fact that retailers perform
more activities in the supply chain at the cost of
food processing
 There may a reason to address some business
practices

22. Questions
© Wageningen UR