Mercadona often makes headlines for many reasons. Whether because of its large sales quota, the huge profits it generates, or the enormous assets of its president, Juan Roig. Today the Valencian company is in the news again, albeit for a very different reason: Promarca, an association that brings together manufacturers of well-known brands in food, beverages and pharmaceuticals, has described it as almost the enemy of innovation. And it does this for a very simple reason: in the eternal struggle between manufacturers and large supermarket chains, Promarca guarantees that Mercadona will not add any new products to its shelves in 2023. At least none that don’t have a white label.

The industry is already talking about ‘unfair competition’.

An unbranded 2023. “There is a distributor that does not reference any brand innovations in 2023. Although it works with many brands, it prefers not to support innovations.” This is the message of Promarca president Ignacio Larracoechea during the presentation of a report on the sector yesterday. Although his comment did not point to a specific supermarket chain, the data revealed during the association’s speech, held in Madrid and spread on social networks, clearly pointed to a well-known name. retail Homeland: Mercadona.

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Old pulse, new drifts. Larracoechea, with its interpretation, opens a new melon in the old struggle between producers of well-known brands and large supermarket chains; Two groups destined to understand each other, but clash on one key point: the struggle between popular brands like Bimbo. Danone or Pescanova; and so-called “white” brands supported by retail chains, such as Auchan, Hacendado or Eroski Seleqtia.

This is not the first time that Promarca has warned about the consequences of this shock for customers, both in terms of the diversity of the offer and the prices themselves; However, yesterday the association emphasized a new issue: The price this pulse transfers to innovation in the sector.

But… What do the numbers say? The data is obtained from Promarca, which is inherently the relevant party to the dispute; but the results they leave behind are meaningful. Research published by Kantar yesterday shows that the percentage of third-party “brand innovation” Mercadona introduces in 2023 is zero. 0%. In 2021 and 2022, the rate was close to 4%; and in 2020 it was 7%.

Other chains where Promarca identified a low percentage of producer brand innovation were Lidl, at 4%; Aldi with 10%; and Gadisa with 14%. At the opposite pole are Carrefour (61%), Alcampo (38%) and Eci (25%).

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“Unfair competition”. In practice, these percentages will mean that supermarket chains are more or less willing to put on their shelves new products launched by different manufacturers. Mercadona’s lack of reference to any innovations being launched means “a new record” for Larracoechea, which took him one step further: “This is a somewhat unusual and generally not very desirable practice. Since it works with many brands, it has neither benefit nor It has an economy but does not include innovation. If it does not include innovation and copies it, this is unfair competition.

Interestingly his “TOP 10” innovations The year 2023, calculated based on the “penetration and repetition rate of innovation” of the products, is led by a product from Bosque Verde (Mercadona): a transparent film containing a sliding saw system. In any case, Promarca assumes that eight of the remaining nine “TOP” products are produced by third-party brands.

Implications for the industry. It is no coincidence that Promarca clearly points to the position of Mercadona or Lidl. The market share of both chains, especially the Valencia chain, is significant (26.2% in 2023), so their willingness to give more or less space to new products on their shelves directly affects manufacturers. So much so that Promarca pointed out yesterday that the launch rate among companies has decreased.

To be more precise, it ensures that new product innovation in the mass consumer sector, which includes food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and personal care, has decreased by 43% in 13 years. In fact, only 89 innovations were introduced to the market in 2023; This is an “extremely low” figure.

“Innovation needs more support, attention and care to contribute to the sustainable growth of the market,” warns one of the people responsible for the Promarca research. The group also claims that the launches have strengthened demand from both brands and distribution chains.

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