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 Shoppers Across Europe Spending More on Weekly GroceriesOnly Germany and the UK Buy Fewer Items According toSymphonyIRI Group FMCG Trends Report
Bracknell, 17 October 2011
– The latest analysis of FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods)market trends across Europe by SymphonyIRI Group shows that the combination of aprolonged period of economic uncertainty and a continued rise in food prices is impactingthe weekly grocery shop for European shoppers in different ways. According to the 2011report “Economic Uncertainty Affecting FMCG Sales”, across Europe the value of shoppers’weekly groceries has risen in every country except Greece in the first six months of 2011(H1) compared to the same six month period in 2010. At the same time the volume of goodssold has decreased in Germany and the UK, indicating that shoppers in these countries areattempting to reduce or maintain the cost of their weekly grocery shop.In Germany for example the volume of total FMCG sales in H1 2011 was -0.8% lower than inthe same period the previous year. This compares to -0.9% in the UK. The increase in salesvolume in the first half of 2011 compared to 2010 was 1.8% in Italy, 0.4% in TheNetherlands, 1% in France and 2.2% in Spain.Italy experienced the highest percentage rise in sales value growth compared to the first halfof 2010 at 3.1% followed by France at 2.7%, Netherlands and Spain at 2.2%, the UK at 2%and Germany at 1.7%. Still coping with the economic fallout from its financial crisis, Greeceis the only country to experience a drop in the total value of FMCG sales.“Consumers in the UK and Germany seem to be more cautious than any other country aboutthe economy. As prices continue to rise they are saving where they can to keep the overallprice of their weekly shop within budget,” explains Tim Eales, director of Strategic Insight atSymphonyIRI Group. “So far consumers in these countries have been quite resilient to foodprice increases and have been cutting spend in other areas such as out of home treats ornon-food purchases. But for many households this has a limit and so some shoppers arenow forced to cut their food purchasing too. There appears to be a limit to how much the
 
weekly grocery budget can stretch, particularly when faced with rising bills in other areassuch as energy and petrol.”” With a rise in the volume of grocery sales in France, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain weexpect that it consumers in these countries are making savings in other areas, cooking athome for friends and family for example rather than eating out,” he continued.Other key highlights from the research include:
•
 
Food prices continuing to rise
. Food prices have risen noticeably in every country.This is pushing up value sales in most countries.
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Pause in promotion escalation.
Following a reduction in the use of tradepromotions by FMCG brands in Greece in the first quarter of this year, othercountries in Europe are now showing similar decreases in their use of tradepromotions to bolster sales. The decline is particularly noticeable in the UK, wherethe level of trade promotions was the highest – a drop from 55 percent to 50 percentamongst food categories from the first to second quarter of this year. . France, TheNetherlands, Germany and Spain also experienced a small decline in the use oftrade promotions (in the second quarter of this year). In Italy and Greece, retailersare promoting increasingly their Own Label products which may be impactingnational brand promotion efficiency and strategy.
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Shoppers looking for more value for money
. Shoppers that previously soughtvalue by leveraging the growing number of offers available to them are now reachingtheir limit in how many
multibuys 
they can take advantage of. In the first half of 2011consumers in the UK and Germany started to make cuts in the number of items theypurchased as well.
•
 
Private label market share starts to rise.
As retailers across Europe strengthenedtheir private label programmes and leveraged their price advantage, the value sharefor retailer’s own label products increased in many countries. A more detailedanalysis of the Own Label market share across Europe will be released bySymphonyIRI Group in November 2011. A recent report released by SymphonyIRI inthe USA shows that private label has an above average and growing presence in 30of the top 100 FMCG categories.The rep
ort can be downloaded from www.symphonyir
i.eu.
ENDS.
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