After the positive sign of the first half of the year for supermarkets, the turnover of the organized food retail trade also appears to have increased by 3.8% in the first nine months of 2024, compared to the corresponding period last year, according to the latest research by NielsenIQ, which shows the data until September 29, 2024.
The increase recorded is driven this year by volumes sold rather than prices, as was the case in 2023.
What happens to food in supermarkets
At the category level, this trend is mainly driven by food, both fresh (+4.5%) and standardized (+4.3%), with bazaar products showing the most modest growth, at +1, 8%.
At the same time, the large FMCG categories of household use show a decrease in their sales in value, to -1.0%, while personal hygiene products as a whole grow by 2.4%.
Both of these large non-food categories show deflationary trends, while on the contrary, food and beverages are the ones in which the average selling price appears to have increased, compared to 2023.
The global trend
What is evident from the systematic study of the market data is that Greece follows the global trend, where consumption is the one that drives the increase in turnover, while prices continue to steadily decline.
In fact, according to the results of NielsenIQ’s global Consumer Outlook survey, consumers seem to have an improved psychology and feel that there is greater stability, compared to a year ago. However, they are still reluctant to spend, while rising food prices remain the biggest concern for consumers across all continents.
Private label wins even more
This reluctance, combined with reduced household purchasing power, has, among other things, contributed to the fact that private label products continue to occupy ¼ of the average household’s basket (YTD market share: 24.7%).
In fact, the volumes for Private Labels are increasing at a faster rate than for all FMCGs (+5.7% vs. +3.6%), most likely due to the negative trend shown by their average selling price in -1.1%.
Theodorikakos initiatives
All of the above comes at a time when the initiatives of the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, to reduce prices on supermarket shelves are in full swing.
“We are never going to stop the effort to de-escalate prices, we are interested in households that are struggling to make ends meet and of course the middle class.” recently stated the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, speaking to a television station, commenting on the measures taken by the government.
The strategy followed by the government to deal with precision is pressures, controls and dialogue to reduce prices.
“In the last six months food inflation is below 1% – we have half the food inflation of the EU – and especially in supermarkets we have negative inflation between 1% and 2%,” he noted.
He also added that “what we all experienced in previous years, due to the pandemic and the two wars that unfortunately continue, in the last six months has slowed down and is moving in an area around zero”.
Checks and fines
Mr. Theodorikakos referred to the sixfold increase in fines as well as the extension of the measure limiting the profit margin to a period within 2025 and explained that “the strategy we are following is pressure, controls and dialogue to reduce prices.
In this context, he pointed out that he is discussing with market representatives the extension of the price reduction measure and arrangements to deal with misleading discounts.
At the same time, he insisted on the measures to strengthen the control mechanisms and emphasized the need to activate the mechanisms of the regions. “They must get away from the logic that because they are local they will not be controlled, everyone should think about the common good,” he said characteristically.
The list of reduced prices
Meanwhile, the updated list of discounted products on supermarket shelves was released early Wednesday.
Their number now amounts to 523 with price reductions from 5% to 24%. The goal of the initiative was initially for the list to reach 600 products, with market players estimating along the way that the number of codes will soon surpass the 600 product target.
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