OWN LABEL BUYERS' PERCEPTIONS & ATTITUDES TO PACKAGING In some British supermarkets, own label products account for 50 to 70% of sales of certain canned categories. In France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, own label can represent between 30% and 50% of sales in some categories. Each year, the penetration grows. And it is growing fastest at retailers in Spain, where own label is a more recent phenomenon than in Northern Europe. Growing penetration of own label products This presents new issues for all concerned : can-makers, steel for packaging producers and retailers. Own label suppliers are mostly small companies, often specialised in this sector. They compete by offering a lower retail price for food and drink, which can taste as good as the best brand. Different criteria could determine decisions on which type of packaging to use. And own label has a much lower profile and is more secretive than the branded sector. At Apeal's request, Strategic Vision investigated twenty leading European retailers, which account for 200bn of food and drink sales each year. If dialogue is to be established with the retail organisations, it would be vital to understand the decision-making process and identify key individuals. Their degree of knowledge, interest and openness to new ideas for steel packaging would be better documented. Attitudes dependent on the type of store Attitudes to the use of steel packaging turned out to depend more on the type of store than the country in which the retailer operates. For the discount retailer, the robustness and low cost aspects are prime requirements. They sell only a limited range of standard products, mostly packaged, and virtually all own label. For their buyers, steel has appeal. But, particularly in Germany, they tend to delegate decisions on packaging to the supplier, be it a brewery, a canner or a coffee roaster. Large hypermarkets, particularly in France and Spain face an entirely different issue. Their products float amid a sea of brands, unlike the exclusively own label discounters. Big categories like beer, ready meals or soft drink stretch for 50 or 100 metres, seven shelves high. Shoppers have to search for the own label bargains, which have lower recognition than in Britain. So developers are looking for designs and shapes which stand out. A case in point, Auchan has packed its Rik & Rok passion fruit syrup in a novel shape, with a cartoon lion on a bright orange can. Supermarkets, particularly in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands, have a lesser problem. Own label is well established and in the much smaller stores typically faces only the brand leader, in-store. So innovative designs can help, but must be cost justified. A good example is Sainsbury's Danish Butter Cookies, packed in steel packaging. These are twice the price of English biscuits, but packaging and superior taste justifies the value for money. Looking for a marketing advantage So whilst discount chains are mostly content to leave packaging choice to the fillers, other European retailers, accounting for 80-85% of sales in most countries, are looking for marketing advantage. If the own label is better value, it needs to proclaim this to the shopper. If, as is increasingly the case in Britain and France, it also tastes better, there is still more reason to promote this at point of choice. The standard 400g food can and 50cl beverage can are produced in such quantity that unit costs are low. Any new shape is bound to be much more expensive, at least until the tooling is amortised. And retailer own brands, which sell only in a single chain, have lower sales than international brands. This deters innovation. It is simple to test new ideas for containers in plastic or board, so most development work at supermarkets has been focused on these materials. Aluminium, glass and steel have not had a fair share of new design thinking. But development managers at supermarkets and hypermarkets across Europe indicated an interest in being kept aware of new steel packaging. James Ensor Director Strategic Vision