For the first time in a long while, branded products are growing faster than private-label products.
According to Circana data for the January-September period, sales of branded products rose 5.5%, compared with 4.7% for private-label goods. As a result, branded products’ share rose to 74%, from 73.8% in the same period of 2025, while private-label products’ share fell to 26%, from 26.2%.
The change is small in percentage-point terms, but significant as a sign of a shift in trend. In 2025, private-label sales rose 7.5%, compared with 5.1% for branded products, taking their share to 26.3%.
More interestingly, the biggest losses for private-label products are being recorded not in food, but in cleaning products and products for personal care, where their share in the nine-month period fell to 25.5% and 18.9%, respectively. Private-label products account for 26.6% of food sales.
The shift is taking place in a market that continues to grow, while one of its major players relies largely on private-label products. Total sales of fast-moving consumer goods in supermarkets and hypermarkets reached €11.592bn, up from €10.997bn in the same nine-month period of 2025, a rise of 5.4%.
Food remains the main driver of the market, accounting for 82.7% of total sales. Turnover reached €9.582bn, up 5.6%. Sales of household products rose 4.6% to €844m, while sales of personal hygiene and care products increased 3.8% to €928m.
Promotional activity is playing a key role in the battle for consumers’ shopping baskets. According to Circana, promotions accounted for 25.3% of sales by value in the nine-month period, compared with 23.8% in the same period of 2025.
In food, the share rose to 26.1%, from 24.3%. This means that more than one in every four euros spent on food went on products sold under some form of promotion.
Despite the increased intensity of promotions, prices continue to move higher. For packaged fast-moving consumer goods, the average price per item rose by 1.5% in the nine-month period, while unit sales increased by 3.7%.
In food, the average price rose by 1.9%. The steepest increases were recorded in non-alcoholic drinks, at 3.9%, and snacks, at 2.9%. By contrast, the average price per item for dairy products was essentially unchanged.