Market checks and holiday baskets
The new signs indicating the consumer products that have joined the price reduction initiative are already on the shelves of the supermarkets. It is noted that the marking is not the same in all supermarkets, as each business chooses its own way of special marking.
This is the new initiative of the Ministry of Development regarding price reductions on the shelf that “runs” from October 22. According to the updated list made public, more than 500 codes – namely 523 – from a total of 54 food and other basic goods companies are now appearing on the shelves of supermarkets across the country with price reductions of 5% to 24%. The initiative has developed a dynamic and every day the relevant services of the Ministry of Development are informed of new codes added to the list. According to market sources, the number is soon expected to exceed the initial target of 600 codes.
It is noted that the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, in a meeting he had with representatives of the Union of Greek Supermarkets, recommended an intensification of efforts on the part of the organized retail trade, so that the new initiative of the Ministry of Development for price reductions on the shelves of supermarkets will yield maximum results , with the aim of impeding accuracy. The minister asked the representatives of the supermarkets to extend the target for price reductions to more than 600 codes, to extend the duration of the initiative, as well as to place special markings on the supermarket shelves with the aim of facilitating consumers.
“We are never going to stop the effort to de-escalate prices, we are interested in the households that are struggling and, of course, the middle class,” the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, said in his statements. “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%” noted the minister while adding: “What we all experienced in the past years, due to the pandemic and the two wars that unfortunately continue, the last six months have slowed down and are moving in an area around zero”.
Market checks and holiday baskets
At the same time, market controls are being intensified. Yes, Mr. Theodorikakos recently 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.
In the same context, the ministry is expected this year to proceed with the implementation of festive baskets with the aim of facilitating consumer shopping ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays. The relevant action will be implemented for the third consecutive year, while it is expected to come into force around mid-December. It is recalled that the “Christmas basket” is the festive version of the “household basket” initiative, with the aim of keeping the price increases on the basic food items that every household needs for the festive table as much as possible.
The goal is for the new “Christmas basket” to have the same composition as last year’s and move in the same price range. Last year the initiative came into effect from December 13, 2023 until January 3, 2024, with the basket including six basic food categories for the festive table, namely: lamb, goat, turkey, bun, king pie, chocolate. In the first year of its implementation, the “Christmas basket” came into force from December 14, 2022 until January 4, 2023 with products such as turkey, beef, bun or king pie and chocolate.
In addition to the “Christmas basket”, it is possible that the “Santa’s basket” will come into effect, which concerns the purchase of children’s toys exclusively for the holiday season. Many toy chains – smaller and larger – as well as well-known electronics chains are participating in this. Last year, the “Santa’s basket” came into effect on December 15, 2023 and ran until January 11, 2024. The categories, as they were last year, are: board / puzzle, doll toys, dollhouses and other accessories (toys imitation), baby toys, action figures, construction and creation toys (eg brick toys), vehicles – remote control, electronic toys, sports toys (eg balls, children’s basketballs and goals), soft toys, musical toys.
The upward trend of the turnover in the nine months
The organized food retail market continues to be on a positive course (food stores over 100 sq.m., Mainland Greece, Crete & June & Aegean Islands). Specifically, in the nine months of 2024 turnover increased by 3.8% compared to the corresponding period last year (YTD data to September 29, 2024). According to NielsenIQ, turnover growth is driven this year by volumes sold, not prices, as it was in 2023.
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 major FMCG categories of household use show a decrease in their sales in value (to -1%) 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.
According to NielsenIQ, what emerges from the systematic study of market data is that Greece is following the global trend, where consumption is driving turnover growth, while prices continue to steadily decline. 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.
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%), mainly due to the negative trend shown by their average selling price, in – 1.1%.
